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Jury probes into police shootings may resume

Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg says she plans to begin tackling a backlog of 10 police shooting cases by February amid a federal probe into Albuquerque police.

The Albuquerque Journal reports Wednesday Brandenburg says she doesn't know if the cases will be examined by using a controversial practice of taking the cases to "investigative grand juries" or by reviewing them in-house.

She reiterated her preference for the grand jury system that local prosecutors have used since 1988. But no police shooting has ever been ruled unjustified under the system.

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was launching a civil investigation into excessive force cases by Albuquerque police.

Since 2010, Albuquerque police have been involved in 26 officer-involved shootings, of which 17 people died from police gunfire.

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