Aug. 26—When officer vacancies at the state's largest jail got too high in 2022, the Metropolitan Detention Center had tactical corrections officers — akin to a SWAT team — fill in the gaps.
Then, according to a whistleblower lawsuit, use of force incidents against MDC inmates increased.
In one case, tactical corrections officers allegedly used a Taser multiple times on a naked man in the shower while he was in standing water. Months later, a sergeant slammed handcuffed inmate John Sanchez on his head, and, having suffered a broken back, neck and brain bleed, he died days later.
A woman whose job it was to review such incidents at MDC alleges that she was retaliated against — and eventually forced out — for trying to hold accountable those using excessive force on inmates.
On Aug. 10, Priscilla Torres filed a lawsuit against the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, Warden Jason Jones and others seeking compensatory and other damages.
It was Torres' job, serving on two panels related to use of force, to file complaints about excessive force incidents, according to the suit. When she filed complaints about a lack of discipline against the officers involved, as well as her earning less than male counterparts, she was removed from both panels.
"Ms. Torres was punished for speaking the truth and behaving in an ethical fashion," according to the suit filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.
MDC spokeswoman Candace Hopkins said in a statement, "the Bernalillo County...
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