Officers get specialized crash training

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - When a car hits a pedestrian or a bicyclist, it's up to investigators to collect key evidence to solve the crime but sometimes, the evidence is so small, it can be missed.

In an open area on Albuquerque's west mesa, a police car hits a mannequin over and over again - this is part of advanced training the Albuquerque Police Department and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office are receiving as they are learning how small objects can help map out and re-construct a crash scene.

Thursday instructors from the Institute of Police Technology and Management from Florida taught 28 officers the physics and clues of a pedestrian or bicycle crash.

This training couldn't be timelier when this past Monday a car hit and killed 42 year old Heather Reu on Paseo Del Volcan on Albuquerque's Westside. Police say Daniel Gomez, who is charged with the crime, took off moving key evidence from the scene but returned when he was confronted by witnesses.

Heather Reu's death is the third fatality this year in Albuquerque involving bicyclist or pedestrians and police say there have been at least four other near fatalities.

"Before we had this training, we've had pedestrian and bike accidents …and can't determine what happen here and we have to rely on witness accounts which are notoriously unreliable" said Sergeant Peter Hackett with Albuquerque Police.

Instructor Ken Harmons says "pedestrian and bike wrecks are probably the most difficult to investigate because there's a limited scope of evidence." He says evidence can easily be lost or overlooked. A position of a hat or glasses the victim was wearing can give investigators key clues as to where the victim was standing when they were hit and a scuff mark from a shoe can tell officers where the person was standing when they were hit.

The class costs $10,000 but neither department paid for it. A non-profit bicycle advocacy group called "Bike ABQ" footed the bill.