Photo by Russell Contreras/AP
VICE News is closely watching policing in America.Check out the Officer Involved blog here.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the city of Albuquerque have selected an independent monitor to direct an overhaul of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), following a string of police shootings in recent years and tension with the public.According to federal officials, police reform expert James R. Ginger was selected to lead a team tasked with managing and evaluating compliance efforts to revamp the department, which has reported 40 officer-involved shootings since 2010. Tensions heightened in March when video of a deadly police shooting of an Albuquerque homeless man triggered citywide protests.Ginger's appointment is part of an agreement the city made with the DOJ to carry out the overhaul and bring wide-ranging reforms to the force, an initiative that stems from a federal investigation into the excessive use of force by the city's police. Officials released a report about the investigation in April, stating there was "reasonable cause to believe that APD engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force."After the report was released, the two parties officially signed the agreement in October, which outlined a plan that includes breaking up problematic units within the department, as well as new training and procedures regarding police shooting investigations.Ginger has previous experience serving as a monitor for the New Jersey State Police and the Los Angeles Police Department. US Attorney Damon Martinez for the District of New Mexico said in a statement that Ginger's expertise will be helpful "in promoting compliance with critical structural and systemic reforms that are necessary to restoring public confidence and achieving effective and constitutional policing in Albuquerque."