Eden Knows Exactly What He Is Doing and He Should Be Fired For It

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My response to the Albuquerque Journal article published on November 12, 2016:

“Police reform groups say APD chief not involved”

The APD statement describing Eden as having a “very good sense, very good understanding and a hand in” the reforms is absolutely true when viewed in the context that Eden and his command staff are really NOT at all committed to implementing the DOJ reforms. Community groups are dismayed and frustrated over Eden’s failure to attend meetings, ignore findings and disciplinary recommendations, and failure to attend settlement hearings and they say Eden allows the City Attorney to explain APD’s reform efforts.

Chief Eden and his command staff are lying when they say they are committed to the DOJ mandated reforms and proof of the lie is contained in Third and the Fourth progress reports submitted by Federal Monitor James Ginger to the Federal Court.

The July 1, 2016 third report states: “Across the board … the components in APD’s system for overseeing and holding officers accountable for the use of force, for the most part, has failed … the serious deficiencies revealed point to a deeply-rooted systemic problem. … The deficiencies, in part, indicate a culture [of] low accountability is at work within APD, particularly in chain-of-command reviews. …”
The November 1, 2016 fourth report states that when “excessive use of force” incidents are investigated by the APD Critical Incident Team , it“[deploys] carefully worded excuses, apparently designed not to find fault with officer actions” and “[uses] language and terminology apparently designed to absolve officers and supervisors of their responsibility to follow certain CASA (Court Approved Settlement Agreement) related provisions.

Chief Eden and the entire chain of command of APD need to be removed and replaced with a new generation of leadership committed to the reform process before any real progress will be made with the DOJ agreed to and mandated reforms.

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About

Pete Dinelli was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is of Italian and Hispanic descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Del Norte High School, a 1974 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a 1977 graduate of St. Mary's School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. Pete has a 40 year history of community involvement and service as an elected and appointed official and as a practicing attorney in Albuquerque. Pete and his wife Betty Case Dinelli have been married since 1984 and they have two adult sons, Mark, who is an attorney and George, who is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Pete has been a licensed New Mexico attorney since 1978. Pete has over 27 years of municipal and state government service. Pete’s service to Albuquerque has been extensive. He has been an elected Albuquerque City Councilor, serving as Vice President. He has served as a Worker’s Compensation Judge with Statewide jurisdiction. Pete has been a prosecutor for 15 years and has served as a Bernalillo County Chief Deputy District Attorney, as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney and as a Deputy City Attorney. For eight years, Pete was employed with the City of Albuquerque both as a Deputy City Attorney and Chief Public Safety Officer overseeing the city departments of police, fire, 911 emergency call center and the emergency operations center. While with the City of Albuquerque Legal Department, Pete served as Director of the Safe City Strike Force and Interim Director of the 911 Emergency Operations Center. Pete’s community involvement includes being a past President of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club, past President of the Our Lady of Fatima School Board, and Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.