Standard Operating Procedures

The following briefly describes each step of the policy development process:

Step 1 Policy Review, Analysis, and Revision; and Data Review: The policy owner, alongside Policy and Procedure (P&P) Unit personnel, edit and revise the policy draft by incorporating policy recommendations from internal stakeholders (e.g., Department personnel) and external stakeholders (e.g., community members and organizations). They align the policy draft with best practices and current laws, including federal, state, and local laws and case laws. They also ensure that the policy draft reflects what currently is practiced within the Department.

Step 2 Policy and Procedure Unit Meeting: The policy owner will present the policy draft at a regularly held, community-based Department P&P meeting.

Step 3 Fifteen (15) Day Commentary Period: P&P personnel have made the draft available to all Department personnel through its document management system for a 15-day commentary period for staff to review the policy and give their feedback.

Step 4 Post-Fifteen (15) Day Commentary Period Revisions: The policy owner incorporates any meaningful feedback that they received during Step 3.

Step 5 Policy and Procedures Review Board (PPRB) Meeting: The policy owner will present the policy draft to the Department’s Policy and Procedures Review Board (PPRB) for the members to vote to approve the draft. If the PPRB does not approve the draft, they will table it, in order for the policy owner to make revisions and to re-present the draft at a future PPRB meeting.

Step 6 Civilian Police Oversight Agency Board (CPOAB) Thirty (30) Day Commentary Period: Once approved by the PPRB, P&P personnel submit both Court-Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and non-CASA policy drafts to the Civilian Police Oversight Agency Board (CPOAB) for a 30-day period to allow the members to provide their recommendations on the draft.

Step 7 Review by the DOJ and Independent Monitor: P&P personnel work with the City’s Legal Department to submit all CASA-related policies to the Independent Monitor, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association (APOA) for a 15-day review period. Recommendations from DOJ and the Independent Monitor agreed to by the Department are incorporated into the policy draft.

Step 8 Chief of Police Review and Approval: Once a policy has been through each step in the process, P&P personnel provide the draft to the Chief of Police to be reviewed and approved.

Published and Implemented: After the Chief of Police approves the draft, P&P personnel publish the SOP and implement it Department-wide through its document management system, as well as publish the SOP on the Department’s public-facing website.

Archived: The SOP has been archived for one of several reasons, including, but not limited to, the unit, program, or procedure(s) the SOP governed no longer exists or the SOP was incorporated into an existing SOP

Please refer to the policy development process flowchart for an illustration of the process.

About SOP Numbering

To ensure efficiency and accountability, the Department has restructured some of its Divisions to align them with the Department's mission and vision, namely to follow through on its commitment to community policing. In this process, several SOPs have been renumbered, which is reflected in the list below. The list includes, if applicable, the policy’s old number in parentheses, and the current policy number, which should assist in locating the SOP.

General Orders

Procedural Orders

Administrative Orders

General Orders

Procedural Orders

Administrative Orders

These policies will be reviewed annually based on the published date.

Policy Development Process Flowchart

Disclaimer

The Albuquerque Police Department's website was developed to provide general information. Data contained at this location is generally not reviewed for legal sufficiency. Albuquerque Police Department documents displayed are for reference purposes only. Their completeness or currency is not guaranteed. Links or references to other information or organizations are for reference only and do not constitute an endorsement.