The french phrase “coup d’é·tat”, pronounced in the singular form, literally means a ‘stroke of state’ or ‘blow against the state’. A “coup d’é·tat”is the forcible removal of an existing government from power through violent means. Typically, it is an illegal, unconstitutional seizure of power by a political faction, the military, or a dictator. The concept of a coup d’état is featured in politics since antiquity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d’%C3%A9tat

ARTICLE II, SECTION 2, CLAUSE 1 OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

“The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States … .”

THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

MILITARY OATH OF OFFICE

The military oath of enlistment and re-enlistment is short and straightforward for most military personnel. It’s administered by a superior officer, and carried out like most traditional oaths, with the officer reading the oath and the person being sworn repeating it. The oath is as follows:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/oath-of-enlistment-3354049

A BREATHTAKING WEEK THAT WAS SHOWING HOW THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION WORKS

On Monday, May 26, around 8 p.m., African American George Floyd, 46, was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota for passing a counterfeit $20 bill. The video of George Floyd being arrested is extremely difficult to watch. The video clearly shows he did not actively resist arrest. Floyd did not have a weapon on him when the arrest was made and he was handcuffed. Police Officer Derek Chauvin took Floyd to the ground and he was subdued with his stomach and face on the ground.

Officer Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck and he used his full body weight to suppress George Floyd’s head and body to the ground. The take down suppression lasted for almost a full 9 minutes, during which time George Floyd begged for his life saying at least 14 times “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Paramedics were called and when they arrived, Floyd was none responsive and was dead. Police Officer Chauvin has been charged with murder and with manslaughter and arrested.

You can view the video here:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/29/george-floyd-arrest-video-minneapolis-dp-orig.cnn

Across the country where peaceful protest over the killings by police of unarmed African Americans, started in city’s large and small. Many of the protests burst into violence with looting and vandalism. Mayors and Governors took action to deal with the protesters. As days past, the movement against systemic racism by police went global as millions took to the streets during a pandemic to protest. The protests have continued daily but by and large have turned peaceful.

TRUMP’S CALL FOR USE OF ACTIVE MILITARY TO QUELL PROTESTS

On Saturday, May 30, Trump in a series of tweets hours after hundreds of demonstrators had massed outside the White House and confronted officers in riot gear, Trump belittled them, doubted their allegiance to Floyd’s memory, and said they were only out “to cause trouble” and were “professionally managed.” He offered no evidence to back his assertions.

Trump seemed to invite supporters to make their presence felt:

“Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???” Trump claimed Secret Service agents were “just waiting for action” and ready to unleash “the most vicious dogs, and the most ominous weapons, I have ever seen” if protesters angered by his response to George Floyd’s death had crossed the White House’s security fence.

Soon after his telephone conference call with the country’s governors, President Trump declared himself “your president of law and order.” He went on to say:

“… If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them. … I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting to end the destruction and arson and to protect the rights of law abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights … .”

Trump said he would call out and mobilize “thousands and thousands “ of soldiers to keep the peace.

As Trump vowed to return order to American streets using the military, peaceful protesters just outside the White House gates were dispersed with tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets. Trump addressed the nation from the White House Rose Garden.

According to White House senior defense officials, between 600 and 800 National Guard members from 5 states were sent to the nations capital to provide assistance. While he was addressing the nation in the White House Rose Garden, military vehicles and military police accompanied by law enforcement, rolled unto Pennsylvania Avenue and clashed with protesters at Lafayettee Park.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/politics/donald-trump-national-address-race/index.html

THE DEFENSE SECRETARIES AND GENERALS REACT TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION

From June 4 to June 12, a truly remarkable thing happened in the United States. Former Secretaries of Defense, General’s and military commanders condemned President Trump use of the active military to quell protests in the United States. It all began on June 4 with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is a retired United States Marine Corps general who was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the 26th US Secretary of Defense. On June 4, The Atlantic published a scathing opinion piece by Mattis regarding President Donald Trump’s leadership and his call to use active military and national guards to quell the protests over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Following are excerpts from the statement:

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.
…
We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.
…
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.
…
Only by adopting a new path — which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals — will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.”

The link to the full Mattis letter published in the Atlantic is here:

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/869262728/read-the-full-statement-from-jim-mattis

Former Secretary of Defense Mattis’ remarks were published soon after dissent voiced by Defense Secretary Mark Esper who told reporters that despite Trump’s remarks on use of military to quell protests, he was not in favor of President Trump invoking the Insurrection Act to use the U.S. military to quell violent protests. Esper said:

“The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations,” We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.”

TRUMP FIRE’S BACK

On June 3, Trump issued a blistering condemnation on Twitter of Mattis. He pointed out that then-President Obama removed Mattis as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013. Following is the tweet:

“Probably the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it. His nickname was ‘Chaos’, which I didn’t like, & changed it to ‘Mad Dog.’ His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom ‘brought home the bacon’. I didn’t like his ‘leadership’ style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!”

FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF JOHN KELLY DEFENDS MATTIS

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is also a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who had previously served as Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. On Thursday, June 4, John Kelly defended former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis calling him an “honorable man”. Kelly completely rejected Trump’s claim that he fired the retired Mattis and said:

“The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation. The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused. The president tweeted a very positive tweet about Jim until he started to see on Fox News their interpretation of his letter. Then he got nasty. … Jim Mattis is a honorable man.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/04/george-floyd-protests-live-updates/#link-SAYWJYMQCJCVNCBQKIP2GGHVIA

CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP BY MILITARY PILES UP

A number of retired four-star generals have also taken issue with Trump’s threat to use the active military to quell nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd.

On June 2, Air Force General Mike Hayden, Former director of the CIA and NSA under Bush and Obama said on Twitter regarding General Milley joining Trump for his walk in front of the White House after protesters were cleared said this:

“I was appalled to see him in his battle dress. Milley (he’s a general?!?) should not have walked over to the church with Trump.”

On June 2, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had this to say:

“It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president’s visit outside St. John’s Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump’s leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces. There was little good in the stunt.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/american-cities-are-not-battlespaces/612553/

On June 3, Marine Corps General John Allen, the Former commander of US forces in Afghanistan under President Barrack Obama had this to say:

“Donald Trump isn’t religious, has no need of religion, and doesn’t care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs…To even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy. The president’s speech was calculated to project his abject and arbitrary power, but he failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment.”

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/03/trump-military-george-floyd-protests/

On June 3, Navy Admiral James Stavridis, Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, said:

“Our active duty military must remain above the fray of domestic politics, and the best way to do that is to keep that force focused on its rightful mission outside the United States. Our senior active duty military leaders must make that case forcefully and directly to national leadership, speaking truth to power in uncomfortable ways. They must do this at the risk of their career. I hope they will do so, and not allow the military to be dragged into the maelstrom that is ahead of us, and which will likely only accelerate between now and November. If they do not stand and deliver on this vital core value, I fear for the soul of our military and all of the attendant consequences.”

https://time.com/5847343/military-stand-up-for-its-soul/

On June 4, Air Force General Richard Myers, Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush in a CNN interview said:

“The first thing was just absolute sadness that people aren’t allowed to protest and that, as I understand it, that was a peaceful protest that was disturbed by force, and that’s not right. That should not happen in America. And so I was sad. I mean, we should all shed tears over that, that particular act. …I’m glad I don’t have to advise this President. I’m sure the senior military leadership is finding it really difficult these days to provide good, sound military advice.”

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/politics/trump-protests-former-joint-chiefs-chairman-cnntv/index.html

On June 4, William Perry, the Former Defense Secretary served under President Bill Clinton had this to say on Twitter:

“I am outraged at the deplorable behavior of our President and Defense Secretary Esper, threatening to use American military forces to suppress peaceful demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights. This is a deeply shameful moment for our nation.”

On June 5, Navy Adm. William McRaven, Former commander of US Special Operations Command under Obama in an interview with MSNBC had this to say:

“You’re not going to use, whether it’s the military, or the National Guard, or law enforcement, to clear peaceful American citizens for the President of the United States to do a photo op. There is nothing morally right about that.”

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/clearing-of-peaceful-protesters-not-morally-right-says-adm-mcraven-84470853618

On June 5, Ash Carter, the Former Defense Secretary under President Obama issued the following statement:

“The Department of Defense exists to safeguard our citizens, not dominate them. I was dismayed to see DoD drawn inappropriately this week into the President’s response to protests. There is here no need, no warrant, and no excuse to bring active-duty military force into the restoration of order. I say this as a former Secretary of Defense who death with many situations where military intervention was helpful, even vital, in the homeland — past epidemics, hurricanes and floods, and so forth. Equally abhorrent to me was the inclusion of defense leaders in political theater.”

On Sunday, June 6 former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired general who served under President George W. Bush, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” that President Donald Trump has “drifted away” from the Constitution and said:

“We have a Constitution. And we have to follow that Constitution. And the President has drifted away from it. … I think what we’re seeing now, is (the most) massive protest movement I have ever seen in my life, I think it suggests the country is getting wise to this and we’re not going to put up with it anymore.”

Powell said that he thinks Trump has not been an effective president and that he lies “all the time” and explained:

“What we have to do now is reach out to the whole people, watch these demonstrations, watch these protests, and rather than curse them, embrace them to see what it is we have to do to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in now” … We’re America, we’re Americans, we can do this. We have the ability to do it, and we ought to do it. Make America not just great, but strong and great for all Americans, not just a couple.”

Powell also called out Republican lawmakers for largely staying silent on Trump’s response to the national unrest over the murder of George Floyd by police saying:

“I watched the senators heading into the chamber the other day after all this broke, with the reporters saying, ‘What do you have to say? What do they you to say? … he said. They had nothing to say. They would not react.”

Powell said he’s “proud” of what a number of former generals, admirals and diplomats have said about Trump’s response last week to the widespread protests, adding that he hadn’t released a public statement denouncing Trump’s response because he felt he had demonstrated his displeasure with Trump in 2016 when he voted against him.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell went on to announce he would be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden for President.

REGRETS FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS’ OF STAFF

On June 1, after protesters were cleared from the Lafayette Square area by the White House, Trump led an entourage that included Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley to St. John’s Episcopal Church. Trump boldly held up a Bible for photographers, saying absolutely nothing or why he did the photo op and then returned to the White House.

On June 11, Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in remarks to a National Defense University commencement ceremony said:

“I should not have been there [walking to St. John’s Episcopal Church.] My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”

Milley’s public expression of regret comes as Pentagon leaders’ relations with the White House are still tense after a disagreement last week over Trump’s threat to use federal troops to quell civil unrest triggered by the death of George Floyd.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

President Trump’s desire to use the United States military to quell protesters angry and frustrated over the racial injustice and inequities endured by African Americans at the hands of law enforcement should come as no absolutely no surprise to anyone. Trump has a well-documented history of racism years before he was elected, while he was running and since being elected President.

It would be easy to see how an outside observer would think that a coup d’é·tat is happening in the United States, but they would be seriously mistaken. Our institutions remain intact as do our constitutional rights of freedom of speech, right to assembly and freedom of the press. Trump may be the “commander in chief” of the military, but he is not a dictator with absolute control and authority over our military where he can order suppression of our constitutional rights.

The military takes an oath to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States and not the President of the United States. Our military academies are some of the very best institutions of higher learning educating the cream of the crop of their generation. Cadets taught in our military academies learn the importance of preserving our country with the lessons learned from our civil war that ended slavery and resulted in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

On June 12, President Trump said the following to Fox News reporter Harris Faulkner of President Abraham Lincoln:

“I think I’ve done more for the black community than any other president, and let’s take a pass on Abraham Lincoln because he did good, although it’s always questionable, you know, in other words, the end result.”

It was not clear if “end result” was referring to Lincoln’s assassination. Faulkner, who is black, interjected to say of Lincoln: “Well, we are free, Mr President, so he did pretty well.”

Trump has previously claimed that “nobody has ever done for the black community what President Trump has done”, which factcheckers rate as patently false and given his history of racism.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/12/donald-trump-chokeholds-juneteenth-rally

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/trump-criticizes-lincoln-brags-he-has-done-a-lot-to-help-black-americans.html

Trump has confirmed yet again he is totally unfit, incompetent and totally unprepared to be President by ordering the military to deal with the protests over the killing of George Floyd. Our Bone Spur “Commander in Chief” is now in a “war of words” with some of our most respected Generals who have served their country with honor and distinction. Trump is not even qualified to shine their boots, let alone be their Commander in Chief, but they still respect the Office of the President which is far more than Trump.

It clear Trump wants to order our military to turn on United States citizens to hold on to power, to suppress dissent and free speech. Trump has also repeatedly call the media “enemy of the people”. The biggest reason why this country has never had a “coup d’é·tat” is the loyalty of our military to the American people.

It is often said by elected officials and private citizens alike that the United States Military is the greatest, strongest and most powerful military in the world. The sure lethal force of our military is not what makes it so powerful. What makes it so powerful is that the men and woman of our military force know, and its ingrained in their DNA, that they serve the people of the United States. Our military protects all of our constitutional rights, including their own, that we hold dear against tyrants, even if the tyrant is our own President.

The United Sates military has done its job in resisting Trump’s assault on our institutions and our freedoms. We the people, Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike, now need to do our job and remove Trump from the White House come election day November 3.

On June 12, The Albuquerque Journal published the following guest column on its editorial page:

HEADLINE: APD has made real progress under DOJ agreement

BY PETE DINELLI / FORMER PROSECUTOR , ALBUQUERQUE CITY COUNCILOR AND CHIEF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER
Friday, June 12th, 2020 at 12:02am

On June 4, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the creation of her Council for Racial Justice, saying it’s time to address the “ugly truth” of racism embedded in core institutions. The governor’s creation of the council was a reaction in part to the protests and demonstrations around the United States and in New Mexico ignited by the killing by police of 46-year-old George Floyd.

We must make it clear to who we interact with during our daily lives, including work, social functions, with our families and friends alike, that racism is not tolerated on any level. Racism must be strongly condemned in no uncertain terms. We must do something to end the racism within ourselves and for our future generations.

The link to the guest column article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1465465/apd-has-made-real-progress-under-doj-agreement.html

Alan Wagman is a retired public defender attorney in Albuquerque. He served on the city’s Police Oversight Task Force in 2013-14 and continues to work on police reform and human rights. Mr. Wagman submitted the below guest column for publication on this blog:

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed in this article are those of attorney Alan Wagman and do not necessarily reflect those of the political blog www.petedinelli.com. Mr. Wagman was not compensated for the column).

“The window of opportunity for even the most modest of reforms to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is about to close. Almost everyone in Albuquerque wants some kind of change in APD. All people who want change in APD have something in common: All should be demanding that Mayor Keller not renew the city’s contract with the Albuquerque Police Officers Association (APOA) until after the public has been engaged in a real, meaningful examination of what kind of police department we want and what kind we don’t want.

“We need APD to change; hold public meetings; find out what we want and need. If you do not, if instead you enter into an APOA contract, you raise a legitimate question as to whom you serve: Do you serve us? Or do you serve APOA? Serve us; serve we, the people. Do not enter into a contract with APOA.”

DINELLI COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The APD Union was not a named party to the original civil rights complaint for excessive use of force and deadly force filed against the city by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2014. Soon after the DOJ initiated the federal lawsuit against APD and the City, the APOA police union intervened to become a party to the federal lawsuit in order to advocate for union interests in city policy and changes to the “use of force” and “deadly force policies.”

The Police Union, despite public comments of cooperation and comments made to the court, have never fully supported the agreed to reforms. The Police Union contributed significantly to the delay in writing the new use of force and deadly force policies.

The union leadership has always been at the negotiating table and for a full year were involved with the drafting of the “use of force” and “deadly use of force” policy. The union contributed to the one-year delay in writing the policies objecting to many provisions of the policies. The police union repeatedly objected to the language of the use of force policy asserting the policy was unreasonable. This was evidenced by the monitors claim that submitted use of force policy was missing key components and the monitor saw 50-plus changes needing to be made to satisfy union objections.

The union leadership has attended and has sat at counsel table during all court hearings and the Federal Monitor presentations on his reports. During all the Court proceeding where the federal monitor has made his presentation to the federal court, the APOA union has made its opposition and objections known to the federal court regarding the use of force and deadly force policies as being too restrictive with rank and file claiming rank and file cannot do their jobs even with training on the policies.

The police union and its leadership have said in open court that the mandated reforms under the consent decree are interfering with rank and file officer’s ability to perform their job duties. During the August 20, 2019, a day long status conference, the APOA union President Shaun Willoughby made it clear that the attitude towards the CASA has not changed in the least.

When the Federal Court asked APOA Union President Shawn Willoughby during a hearing what he and the union rank and file felt about the CASA, Willoughby’s responses were a quick condemnation of the CASA when he said “we hate it”, “we’re frustrated”, the reforms and mandates are “a hard pill to swallow”, that “all change is hard”. According to Willoughby, police officers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being investigated, fired or disciplined. In the same breath, Willoughby went on to brag about how his union, unlike other police unions in city’s with consent decrees, actually worked and cooperated with the city and the DOJ.

UNION MEMBERS OF SARGEANTS AMD LUITENATS IMPEDE REOFRMS

In his 10th and 11th reports, the Federal Court appointed monitor made it clear that there are many within APD that are overtly resistant to reforms. The Monitor has found evidence of a “counter-CASA effect” among some at the supervisory, mid-management, and command levels at APD. Notwithstanding, both Mayor Keller and CAO Nair have refused to take aggressive action and remove those in the chain of command that are resistant to police reforms.

In his 10TH Monitors Report, Dr. Ginger finds:

“Sergeants and lieutenants, at times, go to extreme lengths to excuse officer behaviors that clearly violate established and trained APD policy, using excuses, deflective verbiage, de minimis comments and unsupported assertions to avoid calling out subordinates’ failures to adhere to established policies and expected practice. Supervisors, sergeants, and mid-level managers, lieutenants, routinely ignore serious violations, fail to note minor infractions, and instead, consider a given case “complete”.
…
“Some members of APD continue to resist actively APD’s reform efforts, including using deliberate counter-CASA processes. For example:

• Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) disciplinary timelines, appear at times to be manipulated by supervisory, management and command levels at the area commands, letting known violations lie dormant until timelines for discipline cannot be met”

In his 11th Monitors Report, Dr. Ginger found that despite all the progress made in training at the APD Academy, APD personnel:

“were still failing to adhere to the requirements of the CASA found in past monitoring reports, including some instances moving beyond the epicenter of supervision to mid- and upper management levels of the organization.” The monitor found that “some in APD’s command levels continue to exhibit behaviors that “build bulwarks” [or walls] preventing fair and objective discipline, including a process of attempting to delay and in some cases successfully delaying the oversight processes until the timelines for administering discipline had been exceeded. [The] delays prevented an effective remedial response to behavior that is clearly in violation of established policy.”
…

“ Since the beginning of the CASA compliance process … [there have been those] at APD who were overtly resistant to the CASA. [The Monitor] in the past [has] found evidence of a “counter-CASA effect” among some at the supervisory, mid-management, and command levels at APD. Those who knowingly or subconsciously count themselves in this group are beginning to face pressure to change their assessment of the value of the CASA. In some cases [they] have faced reasonably prompt and appropriate corrective efforts from the current executive levels of the APD for behavior that is not congruent with the CASA.” According to the report, “this as an essential “way forward” if APD is to move into full compliance. The remaining issue is that this pressure is neither uniform nor persistent.”

APD police sergeants and lieutenants are on the front line to enforce personnel rules and regulations, standard operating procedures, approve and review work performed and assist in implementing DOJ reforms and standard operating procedures policies. They are where the “rubber meets the road” when it comes to police reforms. The point that has been repeatedly made by the Federal Monitor is that “until the sergeants are in harness and pulling in the same direction as the chief, things won’t get done as quickly”. In other words, without the 100% support of the sergeants and lieutenants to the CASA mandated reforms, there will be little or no progress made with police reforms.

APD sergeants and lieutenants, even though they are part of management with supervisory authority over sworn police officers, are not “at will” employees and they are allowed to join the police union. Including sergeants and lieutenants in the union bargaining unit creates a clear conflict within management and sends mixed messages to rank and file sworn police officers.

Sergeants and lieutenants need to be made at will employees and removed from the police union bargaining unit in order to get a real buy in to management’s goals of police reform and the CASA. APD Police sergeants and lieutenants cannot serve two masters of Administration Management and Union priorities that are in conflict when it comes to the CASA reforms. Until sergeants and lieutenants are removed from the union and made at will employees, do not expect the CASA reforms to be in 100% compliance allowing the dismissal of the case.

FINAL COMMENTARY

The very lucrative two-year Police Union Contract expires on June 30. It is more likely than not that the Keller Administration has already negotiated a new contract with police and does not want to make it public. Keller will want to have yet another press conference surrounded by police union membership dressed in uniforms that he can use as he seeks a second term.

Mayor Tim Keller is now at a crossroad where he can show real leadership. As Alen Wagman point out:

“The window of opportunity for even the most modest of reforms to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is about to close. Almost everyone in Albuquerque wants some kind of change in APD. All people who want change in APD have something in common: All should be demanding that Mayor Keller not renew the city’s contract with the Albuquerque Police Officers Association (APOA) until after the public has been engaged in a real, meaningful examination of what kind of police department we want and what kind we don’t want.”

RELATED BLOG ARTICLES HERE:

Federal Monitor Files 11th Compliance Audit Report Of APD Reforms; “Counter Casa Effect” Still Problematic; Order 100% Operational Compliance Within 6 Months Or Replace Chief Or Deputy Chiefs To Get Job Done

10th Federal Monitor’s Compliance Report: “Counter Casa Effect” Alive and Well Within APD; Move To Dismiss Union From Case; Remove Sergeants and Lieutenants From Police Union

The Police Chiefs of major police departments across the country decried the use of force that turned to deadly for used by a Minneapolis Police officer in the arrest of African American George Floyd who died after the white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for close to 9 minutes. Floyd cried out 14 times “I can’t breathe”. The killing and the video went viral and resulted in protests across the country.

Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown had this to say:

“What took place in Minneapolis … is absolutely reprehensible and tarnishes the badge nationwide, including here in Chicago. … Floyd’s death was caused by the unacceptable actions of a police officer.”

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said:

“What we saw in Minnesota was deeply disturbing. It was wrong. We must come together, condemn these actions and reinforce who we are as members of the NYPD. This is not acceptable ANYWHERE.”

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw applauded the swift actions taken by the Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and said:

“Throughout the nation, communities of color are tired of reliving atrocities such as this over and over again”.

Chattanooga, Tennesee, Police Chief David Roddy said:

“There is no need to see more video. There [is] no need to wait to see how ‘it plays out.’ There is no need to put a knee on someone’s neck for NINE minutes. … there is a need to do something. If you wear a badge and you don’t have an issue with this … turn it in.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/several-police-heads-across-nation-condemn-force-used-floyd-death-n1217451

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-05-28/george-floyd-police-chiefs-criminal-justice-reform

Dallas Chief of Police Renee Hall had this to say:

“I stand with the rest of my colleagues and major city chiefs and we all agree that this behavior should not be tolerated, and it does not represent who we are. … When you see the video there are so many emotions that run through me. … Our entire police department and command staff stand with Chief (Medaria) Arradondo and his decision to terminate.”

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/north-texas-police-chiefs-condemn-actions-of-minneapolis-officers-in-death-of-george-floyd/2377411/

Fort Worth Chief of Police Ed Kraus joined the conversation on Twitter and said:

“The death of #GeorgeFloyd occurred in Minneapolis, but these tragic encounters between officers and residents have occurred in too many cities across the country, including Fort Worth. We must serve more compassionately, and intervene when we see our own acting inappropriately.”

Rockwall Chief Max Geron of Texas said the death of George Floyd was a stain on the profession and said:

“The death of George Floyd is a stain on our profession. There is no justification. We have to do and be better collectively and individually. It will make policing more difficult for those who work to maintain public trust.”

Denver Police Chief Paul M. Pazen said:

“The actions and type of force used by the Minneapolis police officers in the video are inexcusable and contrary to how we train our officers.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/demonstrators-gather-in-albuquerque-to-protest-george-floyds-death/

Irving Texas Chief of Police Jeff Spivey said the video speaks for itself and added:

“This is flat wrong. There’s nothing you can say. There’s nothing you can show me. There’s nothing you can do that can ever justify what happened here. … Is it a failure of leadership? Is it a failure of who we’re hiring? Is it a failure of how we’re training our people? Or is it just the fact that we hire from the human race and sometimes we don’t always get it right and we hire bad people?”

Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier had this to say about the George Floyd killing:

“… Those officers’ actions are inconsistent with the training and protocols of our department. APD has worked tirelessly to build trust between law enforcement and the community we are sworn to protect. … We will not tolerate these [type of police] actions and denounce this type of police brutality. The senseless misconduct demonstrated in this unfortunate incident should not define other police departments across the nation. APD denounces the behavior of the Minneapolis officers and we will continue to build the trust we’ve established in the community we proudly serve.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/demonstrators-gather-in-albuquerque-to-protest-george-floyds-death/

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is very rare or downright not heard of that Police Chiefs openly criticize the actions of one of thier officers involved in a controversial on-duty killing. In years past involving similar controversies and the killing of a civilian during an arrest by police officers, a Chief of Police and their command staff would normally ask for the public’s patience during similar controversies, ask for time to investigate and resist releasing lapel camera footage of an arrest or release only portions of a video that did not reveal the entire story.

Extensive media attention and public outrage usually accompanies the most egregious incidents of police where a civilian ends up dead or the police misconduct is so disturbing and obvious as to result in criminal charges against police officers. The best example of this in Albuquerque was the March 14, 2014 killing by APD SWAT Officers of mentally ill, homeless camper James Boyd in the Sandia Foothills. The day after the Boyd shooting, then APD Chief Gordon Eden held a press conference and boldly proclaimed the shooting of James Boyd was “justified” with Eden even citing Supreme Court Case law, although using the wrong citation.

The entire assault by upwards of 27 police officers with guns drawn pointing at Boyd and using canine and flash bang shells with the killing of Boyd by two SWAT officers who shot him was captured on police lapel camera video. It was the lapel camera video that was the most critical evidence in the criminal trial of the two APD SWAT police officers charged with murder. The jury trial resulted in a “dead lock” jury who could not reach a verdict and the charges were dismissed by Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez. A civil law suit for wrongful death filed against the City by the Boyd family was settled for $5 million.

POLICE ATTITUDES THAT MUST CHANGE

A historical and prevailing philosophy by police is that in order to be able to do their job of “protect and serve”, they need total autonomy from civilian oversight and free from any and all interference by civilians. Police departments want to be an “island unto themselves” and act that way too many times.

It is often argued by many sworn police, and usually their unions, that only a “police officer” has the knowledge and experience and can determine the proprietary of another officer’s actions, especially when it comes to use of force and deadly force. The philosophy is only law enforcement can and should police themselves and it must be left to Police Internal Affairs without civilian involvement.

An argument that is always made is that law enforcement take their own lives into their hands and “risk their lives daily” to protect the public. Police also argue they need complete discretion to do their jobs in order to defend themselves, otherwise their hands are tied in combating crime. Truth is, no one forces any one to become a police officer and they knew what they were getting themselves into. If any officer feels the risk to life is too great, they probably need to find another line of work.

Another pervasive attitude expressed by sworn police is that it’s all “the politician’s fault”. It has been said that “police can no longer move without a politician telling them how to do their jobs”. Another line of attack made by police when any elected official calls for oversight and accountability is that it’s just another politician trying to score points as they run for office. Actions and even criticism by “politicians” and the media are often problematic and resented by police. What those law enforcement fail to understand is that is what is called civilian oversight. It is the elected officials, the politicians, who are ultimately held accountable for what cops do. The philosophy of management of police departments must be that “uniforms report to suits” similar to the United States Military where the President as a civilian is the Commander In Chief who also appoints a Secretary of Defense. It also the voters who must hold and demand accountability from both the police and the elected official in that it is the taxpayer that ultimately pays for police misconduct and excessive use of force and deadly force.

The biggest impediment to real police reform is what is referred to as the “blue code of silence.” One of the principles that is emerging from the Black Lives Matter is the “duty to intervene” rule mandating that “by standing or assisting” officers must step in if they observe a fellow officer using excessive force that they believe is not appropriate under the circumstance. It requires the police officer to formally report such incidents to supervisors. Many police officers view this as “breaking the blue code of silence”, second guessing, or not backing up the actions of a fellow police officer who is supposed to “have your back”. The derogatory term used by those opposed to such a policy is that it requires police officers to become “snitches” against a fellow officer and falls into the dangerous philosophy of “your either with me or against me” to avoid any and all accountability for police misconduct.

Although the City of Albuquerque has implemented the Community Policing Counsels as well as the Police Oversight Board, resistance to both occurs on a regular basis. APD has a history of stonewalling the Police Oversight Board. All to often it is reported that APD refuses to cooperate with investigations of police by the Police Oversight Commission or delays action as long as possible on requests and recommended disciplinary actions.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/08/23/apd-stonewalls-citizen-police-oversight-agency-again/

CLOSING COMMENTARY

Our law enforcement community, including APD, the Sheriffs and State Police, must understand with complete clarity that police brutality, excessive use of force and deadly force based on racial profiling and the presumption of guilt because of a person’s color and not evidence will not and shall not be tolerated ever. Rank and file police officers who see racism by another officer need to object to it and report it. No Hispanic, no African American and no person of color should ever feel uncomfortable talking to any police officer or call the police to ask for help or to report a crime. There must never be an attitude and presumption of guilt based on a person’s ethnicity. Police must have the attitude and recognize that performing their motto to “serve and protect” is not based on or determined by a person’s skin color.

Times and methods of policing are changing fast when it comes to police work and those that have been in the profession for any length of time need to understand that and adapt to it, and if not willing or capable of the change, leave the profession. Basic policing methods are changing dramatically incorporating constitutional policing practices taught and mandated. Without those changes, this country will continue to endure and see more cases like the killing of Michael Brown and George Floyd by police.

On June 10, the on line news and opinion outlet ABQ Reports published a story on the Albuquerque Police Department new overtime policy announced by Chief Michael Geier. The article was written and published by editor Dennis Domraski. Following is the article with the links to related columns:

HEADLINE: APD TRIES TO CURB MASSIVE OVERTIME USE/ABUSE
June 10, 2020
By Dennis Domrzalski

“Albuquerque Police Chief Mike Geier has moved to limit the excessive overtime hours that some APD officers have been claiming.

One thing that Geier’s order doesn’t address is outside work by APD officers and how much work outside of the department they can do. Drobik, for instance, has boasted that he has worked as a consultant on a Netflix movie. We have no idea how much time Drobik worked on the movie or if that work overlapped with his APD duties.”

Links to ABQ Report stories on Drobik overtime paid are here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2020/05/21/What-overtime-reform-APDs-human-robot-Simon-Drobik-makes-83371-in-first-four-months-of-this-year-On-track-to-make-247K-for-year

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2020/06/10/APD-tries-to-curb-massive-overtime-useabuse

DROBIK IS JUST A DOLLAR IN IN A SWIMMING POOL OF APD OVERTIME CASH PAID

On May 22, ABQ Reports published an article that APD Sergeant and Public Information Officer Simon Drobik was racking up massive and record setting amounts of overtime pay. For the first 4 months of this year, Drobik, whose base pay is $31.50 an hour ($63,630 yearly) has made $82,371, according to the city’s website. If he continues on the pace, Drobik will be paid $247,113 for the year. That will shatter the record of $192,973 that Drobik made in 2018, the year that Drobick’s excessive overtime was first reported on by ABQ Reports.

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2020/05/21/What-overtime-reform-APDs-human-robot-Simon-Drobik-makes-83371-in-first-four-months-of-this-year-On-track-to-make-247K-for-year

At the end of each calendar year, City Hall releases the top 250 wage earners. The list of 250 top city hall wages earners is what is paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. The City of Albuquerque recently updated the list for the year 2019. A full listing of the names and salaries can be found here:

http://cognospublic.cabq.gov/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=classicviewer&pathRef=.public_folders%2FTransparency%2FTop+Earners+of+the+City+of+Albuquerque+List&id=i5C8E3011CDD346029B51E17CB7132529&objRef=i5C8E3011CDD346029B51E17CB7132529&type=report&format=HTML&Download=false&prompt=true&cmProperties%5Bid%5D=i5C8E3011CDD346029B51E17CB7132529&cmProperties%5BdefaultName%5D=Top+Earners+of+the+City+of+Albuquerque+List&cmProperties%5Btype%5D=report&cmProperties%5Bpermissions%5D%5B%5D=execute&cmProperties%5Bpermissions%5D%5B%5D=traverse

In 2018, the breakdown of the 250 top paid city hall employees revealed that all were paid between $100,000 to $192,937.23. In 2018, there were 140 Police Officers and 55 Fire and Rescue Officers for a total of 195 out of 250.

In 2019, the breakdown of the 250 top paid city hall employees showed they were paid between $107,885 to $193,666.23. There was an even bigger disproportionate number of APD officers and Firefighters in 2019 over 2018. In 2019 there were 160 sworn APD police officers and 49 AFRD personnel for a total of 209 public safety employees. The remaining 41 includes 24 Department Directors and 17 other unclassified and classified positions. The lopsided numbers in APD can be attributed to overtime paid to the employees. The earning figures do not include take home vehicles, reimbursements, such as mileage and tuition, and vacation and sick leave accumulated amounts which are all taxable income once paid.

KELLER ADMINISTRATION TOP 20 PAID CITY HALL EMPLOYEES

Following are the names, titles and earned pay of the 20 top paid city hall employees for 2019:

1. Hernandez, Michael F, Police Sergeant 193,666.40
2. Johnson, Brian A, Senior Police Officer 1C, 188,884.04
3. Nair, Sarita Chief Administrative Officer 186,747.20
4. Geier, Michael Chief of Police 183,378.60
5. Rael, Lawrence Chief Operations Officer 181,953.60
6. Pholphiboun, Phetamphone B Police Sergeant 166,813.86
7. Drobik, Simon Master Police Officer 1C 166,484.67
8. Languit, Luke C Police Lieutenant 164,722.80
9. Ortiz, Christopher G Fire Para Battalion Chief – 40 HR 163,905.80
10 Rosenbaum, Nils Police Director of Behavioral Sciences 163,800.01
11. Lopez, Daniel J Police Sergeant 154,969.57
12. Yara, Stephanie M Director of Council Services 151,467.48
13. Pearson, Nicholas R Master Police Officer 1C149,157.79
14. Martinez, Dominic P Police Sergeant 149,152.48
15. Kim, Chad S Fire Battalion Chief – 56 HR 148,740.00
16. Dow, Paul Fire Chief – 40 HR 148,128.08
17. McCarson, Timothy W Senior Police Officer 1C 147,207.30
18. Do,Si N Fire Para Driver – 56 HR 145,018.19
19. Aguilar Jr,Esteban A City Attorney 144,386.41
20. Tapia,Jacob A Fire Para Lieutenant – 40 HR 144,292.81

APD CHIEF’S OFFICE

In the APD Chief’s Office, there were 10 major employees in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $109,017 to $183,378. The highest 5 paid employees in the Chief’s Office for 2019 were:

1. Geier, Michael Chief of Police 183,378.60
2. Gonzalez, Arturo E Deputy Chief 140,498.63
3. Garcia, Eric J Deputy Chief 140,144.28
4. Medina, Harold Deputy Chief 136,040.20
5. Griego, Jon J Deputy Chief 134,522.59

APD COMMANDERS:

There were 16 APD Commanders in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,181 to $129,230. The 5 highest paid APD Commanders for 2019 were:

1. Rivera, Donovan J Commander 129,230.57
2. Espinosa, Timothy R Commander 125,755.19
3. Garcia, Mizel Commander 124,594.94
4. Lowe, Cori M Commander 124,053.18
5. George, Christopher N Commander 123,592.45

APD LIEUTENANTS:

There were 32 APD Lieutenants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,031 to $164,722. Hourly pay rate for APD Lieutenants is $40.00 an hour or $83,200 yearly. The 5 highest paid APD Lieutenants for 2019 were:

1. Languit, Luke C Lieutenant 164,722.80
2. Patterson, Christopher Lieutenant 138,606.30
3. Jones, Aaron M. PD-Police Lieutenant 136,824.53
4. Bell Garcia, Jennifer L Lieutenant 134,492.33
5. Bassett, Jeremy D Lieutenant 132,599.17

APD Sergeants:

There were 32 APD Sergeants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $109,292 to $193,666. Hourly pay rate for APD Sergeants is $35 an hour, or $72,800 a year. The 5 highest paid Sergeants in 2019 were:

1. Hernandez, Michael F Police Sergeant 193,666.40
2. Pholphiboun, Phetamphone B Police Sergeant 166,813.86
3. Lopez, Daniel J Sergeant 154,969.57
4. Martinez, Dominic P Sergeant 149,152.48
5. Hunt, Justin R Sergeant 140,961.94

APD Patrol Officers:

There were 70 APD patrol officers in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,167 to $188,844. Hourly pay rate for Patrol Officers is $29.00 an hour to $31.50 an hour depending upon years of experience. The top 20 highest paid Patrol Officers in 2019 were:

1. Johnson, Brian, Senior Police Officer 1C 188,884.04
2. Drobik, Simon Master Police Officer 1C 166,484.67
3. Pearson, Nicholas R Master Police Officer 1C 149,157.79
4. McCarson, Timothy W Senior Police Officer 1C 147,207.30
5. Hollier, Jeremy B Senior Police Officer 1C 143,229.86
6. Martinez, Yvonne Master Police Officer 1C 140,522.20
7. Lehocky, Andrew J Master Police Officer 1C 140,107.90
8. Garza, Ramiro J Senior Police Officer 1C 136,815.26
9. Solis, Brenda M Senior Police Officer 1C 136,522.25
10. Canales, Ladio Senior Police Officer 1C 135,591.41
11. Rico, Michael K Senior Police Officer 1C 133,020.75
12. Hernandez, Francisco F Senior Police Officer 1C 132,288.88
13. Hernandez Jr, Jimmy S Senior Police Officer 1C 132,093.96
14. Burchell, Edward Master Police Officer 1C 131,582.84
15. Carter, Jessie W. Senior Police Officer 1C 131,530.98
16. Swessel, Robert A Master Police Officer 1C 131,402.46
17. Shook, Michael B. Senior Police Officer 1C 130,875.25
18. O’Neil, Craig P Master Police Officer 1C 129,424.58
19. Champine, Daniel J Master Police Officer 1C 128,915.79
20. Montano, Joshua Senior Police Officer 1C 124,635.53

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Police officers earning excessive overtime is nothing new. It has been going on for years and is very common knowledge. During the last 9 years, the Albuquerque Police Department has consistently gone over its overtime budget by millions. In fiscal year 2016, APD was funded for $9 million for over time but APD actually spent $13 million. A March, 2017 city internal audit of APD’s overtime spending found police officers taking advantage of a system that allows them to accumulate excessive overtime at the expense of other city departments. A city internal audit report released in March, 2017 revealed that the Albuquerque Police Department spent over $3.9 million over its $9 million “overtime” budget.

On April 13, 2020, the Albuquerque City Council enacted R-20-31 which is the city’s operating budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 that goes into effect on July 1, 2020 and ends June 31, 2021 for all city hall departments. The 2020-2021 APD operating budget is $207,877,000 and it has a mere $2,225,000 allocated for overtime.

THE DANGERS OF POLICE OVERTIME TO PUBLIC SAFETY

APD has an alarming increase in “classified” positions that are being paid 6 figure pay based on hourly wages. The increase pay requires you to assume that all are doing a good, great or an exceptional job which is very difficult to justify when it turns out that is not the case or abuse is found. The 6 figure salaries being paid to sworn Patrol Officers can be attributed to “overtime” worked which is very problematic.

From a personnel management standpoint, when you have a select few that are taking home the lion’s share of overtime, it causes moral problems with the rest. Consecutive shifts or excessive overtime for any police officer can lead to extreme fatigue, emotional burnout and reduce an officer’s alertness and response times and reflexes that can endanger lives and public safety.

Excessive overtime paid is a red flag for abuse of the system, mismanagement of police resources or the lack of personnel. APD has added approximately 100 police officers last year as a result of increases in pay and an aggressive recruitment program. APD is projected to have upwards of 980 sworn police by July 1, 2020. The ultimate goal of the Keller Administration is to have 1,200 full time sworn police.

Overtime paid by APD should have come down as more police officers were added to the ranks, but that did not happen. When APD exceeds its overtime budget, it is to the detriment of other city departments and other city employees in that the additional funding must be found somewhere else, either by taking it from other departments and programs, budget cuts or cost saving measurements.

For the last 3 years, APD has exceeded its overtime budget by as much as $4 million or more. In 2019, APD spent $11.5 million paying sworn police overtime when the budget was $9 million. The 2020-2021 budget which begins on July 1, 2020 provides a mere $2,225,000 to pay for police overtime.

RESTRUCTURE APD 40 HOUR WEEKLY PAY SYSTEM TO SALARY PAY SYSTEM

Chief Michael Geier’s change in the overtime policy is a good first step, but it does not go far enough and will likely be abused, no doubt with the blessing of the APD chain of command. The new policy has a glaring loophole as pointed out by ABQ Reports when the policy states “The Chief of Police or his designee can waive the weekly cap to meet department operational needs.” No doubt Dolbick, based on his past overtime, will take advantage of the loophole, so the Chief should not even bother or waste his time.

Authorizing a 65-hour work week with the normal 40 hours work week and adding 25 hours of overtime does not make much sense if you want to avoid extreme fatigue and emotional burnout. It is likely given the amount of pay involved, more officers will want to work 65-hour work weeks, 40 at regular pay and 25 at time and a half.

The 25-hour cap on overtime should be monthly, not weekly and an “on call” shift pool of officers should be created. As another alternative to paying overtime and longevity bonuses the City should do away with APD hourly wage and time and a half for overtime for sworn police and implement a salary structure based strictly on steps and years of service. A complete restructuring of the existing APD 40-hour work week and hourly wage system needs to be implemented.

A base pay salary system should be implemented for all APD sworn personnel. A base salary system with step increases for length of service should be implemented. The longevity bonus pay would be eliminated and built into the salary structure. Mandatory shift time to work would remain the same, but if more time is needed to complete a work load or assignments for the day, the salaried employee works it for the same salary with no overtime paid and a modification of shift times for court appearances.

APD Patrol Officers First Class who handle DWI during nighttime shifts should be required to change their shift times to daytime shifts when the arraignments and trials occur to prevent overtime pay. As an alternative to DWI arraignment, the City Attorney’s Office should explore the possibility of expanding or modifying the Metro Traffic Arraignment Program with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office assisting to include not just traffic citations but DWI arraignments to eliminate the need for APD officers to appear at such arraignments.

FINAL COMMENTARY

Until real overtime pay and salary pay reform is implemented at APD, do not expect too much to change and expect the overtime abuse to continue at APD, especially by APD spokespersons such as Simon Dolbick and the other 150 sworn police in the list of the top 250 paid city hall employees.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

This blog article is a tale of two cities. A tale of two young, highly educated, up and coming, charismatic, progressive, Democrat Mayors. Two Mayors essentially coming from white privilege backgrounds.

Both cities are the largest cities in their states with large minority populations, one African American and the other Hispanic. Both cities have police departments roughly the same size and each city spends about $200 million a year to fund their police departments. Both cities are dealing with excessive use of force and deadly force killings by the police, one city with an extensive history of it and the other with a recent killing. Both cities are dealing with protests, sometimes peaceful, sometime violent, sparked by the killing of African American George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

The first Mayor had the murder of George Floyd occur in his city. The second Mayor is dealing with a police department struggling to implement sweeping federal court mandated reforms relating to “excessive use of force” and “deadly force” after the US Justice Department investigation found a “culture of aggression”. Both Mayors consider themselves civil rights advocates, condemn racism, want inclusion and racial equality. It is highly unlikely they themselves have ever experienced racism to the extent their cities minority populations have. Both Mayors are having difficulty walking a tight rope and juggling police relations under their command and public outrage and protests over the murder of African American George Floyd. Both are being confronted with cries to “defund the police” and demands to do much more to deal with racism in their cities.

MINNEAPOLIS AND MAYOR JACOB FREY

The population of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2020 has a population of 437,069, and it is the largest city in Minnesota and the 45th largest city in the United States.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/minneapolis-population/

The Minneapolis Police Department budget for 2020 was $193.3 million with funding for 892 sworn officers and 175 civilian employees for a total of 1,067 employees.

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@finance/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-214163.pdf

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, 38, announced his candidacy for Mayor of Minneapolis on January 3, 2017, and won the November 7 municipal election. Frey was a Minneapolis City Councilor from 2013 until his election as mayor in 2017. He is a 2004 graduate of William & Mary and a 2007 graduate of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Frey was a civil rights attorney when he ran for Mayor. Much like Mayor Tim Keller, Frey was swept into office on promises to fix the broken relationship between the community and police reforms.

Soon after being elected, Mayor Frey successfully pushed reforms to the Minneapolis Police Department’s body camera policy. The changes tied non-compliance to stricter disciplinary consequences for the first time. Following the changes, officer compliance with the body camera policy reached record highs.

In 2019, Frey announced the banning of “warrior trainingz” for police officers, which had been taken by the officer who killed African American Philando Castile. It was on July 6, 2016, that Philando Castile, a 32-year-old African American man, was fatally shot during a traffic stop by Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez, a 28-year-old Hispanic-American police officer.

Castile informed the officer that he was carrying a hand gun in his car. The police car dash camera shows the moment when Castile is shot and killed. It shows Castile complying with police officer orders to show proof of insurance and also telling the police officer that he had a gun in his car and he had a license to legally carry it. The police officer ostensibly took the disclosure as a threat, drew his gun and shot Castile point blank killing him. On July 6, 2016, the police officer was acquitted of ‎Second-degree manslaughter by a jury. A link to the police dash cam is here:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000005176538/dash-camera-shows-moment-philando-castile-is-killed.html

THE MURDER THAT SPARKED A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

On Monday, May 26, around 8 p.m., African American George Floyd, 46, was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota for passing a counterfeit $20 bill. The video of George Floyd being arrested is extremely difficult to watch. The video clearly shows he did not actively resist arrest. Floyd did not have a weapon on him when the arrest was made and he was handcuffed. Police Officer Derek Chauvin took Floyd to the ground and he was subdued with his stomach and face on the ground.

Officer Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck and he used his full body weight to suppress George Floyd’s head and body to the ground. The take down suppression lasted for almost a full 9 minutes, during which time George Floyd begged for his life saying at least 14 times “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Paramedics were called and when they arrived, Floyd was none responsive and was dead. Police Officer Chauvin has been charged with murder and with manslaughter and arrested.

You can view the video here:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/29/george-floyd-arrest-video-minneapolis-dp-orig.cnn

The murder of Floyd at the hands of police officer has been the catalyst for change, not only in the United States but in many European countries. “I can’t breathe” has become a battle cry to end racism and police killings of unarmed people of color. Protest in the United States, Canada and Europe have broken out as anger and rage become the fuel for change in police practices.

Last month, Mayor Frey ordered a police station to evacuate as rioters burned it to the ground. Frey is also seeking federal and state aid for his city, citing more than $55 million in damages from the riots.

On May 27, 2020, following and during protests sparked from the killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, Frey demanded the firing of polic officer Chauvin Floyd and said:

“Being black in America should not be a death sentence. For five minutes we watched as a white police officer pressed his knee into the neck of a black man. For five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help.”

Mayor Frey later called for criminal charges to be filed against Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for upwards of 9 minutes while Floyd cried out 14 times “I can’t breathe”. Chauvin was later charged with third-degree murder, which was later upgraded to second-degree murder, he was arrested and bond has been set at $1 million dollars.

MAYOR FREY’S APPEARANCE AT PROTEST GOES SERIOUSLY WRONG

On June 6, 2020, a march was held in Minneapolis, pushing for the abolishment of the Minneapolis Police Department attended by hundreds. Mayor Frey attended the protest. Looming above the mayor on a stage set up in the middle of the street, an African American woman with a microphone asked Frey point blank if he would commit on the spot to defunding the Minneapolis Police Department. She shouted to the Mayor, “It is a yes or no.” She then bellowed to the protesters to be quiet but reminded the protesters that Frey is up for re-election next year. She said “And if he says no, guess what we’re going to do next year,” adding an expletive for emphasis.

The microphone was handed to Mayor Frey, who said in a barely audible voice because it was muffled by a face mask:

“I do not support the full abolition of the police.”

After Frey answered the question, protesters booed him loudly and began chanting “Go home, Jacob, go home!” and “Shame! Shame!” Frey then turned and left slowly and walked through hundreds of protesters. A video of the interaction hit social media and the next day the story was on the national news, including the New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/us/minneapolis-mayor-jacob-frey-walk-of-shame.html

In a subsequent interview with a local TV station, Frey addressed the issue of “defunding” the police department this way:

“I’ll work relentlessly with Chief Arradondo and alongside community toward deep, structural reform and addressing systemic racism in police culture. We’re ready to dig in and enact more community-led, public safety strategies on behalf of our city. But, I do not support abolishing the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Frey prefaced his comments by saying he was “coming to grips” with his “own brokenness,” and promised to put the police union “in its place.” Protesters clearly were not convinced, yelling “It’s not about you!” and “Go home Jacob, go home!”

MAYOR FREY FACES SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO DEFUND MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT

On Thursday, June 4, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison said on TWITTER:

[Minneapolis will] “dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response. We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together.”

On Sunday, June 7, a majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said they support disbanding the city’s police department. Nine of the council’s 12 members appeared with activists at an afternoon rally in a city park and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Lisa Bender, the president of Minneapolis City Council said:

“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe. … Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”

ALBUQUERQUE AND MAYOR TIM KELLER

In 2020, Albuquerque has a population of 561,188, it is the largest city in New Mexico and the 32nd largest city in the United States. The Albuquerque Police Department’s budget for the 2020 fiscal year was $205 million with funding for 1,513 full time positions that included funding for 1,040 sworn police officers and 473 civilian employees. APD is spending $88 million over 4 years to add 100 new police officers each year of the 4 years with and additional $33 million in non recurring expenses. The massive investment is being done in order to full fill Mayor Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD, return to community-based policing and to reduce the city’s high crime rates.

http://documents.cabq.gov/budget/fy-20-approved-budget.pdf

Mayor Tim Keller, 41, was elected on November 7, 2017, the same day as Mayor Jacob Frey, and was sworn in on January 1, 2018. Keller attended St. Pius High School, has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Norte Dame and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard. Prior to being elected Mayor, he was elected New Mexico State Auditor in 2016 to a 4-year term, ran for Mayor while serving as State Auditor, and resigning less than 2 years serving as State Auditor once he was elected Mayor. Prior to being State Auditor, Keller was a New Mexico State Senator for 6 years, and ran for State Auditor in the middle of his second 4-year term as a NM State Senator and once again resigned in the middle of an elected 4 year term as a State Senator when he was elected State Auditor.

When then State Auditor and candidate for Mayor, Tim Keller campaigned on the platform of fully implementing the Department of Justice (DOJ) mandated reforms, increasing the size of the police department, returning to community-based policing, reducing skyrocketing high crime rates, economic development and raising taxes only with a public vote. The Keller Administration is implementing an $88 million-dollar APD police expansion program increasing the number of sworn police officers from 898 positions filled to 1,200, or by 302 sworn police officers, over a four-year period.

“HE’S EVERYWHERE, HE’S EVERYWHERE” AND ALWAYS ON THE MOVE

Since being sworn into office, Mayor Tim Keller, 41, has taken photo ops to an all new level by attending functions to speak at, attending marches, attending heavy metal concerts to introduce the band, running in track meets and participating in exhibition football games as the quarterback, enjoying reliving his high school glory days, and posting pictures and videos of his press conferences on FACEBOOK.

Mayor Keller began increasing his press conferences even more so when Governor Lujan Grisham issued pandemic quarantine and emergency health orders to deal with the pandemic. Keller also issued his own emergency health orders to deal with the city’s response to the pandemic. Appearing as though he is competing with the Governor, Mayor Keller began daily news briefings and conducting virtual town hall meetings by phone calling upwards of 14,000 residents to answer questions and to talk about the city’s response to the pandemic.

When African American George Floyed was killed by a Minneapolis Police officer and protest broke out across the country, including Albuquerque, Mayor Keller kick his public relations into even higher gear. Mayor Keller is conducting press conferences on how the city is dealing with the protests from a law enforcement perspective.

Keller has been seen and interviewed by the news media at Black Lives Matter protests and has spoken at protests events, but has not been met with the absolute hostility Mayor Frey has endured, that is until recently. At a vigil for George Floyd, after Keller was introduced he took to the podium and began by quoting George Floyd by saying “I can’t breath”. As Keller continued to speak, he was heckled with the chants and the slogan “defund the police”. The chant was coming from a number of young protesters in the back that had attended a rally the night before.

Not to be deterred, Keller ignored the heckling, proclaimed his “Office of Equity and Inclusion” and police reforms are working, but he cut his comments short. Based on the surprise look on his face when he was interrupted, Keller ostensibly did not understand the chant or was at least puzzled why he was being interrupted, something he is not use to. It was reported Keller left after being questioned about defunding Albuquerque police. On FACEBOOK, where Keller posted his speech, Keller was excoriated with many comments with some critics asking why he was invited in the first place seeing that APD used tear gas to disperse a crowd the night before.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1463867/its-their-time.html

KELLER TOUTS SUCCESS OF DOJ REFORMS, BUT FAILS TO DISCLOSE RESISTANCE TO REFORMS AND WHAT HE INTENDS TO DO ABOUT IT

On June 4, Mayor Tim Keller, Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) command staff, the City’s Attorney office and Ed Harness, the Director of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency in a one hour press conference, touted progress made by APD in implementing the reforms mandated by the federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) with the Department of Justice (DOJ). The reforms deal with excessive use of force and deadly force by APD that resulted in 32 deaths and $62 million in civil settlements.

The press conference was held in part in response to the protests over the murder of George Floyd. Albuquerque has not been spared the protests. The protests by and large have been peaceful but on two occasions property damage and violence has erupted. The city is seeing its Police Department exhibit a remarkable amount of restraint and professionalism that so far has resulted in no one getting killed. How APD is handling protests is evidence that all of the training and all the reforms that were mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) are working. The Albuquerque Police Department and the officers of APD are commended and credited for the manner and approach they are taking in handling the protests.

During the June 4 press conference, Keller showcased how APD is measuring up to a national effort known as the “#8 Can’t Waite” program targeting 8 specific policy changes, or metrics, that reform advocates say can help reduce police violence by 77%. According to Keller and Nair, APD has achieved 6 of the “#8 Can’t Wait” policy changes because of implementation of the DOJ reforms.

What Mayor Keller did not publicly disclose during his June 4 press conference is that the “counter CASA effect” is impeding DOJ reforms. It is also by extension impeding the “#8 Can’t Wait” metrics. The “Counter CASA effect” was explained by the Federal Monitor on September 10, 2018 during a federal court hearing. Federal Monitor Dr. James Ginger told the federal judge that a group of “high-ranking APD officers” within the department were trying to thwart reform efforts. The Federal Monitor revealed that the group of “high-ranking APD officers” were APD sergeants and lieutenants. Because sergeants and lieutenants are part of the police bargaining unit they remained in their positions and could not be removed by the Chief.

In his 10th Auditors Report, Dr. Ginger stated:

“Sergeants and lieutenants, at times, go to extreme lengths to excuse officer behaviors that clearly violate established and trained APD policy, using excuses, deflective verbiage, de minimis comments and unsupported assertions to avoid calling out subordinates’ failures to adhere to established policies and expected practice. Supervisors, sergeants, and mid-level managers, lieutenants, routinely ignore serious violations, fail to note minor infractions, and instead, consider a given case “complete”. … Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) disciplinary timelines, appear at times to be manipulated by supervisory, management and command levels at the area commands, letting known violations lie dormant until timelines for discipline cannot be met.”

In his 11th Audit Report, the Federal Monitor made it clear once again that there are many within APD that are still overtly resistant to reforms and said:

“Since the beginning of the CASA compliance process that there were a few at APD who were overtly resistant to the CASA. [The Monitor] in the past [has] found evidence of a “counter-CASA effect” among some at the supervisory, mid-management, and command levels at APD. Those who knowingly or subconsciously count themselves in this group are beginning to face pressure to change their assessment of the value of the CASA. In some cases [they] have faced reasonably prompt and appropriate corrective efforts from the current executive levels of the APD for behavior that is not congruent with the CASA.” According to the report, “this as an essential “way forward” if APD is to move into full compliance. The remaining issue is that this pressure is neither uniform nor persistent.”

See page 303 of 307 of Monitor’s 10th report.

In his 11th report, the monitor stated that APD personnel:

“were still failing to adhere to the requirements of the CASA found in past monitoring reports, including some instances moving beyond the epicenter of supervision to mid- and upper management levels of the organization. … Some in APD’s command levels continue to exhibit behaviors that “build bulwarks” [or walls] preventing fair and objective discipline, including a process of attempting to delay and in some cases successfully delaying the oversight processes until the timelines for administering discipline had been exceeded. [The] delays prevented an effective remedial response to behavior that is clearly in violation of established policy.”

See page 4 of 307of Monitors 11th report.

The entire 11th Federal Monitors report can be found at this link:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/file/1274006/download

MEANING OF “DEFUND THE POLICE”

Disbanding entire police departments has happened before in the United States cities. In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its entire police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County. Like it or not, the same thing could easily happen here in Albuquerque.

The “defund the police” movement can be defined in simple terms as meaning taking funding away from police forces and invest or reallocate those funds into social programs to address the real causes of crime. Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement put it this way:

“It’s not just about taking away money from the police, it’s about reinvesting those dollars into [minority] communities. Communities that have been deeply divested from, communities that, some have never felt the impact of having true resources. And so we have to reconsider what we’re resourcing. I’ve been saying we have an economy of punishment over an economy of care.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/08/what-does-defund-police-mean-george-floyd-black-lives-matter/5317240002/

Advocates of “Defund the Police” insist that it is not about eliminating police departments or stripping police agencies of all of their money. What they do say is that it is time for the country to address systemic problems in policing in America and spend more on what communities across the United States need such as housing, education and economic development and job growth.

In Minneapolis the group MPD150 says it is “working towards a police-free Minneapolis,” and the group wrote on its website:

Defund the Police is more about strategically reallocating resources, funding, and responsibility away from police and toward community-based models of safety, support, and prevention. The people who respond to crises in our community should be the people who are best-equipped to deal with those crises, [not the police]”

United States Representative Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said part of the “defund the police” movement is really about how money is spent and had this to say in an interview with CNN:

“Now, I don’t believe that you should disband police departments. … But I do think that, in cities, in states, we need to look at how we are spending the resources and invest more in our communities. … Maybe this is an opportunity to re-envision public safety,”

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza asked during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press said:

“Why can’t we look at how it is that we reorganize our priorities, so people don’t have to be in the streets during a national pandemic?”.

Activists acknowledge that to “defund the police” will be a long and drawn out process, predominantly because law enforcement in general are supported by their communities. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city would move funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services, while keeping the city safe, but he didn’t give details. In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to cut as much as $150 million that was part of a planned increase in the police department’s budget.

Links to news sources and related news coverage are here:

https://hosted.ap.org/dailytimes/article/157539e98d2b6a546ca5ecdf4f88f098/when-protesters-cry-defund-police-what-does-it-mean

https://www.startribune.com/movement-to-defund-police-sees-minneapolis-as-proving-ground/571116932/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/us/what-is-defund-police-trnd/index.html#:~:text=Defunding%20law%20enforcement%20%22means%20that,have%20been%20deeply%20divested%20from.%22

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and the 32nd largest city in the United States. Minneapolis, Minnesota is the largest city in Minnesota and the 45th largest city in the United States. Both city’s police departments are roughly the same size and both police departments have nefarious pasts when it comes to police brutality, excessive use of force and deadly force. The problems with the Minneapolis, Minnesota police department deal with systemic racism. Systemic racism within APD was not the problem found by the Department of Justice investigation. The city’s DOJ consent decree reforms deal predominantly with APD’s interactions with the mentally ill and a culture of aggression found within APD dealing with all citizens encountered.

Both Mayor Jacob Frey and Mayor Tim Keller are up for election to a second term in 2021. Over a year and a half remains in their terms, not to mention reelection bids that likely will be brutal. It is likely both will be favored for reelection. However, in these difficult times of both the corona virus and a civil rights movement that has been ignited and gone global over the killing of George Floyd, a year and a half is a lifetime in politics where anything can and will likely happened for the worst before it gets better.

Pandering to the public and making appearances at protests to speak, as has been done by both Mayor Frey and Mayor Keller, is not governing and not making the hard decisions. Nor is it the time for both politicians to try and say what they have done in the past, how good they are doing and what they are doing now to solve systemic racism. What is happening in both cities is the protesters movement and moment in time, not any politicians time. Both Mayors need to just listen to the concerns of the minorities that they are not a part of but nonetheless represent as Mayor of their respective cities. Attend the protest and just listen for a change.

MAYOR JACOB FREY’S CROSSROAD

Mayor Jacob Frey is now at a crossroad. He needs to decide if he should stand by his decision not to defund the Minneapolis Police Department and take the road to veto any legislation. With a veto, Frey risks an embarrassing override and the accusation he could not control or manage his police department and such a drastic move as “defunding the police” is necessary. The other road he could take is to go along with the City Council and do whatever it wants as to defunding the police. As a former civil rights attorney, you would think Frey would not think twice about defunding the police department. But leading and making decisions on public safety is a lot harder than the practice of law. Frey is to be commended for not having a knee jerk reaction just to score political points at a protest.

MAYOR TIM KELLER’S CROSSROAD

Thus far, Mayor Keller has resisted imposing a curfew as well resisting asking Governor Lujan Grisham to call out the National Guard. Where the city goes from here and what APD management is doing with the police reforms needs to be address by the Keller Administration.

Mayor Keller is faced with APD sergeants and lieutenants that are part of management but they are not “at will” employees and they are allowed to join the police union. The APD sergeants and lieutenants being in the police bargaining unit creates a clear conflict within management and the union they are a part of and sends mixed messages to rank and file sworn police officers.

In Albuquerque, APD police sergeants and lieutenants need to be made “ at will” employees and removed from the police union in order for Keller to get a real buy in to management’s goals of police reform and the CASA reforms. For 6 years under the consent decree, APD Police sergeants and lieutenants have been serving two masters of Administration Management and Union priorities that are in conflict when it comes to the CASA reforms and the #8 Can’t Waite metrics. Until sergeants and lieutenants are removed from the union and made at will employees, Mayor Keller and the public should not expect the CASA reforms or the #8 Can’t Waite” metrics to be accomplished any time soon.

Mayor Tim Keller is also at a crossroad. His failure to be more aggressive with removing any and all sworn police who impede the reform process has now caught up because of the passage of time and he does not have much time left. It is not at likely that defunding the APD is being seriously considered by Keller seeing as he continually goes to APD’s defense when mismanagement is revealed and then says progress is being made with the reforms. Mayor Keller no doubt will want the police unions endorsement again next year as he seeks a second term.

The very lucrative two-year Police Union Contract that provides for substantial raises and longevity pay increases to rank and file police will soon expire. Mayor Keller should order his administration to seek removal of sergeants and lieutenants from the bargaining unit and refuse to sign another contract with the police union until that is done, or just slam the door on any such discussion and continue to give the Police Union any and all it wants as far as concessions. Mayor Keller should begin the discussions by making it clear he will not seek, nor does he want, the APOA Union endorsement at least until the Court Approved Settlement Agreement reforms are 100% implemented and the case is dismissed, along with all causes of action, with prejudice.

FINAL COMMENTS

In both Minneapolis and Albuquerque, the law enforcement community, must understand with complete clarity that police brutality, excessive use of force and deadly force based on racial profiling and the presumption of guilt because of a person’s color and not evidence will not be tolerated. Police must recognize that the motto “serve and protect” is not based on skin color.

Come election day November 2, 2021, it will be interesting to see if both Mayor Frey and Mayor Keller are still Mayor of their cities, if only one is still mayor or if both will be looking for a new job. What will be even more interesting is what will happen with the Minneapolis and Albuquerque Police Departments and how both departments will look in a year and a half presuming the departments will still be in existence.