Following a two-year investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department, federal officials said on Thursday they are "very concerned" about the use of excessive force by officers, CBS News reported.
The investigation began on Nov. 27, 2012 by the department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico to determine if APD officers used an unconstitutional amount of excessive and/or deadly force.
Since 2010, there have been a total of 37 officer-involved shootings -- more than 20 of which were deadly. For a city with a population of 555,000, people quickly became suspicious, prompting local advocacy groups to request an outside investigation, CBS said.
The completed investigation, which included the use of thousands of materials and hundreds of interviews, were given to Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry and Police Chief Gorden Eden on Thursday morning.
"We are very concerned by the results of our investigation and look forward to working with the city of Albuquerque to develop a set of robust and durable reforms," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division.
"Public trust has been broken in Albuquerque, but it can be repaired through this process," Samuels continued.
The Justice Department said they will cooperate with the city to resolve the issue.
Damon Martinez, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, called the findings "groundbreaking" and said they "provide a blueprint for changing the culture of the Albuquerque Police Department and for rebuilding broken relationships with the community it serves."
"Although there are difficult and systemic issues to resolve, we embrace these challenges and are very optimistic for the future of the Albuquerque Police Department," Martinez said.
The damning report comes weeks after protests over the shooting death of a homeless man by APD police, which officers claimed was done in self-defense.
