The Line: Critiques Of APD Drug Stings

May 20, 2016 – Local media are reporting that the Albuquerque Police Department asked a judge to allow the department to manufacture and use confiscated drugs for undercover busts.

APD detective Brian Sallee said in an interview with KRQE that APD is, “not out there making drugs and [APD is] not putting drugs out onto the street.” Sallee claims that other departments around the country run similar operations.

ABQ Free Press reports this week that Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg “never signed off on, or consulted with the Albuquerque Police Department on a court-approved affidavit that gives APD permission to sell heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and methamphetamines to people and then arrest them on drug charges.”

Do you have concerns about this program?  Let us know what you think in the comments.

Line Panelists:
Mark Boitano, former Republican state lawmaker
Martha Burk, political psychologist and author of “Your Voice, Your Vote”
Dan McKay, Albuquerque Journal staff writer
Alicia Manzano, Strategies 360