The Piercing Truth

This is right from the dictionary and seems to describe Albuquerque, Berry and Schultz. Fascism (f ash ,izem) noun An authoritarian right wing system of government and/or social organization. (in general use) extreme right wing, authoritarian, chauvinistic and/or intolerant views or practices. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one group over another, national, ethnic, especially social strata or monetarily; a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach. Compliments of one of our Eyes

Sep 2, 2008

Courage, Fire and Fantasia

At times we are very critical of APD's 5th Floor and occasionally individual officers who screw up or betray the public's trust. But by and large, the officers whose job it is to protect and serve do so with courage and honor that is rarely acknowledged publicly.

You may have already read about the APD pursuit that ended in a fiery crash early Saturday morning (ABQ Journal - Subscription). Officers were called to the Fantasia night club early Saturday morning reference a disturbance where an elderly man had been beaten. Upon arrival, officers observed an orange and white GMC Sierra pickup leaving the scene.

Officers issued an attempt to locate on the vehicle but moments later the orange and white pickup returned and tried to hit an officer at the scene. The officer managed to get out of the way but the truck proceeded to run down a woman in the parking lot. Officers believe that the driver of the pickup intended to hit the woman because it turned around and hit her a second time.

The truck then left the lot at a high rate of speed and headed west on McLeod to Jefferson running lights and almost hitting other vehicles along the way. A short time later the pickup was spotted turning onto the southbound I-25 on ramp by Officer Dawn Roberto. A pursuit was authorized and officer Roberto gave chase.

Officer Roberto pursed the truck through the Big-I where it nearly flew off the flyover to the sixth street exit where the driver of the orange and white truck was unable to negotiate a left hand turn striking the bridge and bursting into flames.

This is where the extraordinary courage of ordinary officers came into play as pursuers became life savers. Despite the fact that moments before this same truck had tried to kill one of their own and had run down an innocent woman, officers on the scene risked their lives battling the fire in the engine compartment to save the lives of the driver and his passenger. While waiting on AFD to arrive the officers emptied five of their fire extinguishers in the engine compartment to no avail.

Our Eyes tell us that the driver's side door was collapsed and the truck was in a position that made it impossible to access the cab directly. However, an officer noticed movement from the passenger and despite the height of the vehicle, and the fire beginning to enter the cab, Officers Zachary Floyd, Chris Romero, and Isaac Maes managed to pull the passenger - a 16 year old that reeked of alcohol - from the burning vehicle.

As it turns out both the driver and the passenger carried Mexican national IDs. Our Eyes tell us that they suspect the two are (or were as the case may be) in this country illegally and could be involved in illegal activity (other than being here illegally in the first place) because they were both carrying large amounts of cash.

Which brings us back to Fantasia... Our Eyes tell us that the club - an all ages night club - is suspected of catering to illegals and of turning a blind eye to shall we say, recreational pharmaceuticals. According to our Eyes the reputation of the club had been known for some time in law enforcement circles, but every time they attempted nuisance abatement or enforcement action they were shut down. Our Eyes believe that the club was being protected because politicians didn't want to look like they were targeting a club that caters to Mexican nationals. Some even speculate that the club was receiving political cover from Santa Fe.

In early August, another well known all ages night club - Club 7 - was raided by BCSO and APD (ABQ Journal - Subscription). Our Eyes tell us that this is another case where APD had been shut down because The Almighty Alcalde didn't want a black mark on downtown. In other words, the perception that downtown is a safe fun atmosphere is more important than underage drinking, rampant drug use, and fire code violations that could have ended over 500 young lives.

It's interesting that in politics perception is reality even if the reality is that with a little investigation lives could be saved. Unfortunately, politicians rarely show the courage demonstrated by officers on a daily basis. They're generally more interested in not looking bad than in not being bad. Even when they know that operations like Fantasia and Club 7 are endangering lives, they'll look the other way as long as the media doesn't pick it up.

It really is too bad that we don't have more politicians like officers Floyd, Romero, and Maes who when faced with a choice between what is right and what is easy, have the courage to risk their own lives to save another who just moments before was their adversary.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's always odd to not feel regret for the loss of a life, but in this case, I don't. I agree Eye, more Kudos should go to the hero's of ABQ. Thanks to those who keep us safe, and no thanks to the scumbag politicians who are only out to benefit themselves. By the way, the new Club 7 group is meeting at 7th and Haines now. I don't know what is there, but that is where they are all meeting now that they can't go downtown. I'm sure someone can read this and get started.

Anonymous said...

Bravo, APD officers are amazing! They do their job even dealing with the scum bags, on the 5th and 11th floor that is!

Anonymous said...

A great job done by first responders. Before someone jumps on the "why chase them" bandwagon let me be the first to point out that once they started intentionally running over innocents they could have just been shot.

Hopefully when that young man gets out of custody, gets deported and then sneaks back here he will have the good grace to at least say "thanks".

Anonymous said...

All APD, all the time...? This site has been reduced to nothing more than a Wah, Wah blog for disgruntled, outta touch with the community, APD whiners. It does not matter what happend the night of club 7 or the night of the club Fantasia. As long as APD continues to make the news every other week i.e.,(Levi Chavez,Maes,Redhouse,Chase,Gay traffic Sgt.,Camera man bandit,Grandma' killer Floyd, and the list goes on nobody really cares what good APD does on 1 particular night of the year when weighed against ALL the bad they have shown or done through out the year.

Anonymous said...

GIVE ME A BREAK.. above poster...by the way, the elderly man shouldnt have thrown anything at the officer, he shouldve acted appropriately and gone to I.A. if he was so pissed, hes luckky he didnt get teh crap beat out of him.
Fantasia needs to be shut down. these guys did not care about the lives they endangered. good job getting them in custody (even if one had to die)

Anonymous said...

totally unrelated but two very important points:

1. When is the chief going to pay the overtime to the grave officers as he is supposed to? He is blantantly going against the contract. Aviation, which is part of our union is getting paid correctly. Why doesnt the APOA do a press release showing people that the chief is purposely holding money from us?
2. When are we going to get rid of these worthless computers? Tiberun sucks. It is so unsafe for officers, and the 5th floor doesnt care. Yeah, it works on a desk, but in the car, it is outright a danger to the officers.

Anonymous said...

oh please, all the good stuff never makes the news. officers do good daily and dont get recognized, nor do they expect to. all the bad stuff makes the news and overshadows all the good officers. you just named, what? seven officers? out of over 1000??when you can name over 600 officers that have done bad then you can bitch and whine and then you might have some credibility.

Anonymous said...

That's what happens when this 'blogger' is sleeping with Paul Heh.

Anonymous said...

which one is sleeping with paul... maes, romero or floyd?

Anonymous said...

Sleeping w/Heh? Must be Snowwhite then...

Anonymous said...

Contract??? APD has a contract that the Chief isn't following? I agree, grave Officers need to be paid.

Anonymous said...

Good deeds go unnoticed, bad situations get sensationalized. Cops, and others who serve the community, don't do the job for recognition, they do it because they care about the citizens. There will never come a time when the headlines are filled with the good things that happen in the community (it does sell papers or ad space). Let the whiners whine and the disgruntled complain....karma will catch up with them.

Thank You APD, BCSO, AFD, NMSP, BCFD, UNMPD, Alb Ambulance, and MTS for all that you do...it is appreciated by more than you know!!!

Anonymous said...

I just want to know who Paul Heh is sleeping with!
The Chief demands integrity and honesty from his officers, yet he is the biggest liar and coward of them all. Mayor, if you have any desire of continuing as a Mayor of this fine city, get rid of Ray. He is a tumor.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Paul is sleeping with someone,,, his wife you tool!

Anonymous said...

I know---Tiberun and Chief Ray, they have something in common...

THEY ARE BOTH PIECES OF SHIT

Anonymous said...

The all age legal RAVE parties need to stop, it was BCSO who shut down Club 7, yet Mayor Marty tried to take credit. It has to be politics that protects these RAVE promoters becuase no decent parent would allow their young daughters or sons to be placed in harms way for the sake of money!!! APD has turned a blind eye to down town for Marty's entire rein and it will not stop until he goes and mark my words, he will eventually. The fine officers that try to do their jobs are stonewalled. The level of corruption by City leaders is disgraceful, it has nothing to do with whiners, its about acting with honor and staying true to your oath of office. Those days are gone for the most part as newer officers are silenced by fear. Things will get worse before they get better but all of us need to keep the faith.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why the police call their chief a piece of shit? He has fired more corrupt cops in his time here than all other chiefs combined.

Whats wrong with weeding out bad cops? Chief i'll vote for you again. keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Sure the chief got rid of the cops he needed to. He also violates our contract, violates the Officers Bill of Rights, talks to others bout on going IA cases and lies about them, treats women unfair, and is stuck in the good ol boy system. The country is moving where women will be treated as equal as men.

Anonymous said...

dont forget, the chief is the only chief in the state to turn over IA files (on his own accord) to the state to take away their certification

Anonymous said...

To answer your question....


The Chief rules by fear and indimidation...much like the mayor...that is why the cops dislike him...even the good ones.

Everyone knows that the Chief will throw you under the bus if your small mistake is a political liability for the chief/mayor. Heaven forbid and officer makes it to the incompetent news media...the chief will take the media's version over documented proof of what actually happened. It is all political.

Remember, good cops continue to work hard to take bad guys to jail and keep your city safe...but, sadly, have to worry more about the people above them than the criminals in front of them.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of "above" them, who is the new moron in ops review?

Anonymous said...

The APD Officers I know are outstanding, wonderful people! We are lucky to have them helping us out every day!

Anonymous said...

above poster.NO KIDDING.the whole unit is made up of morons. A FTO coordinator that has never been a T.O, (in fact wasnt ever a field cop). Then the other guy is some rook who has no idea what the hell he is doing

Anonymous said...

Ok, time for a reality check. This is how APD really is: I have family members (juveniles & young adults) that have had run-ins with the law. They deserved every arrest they were involved in.
Throughout the process, from arrest to trial, each & every one of the officers involved in every step of the way were polite, courteous, respectful, sometimes going out of their way help my family members. It is stressful to have family in trouble, and I can honestly say that the officers involved in each situtation treated my family members with respect and courtesy. So you bloggers that have nothing but crap to spew about APD officers it's time for a gut check: Step away from your computers and do some volunteer work with the Department, help out at the probation department, do SOMETHING to make things better. God knows our APD officers do, each and every day! Thank you APD!!

Anonymous said...

Anybody seen Ben Baker, the VP of the APOA?

Anonymous said...

Thank you above poster. As an APD officer it's great to get appreciated sometimes. No matter who my bosses are I will continue to put bad guys in jail. I hope the Chief is reading this because it seems he caters to the people who complain on us.

Anonymous said...

Yea, I think Baker was falling out of the Chiefs a&* when the Chief was running yesterday. I saw it bout 7/roma, you might start there.

Anonymous said...

You disgusting pompous people should get a real life instead of talking about other peoples futures. Little do you know that Club 7 was approved to have a occupant load of over 800 people but because of political incompetence and a corrupt fire dept. They have been waiting for three years to make it official. As far as the fire code violations go you should know that for five years they have passed every inspection and paid all the fees and permit requirements for each of the inspections. So for the city abq to magically come out and say that this place is in violation of so many codes it just may go to show the level of corruption in that government. You retards shouldn't be in such obvious denial, in fact you should look a little deeper into the actions of your elected officials and you'll find that the properties that they take "action" against they have financial interest and gain to make by having their relative buy them at bargain prices and sell it back to city. Pretty convenient huh???