Despite Problems with Police Shootings, Albuquerque Police Hosting Police Shooting Tournament

This isn't the best idea.

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Albuquerque, N.M. is hosting a police shooting tournament, which isn't exactly in the best taste considering the number of shootings that have taken place involving Albuquerque police in recent years. 

Working in conjunction with the National Rifle Association, the Albuquerque Police Department intends to host the Albuquerque Police Pistol Combat Tournament and National Police Shooting Championship next month. For the record, Albuquerque has had 40 police shootings since 2010—26 of which have ended with fatalities. Their police shooting rate is higher than that of New York City, which has a much larger population and police force. 

Worse, an investigation conducted by the Department of Justice revealed that the bulk of the police shootings that took place in the city between 2009 and 2012 were unconstitutional. In addition, it was revealed in 2012 that the local police union was distributing cash payments to officers involved in the aforementioned shootings. It was supposed to be a "support fund," but some argued that it had essentially become reward money. 

So, all of this considered, it's understandable why many in Albuquerque (i.e., the families of police shooting victims) are rubbed the wrong way by the spirit of this event. 

[via The West, New York Times and Albuquerque Journal]

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