Albuquerque police crashes double in 2 years
Albuquerque police crashes double in 2 years
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police officers crashed their vehicles more than 300 times in 2016, which was more than double the number of crashes they were involved in two years earlier.
But while the number of crashes has increased, the percentage of those crashes that police officials determine to be “preventable” has declined.
And the increase in the number of crashes is likely related to several factors, including a decrease in the number of officers on the force and increases in the number of miles driven by police, the seriousness of calls for service and the overall number of car wrecks in the city, according to a report by Albuquerque’s Real Time Crime Center.
The report was presented to the Police Oversight Board last week.
For months, the board had asked the Albuquerque Police Department to analyze its officer-involved crash trends and create a report.
Those concerns were elevated in April when officer Johnathan McDonnell’s cruiser was involved in a collision with a family vehicle at the intersection of Eubank and Indian School while he was responding to a call for service. Joel Anthony Suina, 6, died as a result of the wreck.
A recent report by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office found that just before the April crash McDonnell was driving nearly 80 miles per hour, which, according to the deputy who investigated the crash, was too fast.
Read more at:
https://www.abqjournal.com/1069426/study-finds-albuquerque-police-crashes-increasing.html
