The City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Officers Association (APOA) union are at odds over new rules for promoting police officers.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-and-union-at-odds-over-policy-for-promoting-employees/1318547719

Rules for promoting sworn officers were part of the Department of Justice federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and the mandated and agreed to reforms.

The police the union now sees the opportunity to change them to their liking.

The personnel rules keep some police officers with checkered pasts from promotions.

The City, APD and the police union in 2016 agreed to the promotional policy.

The parties are now in court over two points in the promotional policy.

In the policy, the City and APD want candidates for promotion to undergo testing every 2 years to continue the application process.

The police union wants a candidate’s test scores to stand beyond 2 years.

The promotion rules now provide that the City and APD can deny a promotion to any officer who’s been suspended more than a day.

The police union claims the rule gives the City and APD way too much discretion to deny promotions.

The union believes that the City’s and APD’s power to deny a promotion because of a suspension should only apply to police officers who’ve been suspended for at least 6 weeks.

Former APD Chief Gordon Eden staunchly supported the existing rule saying “It gives me the ability to remove them for cause and I think that’s what’s really important”.

Current APD Chief Michael Geier has not publicly given his position on the issue.

The City and the Police Union both agree that certain officers should be barred from promotions such as police officers involved in pending lawsuits.

The existing policy also provides that APD and the City can deny an officer a promotion under three specific circumstances:

1. If a court rules they violated constitutional rights of another person
2. If they’re under internal affairs investigation, or
3. If they are under felony indictment.

What is not clear in the existing policy is what happens to promotion applicants who were sued for use of force or deadly force where the city settles before a judge could rule if their actions were justified or not.

Two cases where the city settled for millions of dollars for deadly use of force before there was ever an adjudication that the actions the police officers were justified include:

1. The city paid $5 million dollars to settle with the family of 19-year-old Mary Hawkes who was killed by APD officer Jeremy Dear. Dear was fired and attempted to return to work for APD and was denied returning to work. Dear filed a libel and slander lawsuit against former Chief Gordon Eden with the case pending.

2. The city paid $5 million to settle with the family of homeless camper and mentally ill James Boyd who was shot and killed by APD SWAT Officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez, both who were charged and tried with murder and with the trial ending in a deadlocked jury and no conviction and no acquittal. Sandy has retired from APD and Perez has returned to work for APD.

BENEFITS OF A POLICE UNION ENDORSMENT

On September 28, 2017, it was widely reported that the Albuquerque Police Officers Association endorsed Tim Keller for Mayor.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1067209/albuquerque-police-union-endorses-keller.html

The rising crime rates, Albuquerque Police Department personnel levels as well as the Department of Justice mandated reforms were major issues in the Mayor’s race.

It was not at all surprising that the APOA endorsed a candidate for Mayor given that it was at repeated impasse with the previous administration during contract negotiations.

The previous administration unilaterally decided not to pay 5% pay raises negotiated in good faith by the police union and eliminated longevity pay for rank and file.

To be perfectly blunt, no political endorsement is ever given by an organization unless a candidate makes concessions or falls in line with an organization’s philosophy, wants, needs or even demands.

In making the endorsement of Keller, the police union no doubt wanted to have some influence over the next Mayor and Keller as a candidate wanted the votes of rank and file police officers.

The advantage of a police union endorsement to a candidate is to be able to say law enforcement has your back and you have theirs.

On December 7, 2017, union leadership, one week after being sworn in, accused Mayor Tim Keller of being “dishonorable for apologizing” to the people of Albuquerque for the past actions APD police officers who had used excessive force or deadly force and the “culture of excessive use of force” found by the Department of Justice, with the union falsely claiming it was a universal apology for all police actions.

www.abqjournal.com/1104351/keller-misstep-irks-apd-officers.html

The message to Keller was loud and clear: support the rank and file without question or the police union will oppose your efforts with the reform process.

On March 5, 2018 the Albuquerque City Council voted to raise the city’s gross receipts tax rate by three-eighths of a percent on an 8-1 vote without putting it to a public vote.

The tax increase went into effect July 1, 2018 and is expected to bring in a $55 million annually.

At the time the tax was enacted, APOA union president Shaun Willoughby demanded the city councilors to amend the legislation to “guarantee” that 60 percent of all the revenue generated from the new tax be dedicated to the police department to recruit more officers and increase pay, despite the fact the city was faced with a $40 million-dollar deficit requiring the tax.

On May 21, 2018 the Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved the 2018- 2019 Keller Administration operating budget of $577 million in general fund appropriations.

The approved budget included an APD expansion plan to spend $88 million dollars, over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures to hire 350 officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers by implementing a hiring and recruitment program to offer incentives, pay raises and bonuses to join or return to APD in order to return to community-based policing.

The approved budget also included $2.3 million for compliance with the federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) reached between the city and the Department of Justice in November, 2014 regarding police use of excessive force and deadly use of force.

The biggest benefit of the Union endorsement of Tim Keller was when on May 21, 2018 rank-and-file Albuquerque police officers overwhelmingly approved by a 501 to 40 vote a new two-year contract negotiated by the Keller Administration that gave sworn police officers between $1.50 to $3.50 per hour pay raises, or $12.1 million more in annual pay, with longevity pay increases of between $2,600 to $15,000 a year.

After 8 years of no substantive raises to APD rank and file, the raises were justified.

The police union when announcing approval of the contract by rank and file took a back handed swipe at the Keller administration when it said the downside to the contract is that it is a two-year deal.

The police union claimed it wanted a one-year contract because many officers “don’t trust the city to keep its word on a multi-year deal.”

Make no mistake, the APOA Union leadership was within it rights and did its job in getting any and all concession it could from the city when it comes to raises, incentive pay and increasing personnel numbers and securing more resources.

COMMENTARY

Almost four (4) years ago, a Department of Justice investigation found a “pattern and practice of excessive force” and a “culture of aggression” within the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

In the last eight (8) years, there has been 41 police officer involved shootings, and the city has paid out $61 million dollars in settlements for police misconduct cases.

The single biggest crisis Mayor Tim Keller was confronted with on the day he was sworn into office was reforming the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and keeping his commitment to implement the mandated reforms for constitutional policing.

Mayor Keller appointed Chief Michael Geier and both have repeatedly committed in court and in public to the DOJ mandated reforms.

Under normal circumstances, union endorsements are common place in municipal elections.

However, when it comes to the Albuquerque Police Department, it is a department still in crisis and for the first time in its history is under a Department of Justice consent decree.

The union endorsement of Keller and the DOJ consent decree complicates things with the Keller Administration because the police union opposes many of the reforms and opposes any form of civilian oversight.

Based on the union’s actions over the last 8 months with the Keller Administration, it is clear the relationship the police union has with the city is very one sided and only benefits the union and its membership and not necessarily the citizens of Albuquerque.

The police union has never fully embraced the consent decree, the mandated reforms and it resists citizen oversight.

The police union is often at odds with the city’s Civilian Oversight Board.

The APOA Union understands full well the consent decree in that the police union made sure they intervened and became a party to the federal lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against the city and APD.

Any Mayoral administration has the equal responsibility to do what is in the best interest of the general public and the responsible spending of taxpayer dollars for public safety.

The past administration and the present Keller administration both have made a major concession consenting to the APOA Union to be a party to the federal lawsuit and the Court Approved Settlement Agreement.

The union leadership was at the negotiating table for a full year involved in the drafting of the “use of force” and “deadly use of force” policy and contributed significantly to the one-year delay in writing the policy repeatedly objecting to language of the policy asserting the policy was unreasonable.

The union leadership has attended and has sat at counsel table during court hearings and Federal Monitor presentations.

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.

All six of the Federal Monitor’s status reports were scathing against the city accusing the APD chain of command of delaying and obstructing the DOJ reform process, yet the police union had no comment and took no position.

When the previous administration accused the federal monitor of biasness and attempted to have the monitor remove, the police union remained totally silent implying its support to have the federal monitor removed.

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.

The changes the police union to the promotion rules and testing requirement amounts to nothing more than the union dictating to the City and APD command staff personnel policy as to who should be hired, fired, disciplined, suspended and promoted by management.

There is a definite chain of command and a clear line of authority that needs separate management from rank and file sworn police officers that must be preserved and honored.

Included in the union’s bargaining unit are all APD police Sergeants and Lieutenants who are clearly part of police management.

Lieutenants, Commanders, Deputy Chief and the Chief are at will positions that serve at the pleasure of the Administration, either the Chief or Mayor.

Including APD police Sergeants and Lieutenants who are part of management in the union bargaining unit creates a clear conflict of interest when they are the ones on the frontline to enforce personnel rules and regulations, standard operating procedures, approve and review work performed and assist in implementing DOJ consent decree mandates and standard operating procedures policies that the APOA Union opposes.

Law enforcement command staff and management must be able to make decisions to protect public safety and maintain credibility with the public and be able to immediately remove and even replace police officers who tarnish the badge with unethical, questionable, and at times illegal conduct in violation of standard operating procedures and the law.

The Keller Administration needs to decide between if it is more important to manage the police department and APD personnel free from union obstruction tactics and control over management decisions in order to implement the Department of Justice mandated reforms.

In the long run, what the police union now wants in court with respect to promotions will breed contempt by management and hamstring command staff abilities to make effective personnel decisions and hold employees accountable for misconduct.

The Keller Administration must decide if it was worth the expense of giving up management authority of the department to conform with police union demands and expectations.

The Keller Administration should consider seeking to having the APOA Union removed as a party to the federal lawsuit, consent decree and CASA negotiations.

The City should oppose the unions attempt to reduce managements authority over promotion practices by opposing the unions attempt change rules they agreed to two years ago.

During the next round of union contract negotiations, the city should demand that the management positions of APD Sergeants and Lieutenants be removed from the APOA Union bargaining unit.

The clear line of separation between command staff management and rank and file needs to be preserved in order to achieve effective implementation of the DOJ mandated reforms.

FOLLOWING ARE LINKS TO OTHER BLOG ARTICLES

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/31/police-union-president-pops-off-about-a-so-called-culture-of-aggression/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/24/police-union-back-handed-swipes-at-keller-wage-increase-will-not-to-solve-officer-shortage/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/04/13/the-annual-police-union-bitch-and-moan-survey/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/02/20/apd-police-union-needs-to-stop-thinking-only-of-themselves/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/12/09/apoa-union-president-is-the-one-acting-dishonorably/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/09/24/police-union-endorsement-should-have-been-declined/

On July 19, 2018, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), released a 117 page “Program Evaluation: Review of the Criminal Justice System in Bernalillo County.”

The LFC is chaired by NM State Senator John Author Smith the highly respected State Senator in all things involving legislative funding.

A three-hour presentation was made to the LFC in Santa Fe by the LFC’s Program Evaluation manager Jon Courtney where lawmakers asked questions about the 8-year spike in Albuquerque’s crime rates.

Nonpartisan legislative analyst’s examining Albuquerque’s crime rates came to the conclusion that there are “critical gaps” in the three pillars of the criminal justice system.

The three pillars of the criminal justice system were identified as law enforcement, the courts and the correctional or jail system.

Notwithstanding the “critical gaps” in the criminal justice system, the report gave reasons for optimism.

Reasons for optimism include increased cooperation among law enforcement public agencies, more traffic stops initiated by police and a new re-entry center to help inmates released back into society from jail.

Economic conditions are also improving and the State’s unemployment rate is declining.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/29/good-news-unemployment-down-bad-news-nm-last-in-child-well-being/

ALBUQUERQUE’S DECLINING CRIME RATES

Adding to the optimism is that 2018 is becoming the first time in 8 years that Albuquerque’s property crime rates are falling.

On the same day of the Legislative hearing releasing the Criminal Justice in Bernalillo County Review report, Mayor Tim Keller and APD Chief Michael Geier held a press conference to announce that auto theft and robberies for the first half of 2018 are down significantly from 2017 the same time last year.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/19/kudos-to-keller-apd-for-bringing-property-crime-down-but-still-carry-your-gun

Chief Geier credited APD officers for a 35 percent increase in traffic stops and progress in reducing auto burglary by 31 percent, auto theft by 16 percent, commercial burglary by 16 percent, residential burglary by 7 percent, robbery by 31 percent, rape by 4 percent and aggravated assault by 5 percent.

The bad news was that according to the FBI statistics released by Keller and Geier, nonfatal shootings increased by 5% and homicides increased by 18.2% the first 6 months of 2018 over 2017.

The city’s crime rate has been decreasing since November, 2017.

DISCREDITING DISTRICT ATTORNEY RAUL TORREZ

One thing that happened worth noting during the presentation to lawmaker’s is that the 2010-17 spike in crime was not caused by New Mexico’s new rules on bail, a Supreme Court order imposing deadline for handling criminal cases or the new “risk assessment tool” used by the courts to determine which defendants should be released while they await trial.

Least anyone forget, it was Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez who made front page headlines last year that it was the Courts that caused the spike in crime.

Torrez made false claims that because of lenient Judge’s sentencings, the crime rate increased and was caused by New Mexico’s new rules on bail and the Courts were demanding too much evidence to hold violent criminals.

Torrez was highly critical of a Supreme Court order imposing deadline for handling criminal cases and the new “risk assessment tool” used by the courts.

DA Torrez went so far as to say that the criminal justice system was broken and that defense lawyers were “gaming the system” to get their client’s off on technicalities.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/02/11/senator-smith-tells-da-torrez-he-now-has-enough-rope-to-hang-himself/

The Review of the Criminal Justice System Report found that the increase in crime started years before many of the court rule changes were even implemented, thereby discrediting many if not all of DA Torrez’s arguments.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS INCREASING CRIME RATES

The study found that in 2010, Albuquerque had its lowest crime rates in modern history.

The report focused on the link between broader social problems and crime rates.

Albuquerque’s downtown area is the highest-crime area in the state.

The Downtown area of Albuquerque from Broadway Boulevard to 8th Street and Lomas Boulevard to Coal Avenue experienced a 46 percent increase in the number of families in poverty between 2010 and 2016.

Families living in poverty was cited as part of the reason why crime is five times the national average in that area.

According to the study, by 2016, more than 20 percent of people in Albuquerque lived in high-poverty neighborhoods.

That number was less than 3 percent in 2010.

Further, 21 percent of all felony arrests involve people who had been arrested five or more times before.

http://www.koat.com/article/new-report-details-how-crime-rates-skyrocketed-in-abq/22504676

DETERIORATING SOCIAL CONDITIONS

The LFC report notes that deteriorating social conditions and other flaws in the criminal justice system outlined coincided with the Bernalillo County’s crime wave.

The LFC study found that while crime increased, arrests and convictions were down.

It was in 2010 that the number of sworn APD police officers began to seriously decline.

At the beginning of 2010, APD had 1,100 sworn police officers and over the following 8 years, the department bottomed out to as few as 830 sworn officers at one time, with less than have in field services taking calls for service.

Based on data reviewed, at the beginning of the crime wave in 2011, Albuquerque endured worsening poverty, homelessness and drug use, and at the same time Albuquerque had fewer police patrolling the streets to make arrests.

According to the LFC report:

“As social conditions deteriorated, the criminal justice system held fewer and fewer people accountable while crimes continued to increase.”

THE DOJ CONSENT DECREE AND REFORMS

The Review of the Criminal Justice System Report makes a specific finding that from 2010 to 2017 “the Albuquerque Police Department, the judicial system, and the Metropolitan Detention Center all suffered from problematic – and in some cases unconstitutional – practices.”

The “unconstitutional practices” referred to no doubt is the “culture of aggression” found within APD by the US Department of Justice.

It was in early 2013 that the Department of Justice began its investigation of APD for excessive use of force and deadly force cases after 18 people were shot and killed by APD.

In April, 2014 the US Department of Justice issued its final report finding a “culture of aggression” within APD.

It was in November, 2014 that the City of Albuquerque entered into a Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and agreed to sweeping reforms of APD mandating constitutional policing practices and major changes in standard operating procedures dealing with the use of force and deadly force.

According to the Criminal Justice System Report, the U.S. Department of Justice settlement with the city requiring a series of reforms aimed at ending a pattern of violating people’s rights by APD may have contributed in part to increases in crime rates.

The Criminal Justice System Report did review other cities across the country that have entered into similar consent decrees and it was found that crime increased for a year or two before returning to typical levels.

The report found that Albuquerque is experiencing a similar pattern of crime rate deduction but it isn’t clear whether changes in police tactics, increased reporting of crime or other factors drive the change.

The federal consent decree was negotiated by the previous administration over 3 years ago.

It was found repeatedly by the federal court appointed monitor that the previous administration did everything it could to subvert, delay and deflect implementation of the mandatory reforms.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/08/22/fault-with-apd-command-staff-found-again/

Eight months after a new Mayor is elected and he appoints a Chief of Police and both who are committed to the DOJ reforms, property crime rates are indeed going down.

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

The Legislative Finance Report and review found “a system that suffers from critical gaps between reality and the best practices of law enforcement, jurisprudence, and incarceration.”

The Criminal Justice System Report makes a number of recommendations including:

1. Establishing statewide requirements for how defendants are handled before trial and removing legal barriers that prevent criminal justice agencies from sharing data with one another.

2. Bernalillo County should also continue efforts at connecting inmates leaving jail with services. Inmates were sometimes released late at night in the heart of Downtown.

3. Albuquerque police should make better use of their Real Time Crime Center to analyze trends and engage in proactive policing strategies.

4. The number of people graduating from specialty courts like the drug court and veterans court aimed at reducing recidivism among people struggling with addiction has fallen and the state should try to reverse the trend.

COMMENTARY

There are three main takeaways that appear very clear when you read the report:

FIRST: The City of Albuquerque and APD would be further down the road in decreasing crime rates had it not been for the tactics by the previous administration to subvert, delay and deflect implementation of the DOJ mandated reforms.

SECOND: District Attorney Raul Torrez was totally wrong when he blamed the Second Judicial District Court and the Supreme Courts Case Management Order (CMO) for the spike in crime in Albuquerque.

THREE: The “Program Evaluation: Review of the Criminal Justice System in Bernalillo County” needs to be read by New Mexico State Auditor Wayne Johnson so he can save face and abandon his efforts for a “Special Audit” of the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice system and before he is embarrassed by Attorney General Hector Balderas. Johnson’s special audit includes seven state agencies: the District Court, Metro Court, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Metropolitan Detention Center, the Public Defender’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office. Balderas has been asked by the District Court to issue an opinion if Johnson has the legal authority to do his audit and the legislative report seems to render moot the need for the audit.

************************************************************************************************************************

POSTSCRIPT: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Following are the key recommendations contained in the executive summary of the Program Evaluation: Review of the Criminal Justice System in Bernalillo County report (pages 2 and 3):

“The Legislature should consider legislation:

To minimize financial burden for specialty court participants;
The Legislature should consider legislation establishing basic requirements around the use of pretrial services statewide including best practices recommended by agencies cited in this report;
The Legislature should consider legislation that encourages sharing and removes barriers around criminal justice data while still complying with data protections put in place by the Federal government.

APD and BCSO should:

Direct officers to spend uncommitted time using tactics from evidence-based policing strategies focusing on people, hot spots, and problems identified through use of analytical tools such as the Real Time Crime Center. Tool kits for selection of which practices and programs to use in certain tactical environments can be found at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy

http://cebcp.org/evidence-based-policing/.

APD and BCSO should implement up to date police staffing studies and APD should put tracking systems to monitor progress to meeting staffing goals.
Priority should be given to staffing field services and specific specialized units of detectives to work towards improving clearance rates of key crimes and decrease drug trafficking. Bernalillo County, 2nd Judicial District Court, and Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court should implement pretrial services universal screening, performance management system, and quarterly reporting to BCCJCC to guide policy and management decisions.

The Administrative Office of the Courts should increase current oversight efforts to include adopting and reporting on evaluation requirements for all specialty courts.
The Administrative Office of the Courts, the Law Office of the Public Defender, the SJDA’s Office, the 2nd Judicial District Court, and Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court should explore specialty court options that could increase utilization of these courts. Bernalillo County should work to implement procedures that facilitate successful release of inmates into the community including the following components:

• Amend their contract with their behavioral health service provider to include requirements to implement a valid and reliable risk needs assessment and screening to be universally administered to inmates at intake. The requirement should also include transmission of this information to staff at the resource reentry center for use upon release;
• Work to increase the number of inmates released during business hours;
• Making key staff at the resource reentry center and MDC available on a 24 hour basis to facilitate connection of former inmates to resources including prescription medication and transportation;
• Defining, measuring and promoting use of evidence-based (and promising) programming in jails, prisons, and the community while still allowing room for home grown innovative and effective programs.
• Develop improved performance measures for the Metropolitan Detention Center including recidivism, percent of inmates signed up for Medicaid, and percent of inmates connected to services upon reentry.

The Bernalillo Health Science Department (BHSD) should continually work with stakeholders to identify and address Medicaid reimbursement needs for evidence-based behavioral health treatment programs. Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque should consider permanently staffing the BCCJCC, including data analysts, in order to provide additional support to criminal justice partners. The BCCJCC should

• Develop a set of performance metrics to better track the Bernalillo County criminal justice system performance;
• Foster the use of evidence-based practices throughout the Bernalillo County criminal justice system;
• Coordinate unified use of resources including the real time crime center at APD to work toward common goals of focusing on people and places through evidence-based practices

A favorite photo opportunity of Governor Susana Martinez over the last 8 years has been reading children’s books to kids ages 6 to 10 in public schools.

We all now know the real reason why: the kids were not proficient enough to read the children’s books out loud to the Republican Governor.

On Friday, July 20, 2018, Santa Fe District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that the state of New Mexico is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education.

The Court ruling was filed in the case of Yazzie v. state of New Mexico and Martinez v. state of New Mexico.

The District Court ruling came after a two-month trial that concluded in August, 2017.

Nearly 80 witnesses testified during the bench trial.

The consolidated lawsuit was filed by the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Plaintiffs argued that the New Mexico public schools are inadequately funded.

In a 75-page decision, the court rejected arguments by Governor Susana Martinez’s administration that the education system is improving and for that reason it does not need more funding.

The Court found that the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) did not do the best it could with the funding it has given by the legislature to the education system.

The Court ruling centers on the guaranteed right under the New Mexico Constitution to a sufficient education for all children.

The lawsuit alleged a severe lack of state funding, resources and services to help students, particularly children from low-income families, students of color, including Native Americans, English-language learners and students with disabilities.

BLISTERING COURT RULING

State District Judge Sarah Singleton pulled no punches with her decision.

The Judge found that it was clear that many New Mexico students are not receiving the basic education in reading, writing and math they should be receiving in our public-school system.

As a matter of law, Judge Singleton wrote the “lack of funds is not a defense to providing constitutional rights.”

In her blistering written opinion, Judge Singleton wrote:

“[The evidence presented at trial] proves that the vast majority of New Mexico’s at-risk children finish each school year without the basic literacy and math skills needed to pursue post-secondary education or a career. … Indeed, overall New Mexico children rank at the very bottom in the country for educational achievement. … The at-risk students are still not attaining proficiency at the rate of non-at-risk students … and the programs being lauded by [the Public Education Department] are not changing this picture.”

According to the judge’s ruling, in New Mexico, 71.6% of the state’s public school students come from low-income families, and 14.4% are English-language learners.

Further, 14.8 percent of students have disabilities, and 10.6 percent are Native American.

Judge Singleton addressing proficiency rates for Native American students said that in the past 3 years, those students’ reading proficiency was at 17.6% and their math proficiency was at 10.4%.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1200069/questions-surround-ruling-on-nm-education-funding.html

The Court found that New Mexico does not have enough teachers and that New Mexico teachers are among the lowest paid in the country and stated:

“The evidence shows that school districts do not have the funds to pay for all the teachers they need. … [An example is] Gadsden, one of the better performing school districts in the state, has had to eliminate over 53 classroom positions and 15 essential teachers since 2008.”

The Court also faulted the lack of access to technology in rural districts.

Judge Singleton ruling addressed the state teacher evaluation system implemented by the Martinez Administration by saying:

“[The teacher evaluation system] may be contributing to the lower quality of teachers in high-need schools. … In general, punitive teacher evaluation systems that penalize teachers for working in high-need schools contribute to problems in this category of schools.”

The Court wrote that she was not persuaded by the Martinez Administration’s arguments that no new funding is needed because at-risk student performances are improving.

A spokeswoman for the state Public Education Department has decided to appeal the ruling.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, provided the following statement after the court ruling:

“For too long, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and her administration have abandoned their responsibility to kids and public schools. This ruling confirms what parents and educators know—that New Mexico children are deprived of the essential resources, including qualified teachers and support staff, they need. This deprivation is especially severe for those at risk and in need of additional supports—English language learners, Native American students and those in poverty. The ruling also calls out the governor’s obsession with testing over teaching.”

“In New Mexico, it would take $228 million to get public school funding to what it was before the Great Recession, and average teacher pay in the state is nearly 10 percent lower than what it was in 2009. We call on the state to use this ruling as a long-overdue opportunity to overhaul its broken school funding system to ensure all New Mexico children are afforded the public education they deserve and are entitled to. Voters will be going to the polls in November to elect leaders committed to investing in public education.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/judge-rules-lack-of-sufficient-education-for-all-nm-students-violates-constitutional-rights/4997869/?cat=500

NEW MEXICO LAST IN CHILD WELL BEING

The Courts ruling should not come as any surprise to anyone in the education profession and people raising young children.

The court ruling is a confirmation of what has been going on for the last 8 years with the state’s at-risk children under the Republican Martinez Administration.

For the first time in five years, New Mexico has fallen to last among states when it comes to the economic, educational and medical well-being of its children, according to a nonprofit that tracks the status of U.S. kids.

The most troubling in the 2018 Kids Count Data Book is New Mexico’s steep drop in ranking for health care measures which previously a bright spot for the state.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/report-new-mexico-ranks-last-in-child-well-being/article_0f6865fc-d34a-5050-9f74-21680e98a2a5.html

According to the 2018 Kids Count Data Book, 30% of New Mexico’s children were living in poverty in 2016, compared to 19% nationwide that year, the earliest figures available.

In educational measures, the report says 75% of the state’s fourth-graders were not proficient in reading in 2017, compared to 65% nationally, and 80% of eighth-graders were not performing up to par in math in 2017, compared to 67% across the U.S.

COMMENTARY

Republican Governor Susana Martinez, with her policies and her Secretary of Public Education appointments, especially the appointment of Secretary Hanna Skandera, contributed more than anyone else and she ultimately responsible for our failing education system.

The Judge ordered Governor Susana Martinez, her administration and the New Mexico Legislature to establish a funding system that meets constitutional requirements by April 15, 2019.

The New Mexico legislature is now tasked with putting together a plan to comply with the court’s ruling to be approved in the upcoming 2019 legislative session when we will have a new Governor.

There is no doubt that teacher salaries and resources for Native American youth will need to be addressed by the legislature.

Because of the spike in oil production and revenues, the state is in a much better financial position now to earmark more money for public education, but for how long is the problem.

Oil and gas production booms do not last forever and a permanent funding source is what is needed to sustain reoccurring revenues and expenses in a public education system such as ours.

For the full 8 years of her administration, Governor Martinez has had a less than a stellar working relationship with the New Mexico Legislature.

The relationship Governor Martinez has with the New Mexico Legislature can be characterized as contemptuous and vindictive on her part and it is not at all likely the relationship will improve any over the next 5 months.

Further, Martinez’s Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera as well as Cabinet Secretary Designate Christopher Roszkowski have both been an absolute disaster especially when it comes to the “school grading” system advocated and implemented by the Republican Martinez Administration.

New Mexico voters are electing a new Governor in November who will be sworn in on January 1, 2019.

It is doubtful Governor Susana Martinez will want or is even willing to make anything easy for her successor, especially if a Democrat is elected.

January 1, 2019 cannot come soon enough for Governor Martinez and her Education Secretary to be gone.

With this court ruling, maybe now the New Mexico Legislature will finally see the need to dip into the State’s permanent fund, one of the largest in the country in the billions of dollars, for the sake of our kids’ education and early childhood care and intervention programs.

State Senator John Arthur Smith, the powerful Chair of the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) known as Dr. NO on State Finances and Taxation, needs to get the hell out of the way and allow the New Mexico Legislature to do its job and address the education crisis with use of the permanent fund instead of being the number one obstacle in using the permanent fund.

New Mexico Governor candidates Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican Steve Pearce need to articulate in no uncertain terms their plans to deal with funding the State’s education system to guarantee that at-risk students are provided with an education where they can read and write.

Further, our candidates for Governor should reveal their position on the use of the States Permanent fund for education, early child care intervention and counseling for preschool and who, or what they are looking at, to be appointed Cabinet Secretary for the Public Education Department.

The Legislative Finance Committee needs to convene special hearings over the next five months on public education reforms, funding and increasing teacher pay, early childhood education and care programs and intervention programs and resources with a permanent funding source.

The comprehensive education reform legislation can be introduced for passage in the upcoming 2019 legislative session when Governor Martinez will be long gone, but not the education crisis of her making.

It is long overdue for our legislature to take care of our children’s education needs.

As for Governor Susanna Martinez, her legacy will be that of illiterate New Mexico children she liked to read to and a “punitive teacher evaluation system that penalized teachers for working in high-need schools”.

Governor Martinez will also be remembered for a pizza and beer holiday party at a Santa Fe, Hotel at taxpayer expense.

On July 16, 2018, I posted on my FACEBOOK page a photo of President Trump hugging the American flag with another photo of Trump standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The FACEBOOK post that accompanied the photos was short and said:

“After watching Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s joint press conference that followed a two-hour private meeting between the two, I could not help but feel that I was witness to the first President of the United States committing treason against his own country’s best interests. When I went back and looked at the photo where Trump was hugging the United States flag, I realized Trump was actually dry humping the American Flag for his own sexual gratification.”

The FACEBOOK post was crude but made the point and to me it was legitimate political commentary.

The FACEBOOK post had 156 likes, 225 comments and 32 shares.

The comments were overwhelmingly supportive and agreed with the commentary.

TREASON DEFINED

One FACEBOOK friend strongly disagreed with the post and said he did not feel Trump’s actions in Helsinki were treason and demanded that I give my definition of treason.

Section 4 of Article Two of the United States Constitution provides:

“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The definition of treason is simple: the crime of betraying one’s country usually for your own self-interest or personal financial gain.

When it comes to any US President, treason is whatever the US House of Representative says it is in Articles of Impeachment followed by a trial and a conviction in the United States Senate.

The recent indictments that came out make it clear that Trump in a very public manner solicited Russia’s help on the Clinton emails in order to get elected.

Read full blog article “Putin and Russia Were Listening When Trump Asked For Help” here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/14/putin-and-russia-were-listening-when-trump-ask-for-their-help/

Trump originally said for two years that there was no Russian interference with our election, yet all 16 of our national security agencies said there was interference.

Trump and his campaign solicited Russia to commit a crime to interfere with our elections to get himself elected and it was treason to do so.

TREASON IS ALRIGHT WITH TRUMP SUPPORTERS

A Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted after Trump’s summit at the Helsinki and joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where Trump refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The poll found that Trump’s actions did not have any impact on his overall approval rating.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-voters/majority-of-americans-think-trump-mishandling-russia-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN1K72T1

Forty-two percent of registered voters said they approved of Trump’s performance compared with a daily average of between 40% and 44% so far in July, 2018.
The poll found that 55% of registered voters disapproved while 37% approved of his handling of relations with Russia.

Among Republicans, a stunning 71% approved of Trump’s handling of Russia compared to 14% of Democrats.

According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 59% of registered voters agree with the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

Only 32% of Republicans think there was Russian interference compared to 84% of Democrats who think there was.

According to the poll, President Trump still enjoys broad support among Republican voters despite criticism from party leaders about his words and actions while standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin answering questions from reporters.

COMMENTARY

It has now been announced that Trump has invited Putin to the White House in the fall for second “summit” and negotiations are underway (no joke).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/19/president-trump-asked-amb-bolton-to-invite-putin-to-washington-sanders-says.html

Trump being in the commercial real estate and development business will no doubt give Putin a tour of the White House and try to sell or rent it to Putin.

Then again, Trump is so indebted to this Vladimir Putin he just may deed it to him and Russia outright and saying “Mi Casa Es Su Casa” and quoting Governor Susana Martinez.

One thing that is very clear is that Trump was absolutely correct when he said:

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Committing treason is another crime Donald Trump can apparently commit without losing votes among Republicans and his hard-core base of 42%.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has released the city’s crime statistics for the first half of 2018 (January to June) comparing them to the first half of 2017, (January to June).

https://www.abqjournal.com/1198242/crime-is-down-for-the-most-part.html

Looking at the raw numbers, property crime is down, but it’s the homicide rate that continues to be alarming.

Here’s a look at the crime stats for the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year:

Traffic Stops

2017: 17,376
2018: 23,461
Change: +35%

PROPERTY CRIMES

Auto Burglary
2017: 6,559
2018: 4,523
Change: -31%

Auto Theft

2017: 3,633
2018: 3,061
Change: -15.7 %

Commercial Burglary

2017: 1,183
2018: 994
Change: -15.9%

Residential Burglary

2017: 2,207
2018: 2,075
Change: -5.9%

VIOLENT CRIME

Robbery

2017: 1,467
2018: 1,012
Change: -31%

Aggravated Assault:

2017: 1,957
2018: 1,851
Change: -5.4

Non-Fatal Shootings:

2017: 60
2018: 63
Change: 5.0%

Rape:

2017: 236
2018: 226
Change: -4.2

Homicides:

2017: 33
2018: 39
Change: 18.2%

AUTO THEFTS DOWN

It is very good news that auto burglary went down 31% and that auto thefts went down by 16%.

On July 14, 2018, it was reported that for the year 2017, that Albuquerque was ranked number one in auto thefts in the country for the second year in a row.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1196427/albuquerque-area-ranked-no-1-in-auto-theft-again.html

The decline in auto thefts and auto burglaries for the first 6 months of this year is a clear indication that the “Bernalillo County Auto Theft Suppression Effort” is having an impact.

On March 21, 2018, it was announced that the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police were joining forces to address the city’s and the county’s out of control auto theft rates calling it the “Bernalillo County Auto Theft Suppression Effort”.

The auto theft suppression effort includes tactical operations that combine technology, resources, manpower and intelligence from all three of the law enforcement agencies to arrest more suspects and recover more stolen vehicles.

MURDER RATE STILL ALARMING

There were 6 more murders in the first quarter of 2018 compared with 2017 which was a 50% increase.

Homicides have now dropped the first half of 2018 by 18% compared to last year which is great news.

However, the city is still on track to break the all time high of 70 murders by the end of the year.

Non-fatal shootings for the first quarter of this year had a 0% change from last year, but now have increased by +5% for the first half of 2018.

Property crimes by far are more common than non-fatal shooting and murders.

The fact is, murders do not drive property crime trends, but it is the other way around.

A murder is usually committed when another crime is being committed such as armed robbery or domestic violence or it’s a crime committed in the heat of anger and a gun is readily available.

It’s difficult at best to bring down homicide rates, but it can be done when you bring down other violent crime such as armed robbery, aggravated assaults, illicit drug offenses and domestic violence.

In March of this year, 5 homicides were reported in six days!

Albuquerque has had 39 homicides the first 6 months of this year as compared to 33 murders for the same time period last year.

COMMENTARY

Mayor Tim Keller, Chief Michael Geier and APD can take comfort and a degree of credit for bringing down property crimes for the first half of the year on their watch and congratulations to them all.

All can breath a little easier, but not for long.

Property crimes do tend to be “seasonal” and increase in the summer time, so APD needs to continue with their efforts and vigilance.

It is very good news is that Albuquerque’s property crime rates for the first time in a number of years are declining.

The bad news is that the city’s murder rates is still way too high and the city is way too violent.

In other words, your property may be safe, but you still need to carry your gun for self-protection.

Below is the July 18, 2018 article written and published by Dennis Domraski on his blog “APD Reports” followed by commentary and other blog articles.

For a number of years, Dennis was a reporter the Albuquerque Tribune and later a column writer for the “Albuquerque Free Press” where he covered city hall and APD and he is one of the most knowledgeable reporters in Albuquerque when it comes to APD.

July 18, 2018 ABQ REPORTS: “Old APD” Is Alive And Well”

BY Dennis Domrzalski

“Both Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Mike Geier have publicly denounced what they call the “Old APD.” And when they refer to the “Old APD” they mean a police department that lies to the public, that rewards and covers up for favorites, no matter how serious their infractions, and punishes so-called enemies; a department that never holds its own wrongdoers accountable; a department that frames innocent people; and a department that hunkers down and tries desperately to keep the public from knowing what is really going on inside of its dark, dank bunker of paranoia, secrecy and contempt for the public.

Both Keller and Geier have publicly vowed to destroy the Old APD and its culture of secrecy, misconduct, favoritism and disservice to the community.

Their statements have made for good soundbites and have brought some hope to the community, and to the hundreds of honest APD officers who are sickened by how deep the department has sunk into the foul slime of incompetence, lies, coverups, secrecy and favoritism.

But the events of the past few months have shown that rather than draining the APD swamp, Keller and Geier are either being swallowed by the Old APD’s culture, or are actually embracing it.

What else can you conclude when you look at the case of Jennifer Bell Garcia, who as commander of APD’s Internal Affairs unit, was investigated for wrongdoing earlier this year and quietly transferred to APD’s Traffic Unit.

APD won’t say what Garcia, who makes $95,000 a year, was being investigated for, even though that is public information. There are rumors about why the investigation was launched, and they are serious allegations. And there are rumors that Garcia has been suspended and that her suspension has already begun.

But APD won’t confirm or deny any of those rumors, which I have asked them about in writing.

If the rumors about the allegations are true, and if the charges against Garica have been sustained, it would cause any honest cop, and any moderately-informed lay person to ask, “Why hasn’t she been fired, or at least demoted?”

Well, here are some possible answers.

Geier promoted Jennifer Garcia to deputy chief/commander on Feb. 17. Jennifer Garcia is married to Deputy Chief Eric Garcia, a command staff holdover from the Old APD that was headed by the incompetent Gorden Eden.

Maybe Eric Garcia, who headed up APD’s incompetent Investigations Bureau for years – a bureau that botched the Victoria Martnes murder case and then lied about it, and that let two innocent young men rot in jail for early a year for a murder they didn’t commit – has some special influence with Keller and Geier and won’t let his wife be fired.

Maybe it’s the Old APD’s Good ol’ Boy and Gal culture that is still thriving at APD? Remember, you just don’t criticize or dump on one of your own, especially when they’re part of the exclusive and high and mighty command staff club.

Many former and current cops have asked why Eric Garcia hasn’t yet been fired, especially since he was part of the Old APD’s command staff that spent four years obstructing APD’s reform settlement agreement with the Department of Justice. Remember, the independent monitor in the reform case has consistently said that APD was in “deliberate noncompliance” with the settlement agreement and that the command staff was directly responsible for that deliberate noncompliance.

Again, APD isn’t saying much about the Jennifer Garcia case, which means that like the Old APD, it is stonewalling the public on a matter of great public importance: a police commander accused of wrongdoing.

That sounds like the Old APD, whose practice was to hold the media and the public in contempt.

And then there was Geier’s public response earlier this year the now infamous 7-year-old girl’s bloody underwear case. The public, and lots of retired cops were stunned and outraged that an APD officer who was called out to the case of the girl, and told by her teacher that she had found blood on the girl’s underwear, didn’t even suspect a crime might have been committed and didn’t tag the garment into evidence for possible use in a criminal investigation.

Geier stood by his officer and said the cop was correct to not take the underwear as evidence. It was the Old APD in action: Support your own, no matter how incompetent or wrong they might be, dive into the bunker, pull the doors shut and ignore the public and the news media.

A few weeks later Geier reversed course and said that he was wrong about the case, but that it wasn’t his fault because he had been misled by someone in the department. Most people equate being misled as being lied to.

So what did Geier do to the person or persons who lied to him, the person who lied to the chief of police?

So far, nothing. Oh, he launched an IA investigation, which he said would take 90 days to complete. Does it really take 90 days to figure out who gave you bad and incorrect information and to fire them?

Well, at the New APD, which looks a lot like the Old APD, it does. And that could be by design. At the Old APD the practice was to ignore bad things, launch phony investigations and hope that the public would forget about them.

Let’s just hope that Keller and Geier weren’t lying to us about wanting to get rid of the Old APD. Right now, it’s beginning to look like they did.

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2018/07/18/Old-APD-is-Alive-and-Well

DINELLI COMMENTARY

When candidate Keller was running for Mayor, he promised sweeping changes with APD, a national search for a new APD Chief and a return to Community based policing.

During the last 8 months of Mayor Tim Keller’s term, APD has not seen dramatic management changes but a reliance on past management of the department and past practices, including those outlined in the ABQ Report.

The current Deputy Chiefs are not outsiders at all but have been with APD for years.

The Deputy Chiefs of Police appointed by Mayor Keller include Harold Medina who retired from APD as commander after serving 20 years, Rogelio Banez who was the area commander in southwest Albuquerque, and Eric Garcia who was a Deputy Chief under APD Chief Gordon Eden.

The command staff under Chief Geier do not reflect a new generation of police officer fully committed and trained in constitutional policing.

All the previous commanders under the previous administration have been shuffled around with a few retiring, with no firm commitment that they will be kept as commanders.

It was the past APD management practices that resulted in the “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice that lead to the federal consent decree after 18 police officer involved shootings and the findings of excessive use of force and deadly force by APD.

APD needs a clean sweep in management and philosophy to remove anyone who may have assisted, contributed or who did not stop the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice and who have resisted the reform process during the last 3 years of the consent decree.

Appointing a new interim police chief who is a retired APD commander and former Rio Rancho Police Chief understandably was necessary given the two-week time frame Mayor Keller had from his election to his swearing in on December 1, 2017.

By all accounts, Chief Geier has done a good job of settling the department down and has publicly committed to the DOJ reforms.

However, making Interim Chief Geier permanent is evidence nothing is going to change with APD management.

The “new” command staff is a reflection of APD’s past and all have been with APD for some time.

The current command staff are not a new generation of police officer fully committed and trained in constitutional policing.

Mayor Keller did say one encouraging thing when he made the announcement making Chief Geier permanent:

“The search process showed us that there are other strong candidates out there who might be able to help build the leadership bench and bring fresh perspectives to APD. … We are continuing to talk to talented professionals to see if others will be a good fit to join the team.”

Hope springs eternal that Keller, and for that matter Chief Geier, are truly committed to finding and hiring outside management to rebuild APD and end the bunker mentality of the Department.

For other blog articles and commentary see:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/17/apd-power-couple-of-apd-chief-geiers-own-creation/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/05/channel-4-does-major-disservice-to-apd-chief-selection-process-and-viewers/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/03/no-need-for-charade-if-fix-already-in/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/21/too-much-at-stake-to-rush-and-get-wrong/