By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 7/8/2022 @ 11:00AM
ABQ – APD’s SWAT team since its inception in 1976 has long been considered one of the nations most elite and best trained teams around. That is until the last few months where it has been embroiled in scandal after scandal.
Last year it was learned that several veteran and experienced SWAT team members were either removed or forced to retire as the result of some kind of hazing type incident involving one of their own brand new team members.
Most recently it was learned the teams Sergeant and Lieutenant are being investigated for drinking excessively at a local bar on duty then getting into their department issued government vehicles and driving away. It was also learned a person inside the bar accused one of the two supervisors of rape allegations.
After the bar incident there was another situation where the team was On Duty gathered at a team members home in their department vehicles drinking excessively.
It should be noted that APD SWAT team members don’t respond to regular calls for service. The team members typically stay home waiting for a call or workout until a call is generated every few weeks. Their accountability is pretty lax at best.
We have noticed at all of the recent SWAT calls in the city of ABQ they have been handled by other agencies such as BCSO or NMSP. Also when there is a SWAT call it appears that it is manned with personnel from multiple agencies working together since APD doesn’t have a fully staffed team.
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Last month the APD SWAT commander retired after a long decorated career and has been replaced by a lateral hire from New Mexico State Police with thankfully with SWAT experience.
We hope this new hire from an outside professional agency is able to bring the respect and professionalism back to the unit which we have come to expect from our city.
This editorial first appeared on ABQRAW.com. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of ABQRAW rather than the reporters.