On Friday, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torres presented his written report to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council blaming the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Case Management Order (CMO) for Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates, the higher percentage of cases going to trial and “gamesmanship” by defense attorneys.

It took just two (2) days for the Albuquerque Journal to agree with Torrez and unload on our criminal justice system blaming the courts and the Case Management Order for our increasing crime rates.

The Journal editorial did not hold responsible the Berry Administration, the Albuquerque Police Department nor the District Attorney’s Office as major contributors to our out of control crime rates.

(https://www.abqjournal.com/1023255/change-in-court-procedure-needed-to-cut-case-dismissals-and-stem-abqs-crime-wave.html)

The Albuquerque Journal has adopted President Trump’s, Mayor Berry’s and Chief Gordon Eden’s tactic of blaming our courts with all that is wrong with our criminal justice system.

The Journal essentially used Raul Torrez’ report as a new spear head to provide another assault on our courts that has been undertaken by Mayor Richard Berry, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and Chief Gordon Eden.

Torrez in his report says the rule’s application has been “arbitrary, unpredictable, and unjust, all at the expense of the State and Public”, arguments strongly disputed by the defense bar and the criminal justice Coordinating Council which helped draft the Case Management Order.

The Case Management Order (CMO) was issued by the New Mexico Supreme Court in February 2015 to eliminate the unacceptable backlog of criminal trials and sets deadlines for criminal prosecutions to ensure speedier trials for defendants and to deal with an overcrowded jail system and the CMO complies with well-established rules of criminal procedure.

By all accounts, the CMO is working and jail crowding is under control.

The CMO was necessitated by the fact that so many defendants were awaiting arraignments or trials and being held in the Bernalillo County Detention Center for months, and at times years, to the point that the jail was becoming severely overcrowded exceeding its capacity of approximately 2,200 inmates.

For decades, the jail has been the subject of a class action federal lawsuit for overcrowding.

The Sunday Albuquerque Journal editorial threw in for good measure colored photographs of Torres and CAO Rob Perry to accompany their bold print editorial headline “Cleanup time” and “Change in court procedure needed to cut case dismissals and stem ABQ’s crime wave”.

Perry was quoted as saying with bravado concern “Almost every night there’s a tragedy in this city, and it has absolutely eaten away at the quality of life, the economic vitality and what it means to live for the future in Albuquerque. I don’t think we have the luxury of getting into technical debates about this. We’ve got some bad hombres out there.”

The Albuquerque Journal editorial also quoted a letter from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce supporting Torrez’s recommendations which said, “Albuquerque is a special place with many strengths, but it must also be a safe place for businesses and families if we are to compete for jobs.”

TORREZ’S ACTIONS CAN BE EXPLAINED

There should be no surprise with Torrez expressing frustration with rising crime rates seeing as when he ran for District Attorney he said our criminal justice system in Albuquerque is in dire need of change and he was the guy to get it done.

The fact that Torrez has been in office less than six months means he can be afforded some credit for trying to do something and trying to keep his campaign promises.

However, Torres blaming the Case Management Order for the increase in crime rates is “political gamesmanship” in and of itself and obvious effort to avoid being held accountable for his office’s future failures in dealing with our soaring crime rates.

A deficiency that has not been reported by the press is that the District Attorney’s Office is fully funded for 110 prosecutors but the office is down by approximately 10 positions which Torrez is having a tough time filling.

Torrez complains about the CMO order, but he is the one that abolished the grand jury bureau in the District Attorney’s office that screened felony cases for deficiencies and that was responsible for indicting cases for assignment to prosecutors.

The Priority Repeat Offender Program, which prosecuted career criminals to secure enhanced sentences was also disbanded by the District Attorney’s Office.

Soon after Torrez took office, he hired two (2) highly experienced special prosecutors on contract to review the backlog of some 40 plus police officer involved shootings to determine if charges should be brought against officers.

After six months of being paid, the special prosecutors have not announced anything about clearing up the backlog of officer involved shootings or if charges will be brought.

PERRY’S BRAVADO IS POLITICAL GAMESMANSHIP

What is so disgusting is the real gamesmanship of Rob Perry’s and the Chamber of Commerce trying to lay blame on our court’s for Albuquerque’s increased crime rates.

Rob Perry has been around for the last eight (8) years as Berry’s enforcer and right-hand administrator and has played a key role in the mismanagement of APD.

As Chief Administrative Officer, Rob Perry plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including budget oversight.

Perry is the highest paid city employees and paid $198,000 a year base salary.

It was Rob Perry that proclaimed the city conducted a “national search” for a police chief which wounded up with the selection of political operative Gordon Eden who has no prior experience managing a municipal police department.

Rob Perry has done nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms and has never challenged the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD, Rob Perry has been silent, has been nowhere to be found, and has declined to demand accountability from the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms.

For eight (8) years, Perry has done nothing about APD spiraling out of control, the tremendous decline in the number of sworn police officers and our rising crime rates.

FELONY VIOLENT CRIME STATISTICS

According to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) statistics, the total number of violent crimes in Albuquerque dipped two years and then steadily increased as follows:

2010 – 4,291
2011 – 4,207
2012 – 4,151
2013 – 4,323
2014 – 4,934
2015 – 5,409

According to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, from 2009 to 2015, Albuquerque’s violent crime rate increased by 21.5%.

Murders spiked in Albuquerque by over 50% from 30 murders in 2014 to 46 murders in 2015.

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics, in the last eight (8) years, Albuquerque has become the is fifth-most violent city in the country on a per capita basis while the nation’s violent crime rate dropped by 13.7%.

FELONY PROPERTY CRIME STATISTICS

Albuquerque has become number one in the nation for auto thefts.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest Hot Spots report shows Albuquerque and of Bernalillo County as the worst place in the nation when it comes to auto theft per capita.

In 2016 more than 10,000 vehicles were stolen in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County or more than 27 vehicles a day.

According to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) statistics, the total number of property crimes in Albuquerque has steadily increased each year during the last six (6) years as follows:

2010 – 26,493
2011 – 28,109
2012 – 29,804
2013 – 30,614
2014 – 30,523
2015 – 34,082

In 2015, APD made 9,049 felony arrests, 22,639 misdemeanor arrests, 2,213 DWI arrests, and 2,552 domestic violence arrests.

In 2016, APD made 8,744 felony arrests, 19,857 misdemeanor arrests, 1,070 DWI arrests, and 2,462 domestic violence arrests.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard. (Source: 2017-2018 City of Albuquerque Proposed budget)

FAILURE TO PROSECUTE MISDEMEANOR CASES PART OF CRIME WAIVE

The Bernalillo Count District Attorney Office has a misdemeanor division with approximately 25 Assistant District Attorney’s assigned to the division who are responsible for prosecuting cases that mandate a court record.

In 2009, there were 746 people arraigned for felony DWI and that number dropped to a mere 104 in 2015.

In 2008, there were 6,538 people arraigned for misdemeanor DWI and in 2015 that number dropped by close to 60% to 2,942.

In 2010, the APD traffic unit had more than 34 officers and today there are less than 12.

There is a direct correlation with the dramatic decline in the number of DWI arrests and arraignments and traffic arrangement cases and the severe decline in APD personnel.

The silence by the press and anti-DWI advocates is deafening given the serious drop in DWI arraignments and convictions, as is the silence from the District Attorney.

APD SWORN POLICE DEFICIENCY

Eight (8) years ago, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) was the best trained, best equipped, best funded department in its history and fully staffed with 1,100 sworn police officers.

In 2010 , APD response times had been brought down below the national average and crime rates were hitting historical lows.

In eight (8) years, APD went from 1,100 sworn police to 853 sworn police all under the watchful eye of Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and Mayor Berry.

From 2010 to 2014, the city council fully funded 1,100 positions despite the mass exodus of sworn police and the APD Police Academy’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements.

Three years ago, the City Council voted to reduce funding from 1,100 sworn officers to 1,000 sworn officers because of the Berry Administration’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements
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In 2017, response times are at historical highs with calls to APD taking hours instead of minutes to respond threatening public safety.

In 2017, APD is funded for 1,000 sworn officers but has only 853 sworn police officers.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard.

Of the 853 sworn police 436 are assigned to field services, resulting in 417 sworn police officers assigned to the various specialized felony units and command staff.

Given the volume of felony arrest and cases, APD is severely understaffed to complete felony investigations.

A December 11, 2015 Albuquerque Police Department Comprehensive Staffing Assessment and Resource Study concluded that APD needs at least 1,000 sworn officers.

THE DA’S OFFICE CANNOT PROSECUTE WITHOUT A COMPLETED CASE

A successful criminal felony prosecution by the District Attorney is only as good as the weakest link in the criminal investigation.

When it comes to felony prosecutions, final law enforcement reports, called supplemental offense reports, are prepared containing a narrative of the case, the investigation of the facts of the case, witness statements, an inventory of all the evidence gathered, forensic reports and anything related and needed for a prosecution, and only when the case is complete should it be turned over to the District Attorney,

When the Bernalillo County District Attorney brings charges either by criminal complaint or felony indictment by grand jury, there should be little need for extensive follow up and gathering of evidence.

If the criminal investigation or the evidence gathering has not been completed by law enforcement, then its law enforcement that must complete their work and not leave the work to the District Attorney.

Once a case is charged, if law enforcement has done its job properly investigating a case, the District Attorney should not have any problem adhering to discovery demands and deadlines of the CMO.

APD is so short staffed that the felony divisions including the violent crimes, property crimes and narcotics divisions, cannot keep up with the caseloads and finish the cases and submit completed supplemental offense reports, including the required evidence gathering to the District Attorney.

The best example of APD’s sworn personnel crisis is the auto theft unit which has only 4 detectives each having over 1,000 open cases, yet Albuquerque is number one in the nation per capita for auto theft.

Other examples of the sworn personnel crisis include the fact that APD no longer assigns a liaison officer to the District Attorney’s office to follow up with retrieving discovery to turn over to defense counsel and APD no longer transcribes interviews they take and forces the DA offices to do it.

CONCLUSION

The truth is Albuquerque’s severe rising crime rates have been in the making for the last eight (8) years.

Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates have very little to do with the Supermen Court’s Case Management Order implemented in 2015 and the yearly statistics bear this out.

Albuquerque’s increasing crimes rates have a lot to do with the fact that APD is so severely understaffed it cannot complete felony investigations and get the cases over to the District Attorney for successful prosecution.

http://www.koat.com/article/panhandling-stopping-on-street-to-help-could-become-illegal/10210532

This falls under the category of “outlawing acts of charity” by a privileged governing class Albuquerque City Councilor.

Republican Albuquerque City Counselor Trudy Jones is sponsoring an ordinance that will prohibit both panhandling and drivers stopping to pass items such as food, money or anything a driver wants to give as a handout to help make a beggar’s or a homeless person’s life a little less miserable.

Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones was first elected in 2007, is serving her third term on the Albuquerque City Council, and represents District 8, Albuquerque’s Far Northeast Heights and Foothills, some of the more affluent areas of Albuquerque.

Jones is very prominent in the commercial real estate and investment industry and by accounts she is financially successful.

Given the area of the city Trudy Jones represents and the line of work she is in, a person must wonder just how big of a problem panhandling is in her city council district and what really is motivating her to sponsor the ordinance.

Trudy Jones is claiming “panhandling puts pedestrians in danger” and that the panhandler signs distract drivers.

Presumably, the signs Jones is referring to are all those ugly, dirty little signs made from pieces of discarded or scrap cardboard with magic marker scrawl that say “hungry” or “will work for food”, and made by people who are so desperate that they resort to begging on a street corner.

Peter Simonson, the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, has gone on record as saying that the panhandler’s actions of holding up those card board signs and the handouts are protected free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The proposed Jones ordinance goes on to state that drivers stopping to pass panhandlers items or money interrupts “the flow of traffic”.

Heaven forbid that Trudy Jone’s flow of traffic be interrupted as she travels to and from her real estate sales meetings and city council meetings in the comfort of her luxury car to carry out her duties, let alone being forced to see those who are less fortunate.

I suspect Trudy Jones feels that the ordinance is needed because all those blue signs the Mayor has put up at freeway entrances telling the homeless to call 311 for help if they are desperate need of assistance or need referrals for help or shelter are not working.

Trudy Jones apparently is not satisfied with the city’s already enacted “aggressive panhandler ordinance” that is seldom enforced by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) as evidenced by the number of panhandlers always seen at freeway entrances.

Heaven forbid that already stopped and backed up traffic be interrupted by a small act of kindness or charity by any driver who wants to help someone in some small way.

Trudy Jones also wants to make sure that all you criminals out there driving your cars are kept from giving away your own private property or own food and doing what you want with your own money.

It does not matter to Jones that the Albuquerque Police Department is having enough problems as it is handling far more important calls for service that do indeed endanger public safety.

Under Chief Gordon Eden’s recently announced directives, all that sworn APD officers will be able to do is issue paper citations for the panhandling and not make any arrests.

In 2016, APD made 8,744 felony arrests, 19,857 misdemeanor arrests, 1,070 DWI arrests, and 2,462 domestic violence arrests.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard.

APD has only 436 sworn police are assigned to field services, divided into three working shifts, less any of those on vacation, sick leave or in court resulting in approximately 24 sworn officers patrolling an entire area command.

Albuquerque is number one in the nation for auto thefts, our violent crime rates and property crime rates have increased by 21.5% and 19% respectively and murders increased by 54% in 2015, but Trudy Jones is worried about panhandling.

We should all be thankful we have Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones willing to sponsor ordinances to stop the crime wave being caused by panhandlers and all you criminals legally driving the streets of Albuquerque wanting to show an act of kindness or charity to someone less fortunate than you.

http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-rapid-transit-art-summerfest-east-nob-hill/4521690/

This Channel 4 news story reports how the ART Bus project will destroy Summerfest the second year in a row yet the Berry Administration gives kudos to the construction crews saying the Summerfest event will be allowed to go on in only half of the area of Nob Hill.

Municipal Election day is a little over three (3) months away on October 3, 2017 when we will be electing a new Mayor and five (5) city councilors. Early voting is to start in mid-September. Voters need to remember all three (3) city councilors who are up for re-election and who carried Mayor Berry’s water on the ART Bus project namely Diane Gibson, Ken Sanchez, Don Harris. All three (3) need to be voted out of office and held accountable for the arrogance they have exhibited with the ART Bus project and the destruction of Route 66. Congressional candidate Pat Davis also supported ART to the determent of his own constituents in Nob Hill.

Less than six months after being sworn in as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Raul Torres is blaming the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Case Management Order (CMO) for Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates, the higher percentage of cases going to trial and “gamesmanship” by defense attorneys.

(See June 20, 2017 Albuquerque Journal article, page A-1 “DA seeks changes to reduce dismissals; Speedy trial rules called too restrictive”)

(https://www.abqjournal.com/1020107/district-attorneys-report-calls-for-changes-to-court-rules.html?fb_action_ids=1584580458342966&fb_action_types=og.likes)

The Case Management Order (CMO) was issued by the New Mexico Supreme Court in February 2015 and sets deadlines for criminal prosecutions to ensure speedier trials for defendants and to deal with an overcrowded jail system.

The CMO was necessitated by the fact that so many defendants were awaiting arraignments or trials and being held in the Bernalillo County Detention Center, or jail, for months, and at times years, to the point that the jail was becoming severely overcrowded exceeding its capacity of approximately 2,200 inmates.

The Bernalillo County Detentions Center for decades has been the subject of a Federal class action law suit for jail overcrowding.

Torrez had his District Attorney Office issue a report that outlines the so-called problems he perceives since the issuance of the Case Management Order in February 2015.

The main points of the DA’s report are that defense attorneys are “gaming” the court mandated discovery deadlines under the CMO to get cases dismissed by demanding evidence they are entitled to under the law and the Rules of Criminal Procedure and asking for trials instead of entering into plea agreements.

Torrez wants to end the practice under the CMO of dismissing cases because of inmate transportation issues and giving judges far more discretion when deadlines to turn over discovery are not met by the prosecution.

Motions to dismiss a case can be filed by defendants when the DA’s office does not turn over discovery in a timely manner to the defense as required by the CMO.

Discovery in a criminal prosecution case can include and is not limited to police offense reports, photographs of crime scenes, witness statements, recorded statements, transcribed statements, lapel camera footage, computer aided dispatch reports, 911 call history, surveillance video, medical or doctor reports, scientific or forensic test reports, ballistic reports, listing of items tagged into evidence, just to mention a few discovery items.

What Torrez calls “gaming” by defense attorney’s is what is called the practice of law by defense attorneys doing their job and mandating the prosecution to do their job and meeting their burden of proof as mandated by our United State Constitution and the presumption of innocence.

By all accounts, the CMO is in fact working with jail overcrowding down, but obviously not to the liking of Torrez because his office must work harder whenever there is a jury trial.

No prosecutor worth their salt should ever be afraid to go trial and prosecute a case once and indictment is secured and should not expect to secure plea agreements without defense attorneys doing their jobs of representing their clients.

Jury trials and the presumption of innocence are critical components of our judicial system that should be respected by prosecutors like Torrez without any reservation.

“Coercive plea bargaining” should not be used to undermine the jury system process just for the sake of avoiding a jury trial.

Rather than blaming the courts and the CMO for his office’s shortcomings, Torrez should be demanding far more cooperation, evidence gathering and work from law enforcement, especially the Albuquerque Police Department.

All District Attorney offices in the State of New Mexico are responsible for bringing and prosecuting charges based on cases investigated and brought to them by law enforcement agencies with the cases screened by the District Attorneys.

When it comes to felonies, final law enforcement reports, called supplemental offense reports, are prepared that contain a narrative of the case, the investigation of the facts of the case, witness statements, an inventory of all the evidence gathered, forensic reports and anything related and needed for a prosecution, and it should all be turned over to the District Attorney.

When the Bernalillo County District Attorney brings charges either by criminal complaint or felony indictment by grand jury, there should be very little need for extensive follow up and gathering of evidence.

If the criminal investigation or the evidence gathering has not been completed by law enforcement, then law enforcement needs to complete their work and not leave the work to the District Attorney.

Once a case is charged, if law enforcement has done its job properly investigating a case, the District Attorney should not have any problem adhering to discovery demands and deadlines of the CMO.

This is not the first time Torrez has complained that his office does not have enough resources to do its job. (See February 11, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “BernCo DA says crime “out of control” in county, page A-2)

Torrez when he ran for District Attorney said our criminal justice in Albuquerque is in dire need of change and he was the guy to do it.

Political rhetoric is different than governing.

Torrez just like APD Chief Gordon Eden and Mayor Berry found it easy to blame his predecessor or the Judicial system and the impact of “catch and release” of repeat offenders on public safety. (See Albuquerque Journal, “Justice Derailed”, February 11, 2017, page A-1)

Why not, it’s easier to blame someone else, especially the court’s, than to just buckle down, do your job and find a solution to the problems even if you did not create them.

The overall budget for the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office is $18,128,000 with personnel salaries & benefits compromising $16,809,000.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s budget dwarfs all other DA offices in the State, as it should, because it has the highest case loads.

The DA’s office employs 287 people which include 108 attorneys, 35 Prosecution Specialists, 15 Victim advocates, 15 investigators 114 Support Staff.

Actual felony grand jury indictments are down by 50% from 8 years ago, yet Torrez has said he needs more staff.

Why does blaming the Case Management Order (CMO) for all the dismissals and more trials sound so familiar?

It’s because that is exactly what Torrez’s predecessor did when the CMO was first implemented in 2015.

Torrez is quickly learning the significant difference between his political rhetoric of promising change and more prosecutions of repeat offenders and the realities of governing.

Torrez has also learned in less than six months how to lay the blame on others about our rising crime rate, including the courts, that has gotten so old with Mayor Berry and Chief Gordon Eden and now City Councilor Dan Lewis who is running for Mayor.

The difference is Berry and Eden will be gone in a few months and we now get to listen to Torrez for three and half more years blaming the courts for his office’s shortcomings.

Sooner or later, Torrez is going to learn that blaming others with front page stories and television reports are no substitute for making tough decisions to run an office and doing a good job, unless you are afraid and want to avoid being held responsible and are harboring higher political ambitions.

The Bernalillo County Commission has decline to authorize $50,000 to match the Albuquerque City’s Council’s allocation of $50,000 for a study to look at the feasibility of consolidating the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and city and county fire departments.

(See Albuquerque Journal story, Metro & NM Section, page A-6, “City County police consolidation is off the table” and https://www.abqjournal.com/1019790/citycounty-police-consolidation-is-off-the-table.html )

The Bernalillo County Commission gave a resounding no to the idea of City-County law enforcement consolidation in large part to the settlement agreement between the Albuquerque Police Department and the United State Department of Justice (DOJ).

City Councilor Ken Sanchez, one of three city councilors pushing for the study, said he was disappointed the County Commission decided not to move forward with exploring consolidation because it would have outlined “possible” benefits, including significant savings for taxpayers.

WHAT LITTLE KEN SANCHEZ HAS LEARNED

It’s pathetic that after over twenty (20) years of being an Albuquerque City Councilor as well as a Bernalillo County Commissioner, Ken Sanchez shows little understanding of APD, the BCSO, the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Bernalillo County Fire Department.

What Ken Sanchez does not understand is you are dealing with two very distinctive law enforcement agencies and two distinct fire protection services that will need far more to consolidate than an agreement by the City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission.

The Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Department is a law enforcement agency that is created by the New Mexico constitution and headed by a publicly elected official, the Bernalillo County Sherriff.

The Bernalillo County Fire Department is managed by the County Manger and a Public Safety Director appointed by the New Mexico constitutionally created County Commission with the appointment of a Bernalillo County Fire Chief.

APD the Albuquerque Fire Department are city departments, created under the authority of a voter approved City Charter, not the New Mexico State Constitution, and are headed by an appointed Chief of Police and Fire Chief who serve at the pleasure of a civilian, the Mayor of Albuquerque.

At least Bernalillo County Sherriff Manny Gonzales showed a little common sense about law enforcement consolidation when he said “I think that just based on the state of the city’s law enforcement agency, it wouldn’t be the wisest thing at this point. … Maybe in the future when they get out from underneath the Department of Justice and their compliances.”

The Albuquerque City Council has no understanding of the meaning of a Federal Court Order.

The city has no business even talking about law enforcement consolidation until APD is out from under the Federal Court Order.

In 2015, after the Department of Justice did a yearlong investigation of APD and found a “culture of aggression”, APD is under a federal court order that mandates upwards of 300 reform measures that APD is still struggling to implement under a Federal Court appointed monitor.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s office is relatively scandal free and under no mandated reform measures.

The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including controlling its budget.

Ken Sanchez has done nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms and has never challenged the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD to the City Council, Ken Sanchez has declined to demand accountability from the Mayor and hold the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms.

Ken Sanchez has failed to attend any number of the federal court hearings on the consent decree.

Ken Sanchez is part of what is wrong with City hall today.

TRASH TALKING APD BY WAYNE JOHNSON

Republican County Commissioner Wayne Johnson, who is now running for Albuquerque Mayor, expressed reservations about any merger by saying “[APD is] a very good department, but, on the other hand, they do have some problems that we don’t need to buy into at this point” saying the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has an excellent reputation, and he wouldn’t want to see the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department tarnished.

Johnson went on to say “I in no way want anybody to think I’m trashing APD, because I’m not. … There are some very good men and women working there, but the undeniable fact is they have some issues that need to be resolved.”

There are some very good men and woman working at APD and some issues needing to be resolved?

Wayne Johnson plays voters for fools when he says he is not “trash talkin” APD.

Wayne Johnson has a very bad habit of ignoring the undeniable “problems” of APD while he wants to be the Mayor of Albuquerque.
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At the first Mayor forum held this year in March, Johnson said that trying to run a law enforcement department with a 106-page consent decree, a court monitor and a federal judge watching makes it nearly impossible for the department to respond to public safety concerns.

Where there is no mistake is that the Department of Justice (DOJ) just a little over three (3) years ago found a pattern of excessive use of force and deadly force by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

The DOJ also found a “culture of aggression” within APD and a clear pattern of civil rights violations, especially when dealing with the mentally ill.

The DOJ consent decree mandates reforms, policy changes and training, especially crisis intervention, involving the mentally ill, that must be completed by APD.

During the last seven years, there have been 41 police officer involved shootings resulting in 38 deaths and over $61 million dollars paid in police misconduct cases for use of force and excessive force.

Just last year, two police officers were charged and tried with murder of homeless camper James Boyd, and although the officers were not convicted, the city settled the lawsuit for $5 million taxpayer dollars for police misconduct.

In early March, the City of Albuquerque agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21-year-old Ashley Browder who was killed in a 2013 crash caused by off-duty Police Sgt. Adam Casaus.

Some of the issues APD needs to resolve are the 300 reforms APD must implement under the consent decree as well as hiring 150 police officers.

At the March forum Wayne Johnson said, “I think we all agree (that APD) is understaffed and under siege”.

One thing that Republican candidate for Mayor Wayne Johnson refuses to acknowledge is the truth that APD has been is poorly managed by Republican operative Chief Gordon Eden and Republican Mayor Richard Berry.

I do not think it’s trash talking to say that Wayne Johnson has no business running for Mayor of Albuquerque.

FEASIBILITY OF CONSOLIDATING CITY COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY FUNCTIONS

City-County consolidation of governments is nothing new and consolidation studies “ad nausea” have been done in the past and have shown a major benefit to such consolidation.

Many years ago, a task force was also formed at considerable cost that studied and recommended consolidation of City-County Government.

When put to a vote, city voters favored consolidation while county voters rejected it by a large margin.

Consolidation of the law enforcement functions of the City and County is not a novel idea and was proposed by former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White.

White’s proposal was nothing but one enormous power grab by White in that he wanted to take control of APD, take charge of APD and all of its staff and law enforcement resources.

Consolidation of the law enforcement functions of the City and County would require a public vote and would require passage separately by both City and County voters.

Another option that is far more feasible and realistic would be the creation of a City-County Public Safety Department by the New Mexico legislature, but it would probably be at the detriment of the City of Albuquerque and the benefit to Bernalillo County because of the sure lopsidedness of the agencies.

There is precedent for such action by the New Mexico legislature.

Approximately twenty-two (22) years ago, former powerhouse and south valley Democrat State Senator Manny Aragon sponsored and pushed through the New Mexico legislature state laws that created the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWA).

The ABCWUA is governed by a Water Utility Board with City and County elected officials and an appointed manager.

The legislation gutted and seized all the City’s water utility assets and Bernalillo County got the better of the deal with extended services paid for by city resources.

The New Mexico legislature, either by enabling laws or by constitutional amendment could create a City-County Public Safety Department mandating the consolidation of APD with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and city and county fire departments.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/06/16/chair-of-civilian-police-oversight-accuses-apd-command-staff-of-thievery/

The Albuquerque Free Press is reporting that Civilian Police Oversight Board (CPOB) Chair Joanne Fine is once again blasting the Albuquerque Police Department’s command staff for going on three years for refusing to accept civilian oversight and it is for good cause.

Fine asserts the current administration will ride out the next six months collecting paychecks and doing nothing to reform itself.

CPOB Chairperson Fine calls it thievery on the command staff’s part when she says:

“They are zero percent compliant with us. It’s apparent that between now and December, when a new mayor comes in [and, presumably there is a new police chief], they will do everything to put obstacles in our path to delay, deny and deceive,” Fine said. “They have six months to float and they know it. So we will pay them and they won’t do the work. I call that thievery.”

For the past 10 months, the CPOB has asked APD for information on officer-involved car crashes and APD has been stonewalling on giving the information.

In April alone there were 66 officer-involved crashes and that’s a lot of totaled cars and property damage not to mention the very tragic deaths.

The CPOB had asked the police department for a report on how other police departments are doing when it comes to such collisions and the report the CPOB got from APD was so weak that Fine described it as a “post-it note.”

Chief Gordon Eden and the APD Command Staff have an extensive history of resisting civilian oversight not only to the Civilian Police Oversight Board, but also resisting the Community Policing Council’s (CPCs) and the Federal Court Appointed Monitor.

To understand the seriousness of the problem, people need to understand what both the Civilian Police Oversight Board (CPOB) and the Community Policing Council’s (CPC’s) are, what they do and how they function.

CIVILIAN POLICE OVERSIGHT AGENCY (CPOA)

The Civilian Police Oversight Agency (CPOA) is a separate and independent agency of the City of Albuquerque from the Office of the Mayor and City Council.

The CPOA employs eight (8) full time employees with an annual budget of $860,000 a year.

The CPOA reports to the APD Citizens Police Oversight Board (CPOB), an appointed board which consists of private citizens who volunteer and who are appointed by the Mayor with approval of the City Council.

The CPOA receives and investigates complaints and compliments about the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and its employees from community members.

The CPOA also reviews APD practices and policies to makes policy recommendations to the Chief of Police, the Mayor and City Council.

City Ordinance mandates that the CPOA function independently from the City Administration and City Council to carry out the Agency’s mission to be free of any perceived or actual bias.

The CPOA goals are to foster and perpetuate policing policies and practices that effectively maintain social order and which at the same time foster mutual trust and cooperation between police and community members.

The mission statement of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency (CPOA) is to provide a means for receiving complaints and compliments about Albuquerque Police Department (APD) sworn personnel.

Under the ordinance that created the CPOA, it must conduct prompt, impartial, and fair investigation of all complaints from the community against APD.

The CPOA also provides for community participation in setting and reviewing APD policies, practices, and procedures.

COMMUNITY POLICING COUNCILS (CPCs)

Community Policing Councils (CPC) are mandated by the Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA).

There are six (6) CPCs, one for each APD area command.

The CPCs consist of private citizens who are volunteers.

Before becoming members of a CPC, all volunteers must have and pass two (2) APD criminal background checks, do APD “ride alongs” and attend and graduate from the APD Citizens Police Academy, all of which take months to accomplish.

The function of the CPC is to meet monthly, interact with the APD area commanders and officers and to review APD policy and practices to make recommendations by enacting resolutions to be passed on to APD, the Chief and his staff.

The individual monthly meetings of CPCs are usually very well attended by citizens and the few I have attended have anywhere from 50 to upwards of 75 citizens in attendance.

APD COMMAND STAFF RESIST CIVILIAN POLICE OVERSIGHT

On June 12, 2017, I attended the Community Policing Council (CPC) Summit with all the council chairs.

The Federal Monitor, the US Attorney and the head of the CPOA also attended the meeting.

No one from the press attended the meeting.

Gus Pedrotty was the only candidate for Mayor that attended the meeting and no City Council candidates attended.

During the meeting, an extensive amount of the time was spent by the CPC chairs discussing the fact that they spend an inordinate amount of time giving input to APD and passing resolutions that are then totally ignored by Chief Eden and the APD command staff.

One committee chair wondered out loud if anyone read their reports or resolutions at all.

A point that needs to be remembered is that CPC’s are advisory and have no authority over APD, but citizens input is critical to implementation of the DOJ reforms so that APD and the City know the reforms are working.

Ed Harness the head of the City Police Oversight Agency (CPOA) gave a lengthy report giving specific cases on how Chief Eden refuses to respond to the agencies recommendations and ignores or refuses to implement disciplinary recommendations made by the CPOA.

Under the City’s Citizens Police Oversight Board (CPOB) ordinance, Chief Eden is required to explain in writing why he disagrees with discipline that has recommended for police officers.

Chief Gordon Eden has an extensive two (2) year history of ignoring both the CPOA and the CPCs.

In fifty-four (54) cases in which Eden has disagreed with the CPOA, he has offered no explanation as to why he has had any disagreement with the city agency.

On November 12, 2016, the Albuquerque Journal published an article reporting that city Community Policing Councils (CPCs) were frustrated with Chief Eden not attending their meetings after committing to do so with last minute excuses.

(See November 12, 2016 Albuquerque Journal article “Police reform groups say APD Chief not involved”)

The Police Oversight Board (CPOA) has repeatedly complained that Chief Eden ignored its findings and discipline recommendations, and the city attorney, instead of Chief Eden, was often the person who publicly explained the reform efforts.

APD Forward, an APD oversight group, also said Eden had not been present for many settlement-agreement meetings.

An APD statement issued to the press describes Eden as having a “very good sense, very good understanding and a hand in” the reforms.

The APD statement is true when viewed in the context that Eden and his command staff have never been committed to implementing the DOJ reforms, so why should they attend any meeting involving citizens police oversight?

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.

NO COMMITMENT TO DOJ REFORMS BY MAYOR NOR COMMAND STAFF

Proof that the Berry Administration, Chief Eden and his command staff are lying when they say they are committed to the DOJ mandated reforms is contained in the second, third, fourth and fifth progress reports submitted by Federal Monitor James Ginger to the Federal Court.

In his second report to the federal court, Federal Monitor James Ginger accused the City Attorney of what he called, “delay, do little and deflect” tactics saying his relationship with her was “a little rougher than most” compared with top attorneys in other cities and where he has overseen police reform.

The July 1, 2016 federal monitor’s 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 federal monitor’s 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.

The May 1, 2017 fifth report is the most damning and critical report to date when the monitor found that APD “subverted” the reform process by issuing “covert special orders,” denying the existence of the orders, and APD exhibiting a “near total failure” to accept civilian oversight.

LIP SERVCE BY CITY COUNCIL TO DOJ REFORMS

During a city council briefing by Federal Monitor James Ginger on one of his reports, City Councilor Dan Lewis asked the Federal Monitor who is ultimately responsible for APD.

When the Monitor said the Albuquerque City Council was ultimately responsible for police oversight, the City Council Committee Lewis was chairing all had a good “uncomfortable” laugh.

Lewis rephrased his question apparently not liking the truth he got from Dr. Ginger and wanting Ginger to say the Mayor was ultimately responsible for APD.

On March 3, 2017, Albuquerque Free Press reported that City Councilors joined with Albuquerque’s civilian police oversight agencies charging that APD Police Chief Gordon Eden and APD were deliberately thwarting all attempts at civilian oversight and stalling on the DOJ reforms.

(See March 30, 2017 Albuquerque Free Press article “APD Still Stalling On Reform”)

The Albuquerque Free Press quoted City Councilor Isaac Benton saying “Their relationship sounds like he [Eden] is just stonewalling them. … The problem is the attitude of leadership at APD, and under this administration the attitude has not been helpful.”

Really Councilor Benton? Exactly how has your attitude and leadership been in reforming APD been helpful in any way?

The Albuquerque Free Press quoted Councilor Pat Davis saying “APD is playing cute with the process” and that the department “is not following the spirit” of the city’s oversight law or the reform process.

Really Councilor Davis? Who is being cute after you were told what was going on with APD before you even got elected and sworn in two years ago?

Councilor Ken Sanchez said he’s “concerned” about “why they [APD] are not responsive.”

Really Councilor Sanchez? Why are you so concerned now after seven years of APD spiraling out of control while you watched and did nothing?

Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis, who is now running for mayor, and who prides himself saying he voted to bring in the Department of Justice to investigate APD, claims he will replace Eden.

Dan Lewis has never complained publicly about Eden’s job performance nor demanded Eden’s resignation.

CONCLUSION

For the last eight (8) years, the Mayor and the Albuquerque City Council have been an absolute failure in exercising their oversight authority over APD.

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, the CPOA and CPCs before any real progress will be made with the DOJ agreed to and mandated reforms.

What is just important is that we need an entire new City Council and a Mayor that are as equally committed and determined to implement the DOJ mandated reforms and not just give it lip service.

December 1, 2017 when a new Mayor and new City Councilors are sworn cannot come soon enough and hopefully we will get a new Chief that is committed to civilian oversight of APD.