ALBUQUERQUE – The Justice Department announced today that, jointly with the city of Albuquerque, it is notifying the District Court of the selection of Dr. James R. Ginger – a nationally recognized expert on police reform and organizational change – as the independent monitor of the settlement agreement entered into by the department and the city of Albuquerque to reform the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Ginger and his team will be responsible for independently assessing the full implementation of the settlement agreement; reporting on the status of compliance to the court, the parties and the community; assisting the parties in resolving compliance challenges that may emerge; and providing technical guidance as needed to the APD.
The Justice Department says Ginger has successfully overseen similar court-enforceable agreements aimed at increasing community trust and implementing sustainable police reforms. He has first-hand experience in ensuring critical reform across the country and a proven record of timely implementing reform. He was appointed as independent monitor over the first consent decree ever obtained by the Justice Department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as part of its enforcement of civil rights laws aimed at ensuring constitutional and effective policing. He worked closely with the parties and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to implement comprehensive reforms, designed to address excessive use of force, false arrests, improper searches and seizures, failures in the disciplinary system and inadequate first-line supervision. He was also appointed as monitor over the consent decree involving the New Jersey State Police and its efforts to eradicate discriminatory policing practices. Ginger has been a leader in developing monitoring technologies and methodologies used in evaluating compliance with federal consent decrees. Ginger has also worked with law enforcement agencies in New York, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana and others. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Public Management Resources Inc. (PMR) and is responsible for strategic planning, marketing, budgeting and management.
Before founding PMR, Ginger worked as an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Executive Director for the Center of Justice Policy, Deputy Director of the Police Foundation and Director of the Southern Police Institute. Ginger was credited with planning, developing and implementing a nationwide technical assistance and training project for the United States Bureau of Justice Assistance and developing nation-wide programs as part of the Southern Police Institute.
The monitoring team led by Ginger includes experts who have proven experience in assessing reform similar to those contained in the settlement agreement with Albuquerque. The members of the monitoring team will include, among others, G. Patrick Gallagher, President of the Gallagher-Westfall Group; Dan Giaquinto, legal specialist and partner at Kern, Augustine, Conroy, & Schoppman, P.C.; Phil Coyne, Principal of Coyne Enterprise Solutions LLC; Mary Kealoha, Vice-President of the Gallagher-Westfall Group; Albert Preik, former Training Director for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; Peter Sarna, nationally recognized expert in police training and use of force; and Dave Torres, former Commandant of the New Jersey State Police training academy.
“We thank all of the individuals and firms that submitted letters of interest to serve as monitor and for their many accomplishments,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division. “The decision to select the most qualified candidate from among the field was not an easy one, and we thank the community and other stakeholders for their input on this critical step of the implementation process.”
“Dr. Ginger’s proven success with police departments and criminal justice systems in the United States will assist in promoting compliance with critical structural and systemic reforms that are necessary to restoring public confidence and achieving effective and constitutional policing in Albuquerque,” said U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez for the District of New Mexico. “We are pleased to have worked collaboratively with the City to select Dr. Ginger, who we believe is uniquely positioned to assess and report on the Albuquerque Police Department’s reform efforts.”
Ginger’s application materials can be found here.
The complaint, the final agreement, and other information regarding this matter can be found athttp://www.justice.gov/usao/nm/APD.html and www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl.
Information from Department of Justice