It appears that Officer Daniel Guzman has been terminated. We spotted a comment earlier today and had our Eyes verify that Officer Guzman had been let go.
If you'll remember, Guzman created a flap when he starred in a short feature by KOB-TV photographer Rick Foley. Officer Guzman arrested the photographer when Foley failed to leave a crime scene. Of course Foley wasn't in the crime scene at the time. At the end of the day, APD took a black eye and all of the charges against the KOB photographer were dropped. (Read about it here.)
At the time the 5th Floor promised to retrain all of the officers on the force including Guzman. Yeah... that's what we thought too. Retraining the entire force to deal with the media more effectively and without handcuffs seems just a little ridiculous. It was also an empty promise designed simply to placate the media. But we digress...
Our Eyes tell us that Officer Guzman was terminated by the IRO on the grounds that he wasn't truthful. Apparently, the IRO insisted that Guzman be terminated despite being cleared by Internal Affairs. The Eyes have it that IA found that Guzman's belt tape supported his story but the IRO insisted on termination.
Our Eyes tell us that under the city ordinance, citizens have the ability to appeal the findings of the IRO, but officers do not. So at least for the time being, Guzman is gone. But don't count on this thing going away. It looks like the APOA is going to take the decision to court... stay tuned.
54 comments:
Good Riddance, But sends a bad signal to the media. Guzman was a stupid cop that got involved with an even stupider cameraman....
IRO can not terminate or discipline anyone. They only investigate and reccommend to the Chief. He can choose to go with it or not. Chief is only one who can terminate anyone. IRO is powerless in practical terms. The appeal you speak of only means that they can not change IRO findings now which does not matter since the Chief can choose to agree or just blow it off. Should get the facts straight before people who dont know any better get the wrong ideas.
You know, a lot of folks terminated for cause greater than this got thieir jobs back. I suspect Guzman will win this one on appeal to the labor board
What a bunch of crap, the IRO can’t just “decide” to terminate someone due to untruthfulness. The case would have been sent back to IA and IA would have made the determination of untruthfulness’ and then forwarded it the chief. Sounds like a total lack of leadership from to the top and them placating the 11th floor and the deep pockets of channel 4. Isn’t Rick Foley the coward that ran out of a bar during a gunfight when he was a patrol officer? Someone on the 5th floor please grow a set of balls and tell marty to mind his snack machines and quit getting involved in police department issues.
totally unrelated:
if guzman was fired for untruthfulness, can the chief be fired as well.. he lied out his ass yesterday!
Let me preempt this comment by saying I am not an APD officer. Officer Guzman was a bonehead for what he did and he should of been punished, with that said let me point out that this "Out for blood mentality" in this town absoulutely kills me! I have lived in Las Vegas Nev., and Chicago. I now reside here. Yes, APD officers have deserved to be terminated but not this one. I also believe Officer Kirby was hung out to dry also. You severly punish within i.e.( demotion,30-90 days leave w/ out pay, anger mngt classes, or any other dept. sanctions), but you do not take a mans lively hood away from him for some crap like this. I chalk both termination up to political expediency. The money it cost us taxpayers to defend and "Unjust cause" for termination case is not worth it. The officers made a mistake and should be treated as such. APD is no different than any other "Big" city police force. The other cities I have lived in put up with alot more than a camera mans hurt feelings and a officer extending professional courtesy to a friend. Just my opinion! I wish both officer Good luck and God speed in the future!
Wow murder someone you get put on Admin leave for a year and still get paid. Do what your job by securing a crime scene get fired. Go APD.
"Isn’t Rick Foley the coward that ran out of a bar during a gunfight when he was a patrol officer?"
Who ever posted this is the biggest idiot posting on this blog. Get your facts straight before you toss out crap like this. This is not the same Rick Foley and unless you were actually at the scene, back in 1984 down on Broadway, you shouldn't talk crap about the other Rick Foley. Posting an anonymous comment like that shows who the real coward is.
pos
Chief Schultz just threw Guzman under the bus for the media so they will write good stuff about him.
I know a few officers that were caught for the same thing as Guzman, untruthfulness. Bonnie Brionez was the last one right before Guzman, but Schultz did not fire that pretty young thing! Why now!
Did you see how Chief Schultz was ripped apart in citywide briefing by two very youn officer, one a young mother of two. He lost it and stated where were all the officers at the King/Smith gym dedication. Well chief, we were all freakin working or spending our short time off with our families you ass. We made you look like a fool in briefing, especially when you lost it after being caught in your lies about the 5/8's.
Wasn't that great the way the female officer and other officer received standing ovations from the entire briefing after they confronted your bullshit stuff and told you how bad morale really was!!!!!!!! Your answer to that question was in very poor taste!!!!
Chief, this dept and its officer's think you suck bigtime!!!!!!
The entire dept is all talking about it! Nice of your deputy chief's to try and take names down so you can retaliate against those that spoke against you!
Guzman will be back with a vengence. He will not go down without a fight be sure of that.
The camerman Foley must not be allowed to feel victorious in this matter.
I rather have guzman as my back-up than levy chavez any day
It would seem that the "bad apples" of APD being terminated would make the "good cops" happy. No one likes to take the blame for something they didn't do. That has become the norm for the good citizens of this city (and state) regarding police oversite, and "we the people" certainly don't like to be considered guilty before proven innocent!
"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth...for my part, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst; and to provide for it."
Patrick Henry
Thank goodness for the IRO. IA is a joke...police policing themselves. Yeah that works.
This proves a citizen board is necessary for oversight, even at the disgust of the uneducated, overzealous police officers who feel they are above the law and constitution.
I'm glad to hear this news and have more confidence in APD.
Good riddance Guzman.
Not for nothing but are you even considering the "stupidity" factor in this event? As arguably bad as it was, can you even contemplate that the one time you "go off" on someone just for being a "dick" to you, you do it to a guy who is FILMING YOU WHILE YOU DO IT?
Good lord, how seriously low is your IQ to jump a media guy on camera? Guzman is either an ADA hire due to a need to employ the handicapped, or he really had to want to get fired and pilloried in the press.
I would like to know more about this city wide briefing thing. Can someone post more information? What lies were confronted? What exactly did the chief say? What did the officers say? etc
thanks
The APD Weak Leader Litmus Test:
1. Living in the Past
Managers in the lower talent quartile constantly reminisce about the old days, when the people worked harder for less, when we didn’t have this damn technology to complicate things, and global competition only occurred every four years in a place like Innsbruck, Austria at the Olympic games. They long for the simpler times, and spend an inordinate amount of time telling tales of how it used to be.
2. Lack of Risk Taking
Don’t rock the boat. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Spineless managers say these phrases and others like them--a lot. What’s worse, they believe them. The status quo is great, and they’ll fight to keep things the same. New ideas from employees and colleagues are scrutinized for the possible negative outcomes. These so-called leaders don’t see possibilities in new ways of thinking; they imagine the danger that may occur. Their managerial careers are governed by fear and shrinking, not expanding, their comfort zones. Decisions are most often made based on minutiae rather than important possible consequences, like not hiring an otherwise superb employee because the janitor might get jealous. Many of these token leaders don’t even realize they have this character deficit. One of these guys will steal second base, provided his foot is nailed to first. This symptom is also manifested in punishing subordinates for minor mistakes, most of which are necessary to the learning process and to move the company forward.
3. Demands, Rather Than Earns, Respect
Strong leaders never have to remind people of their title. Their subordinates, peers and customers know who they are. General Schwarzkopf didn’t have to keep telling the troops he was their leader, they already knew it. Respect like that is earned through deeds and the example that a leader sets. By contrast, weak leaders revel in telling other people, especially subordinates, their titles. The feeble leader’s business card has an impressive title after the name, often using the word “Executive” somewhere in the phrase, as if the rest of us don’t know that a Vice President is an executive. Because respect hasn’t been earned, this bunch gets challenged frequently and their only way to assure victory is to pull rank.
The difference between a leader who has forced followers and one who has a willing, enthusiastic support team is the difference between a mackerel and a tiger shark. If you find yourself needing to continually justify what your position in the company is, you’re the mackerel. The keys to earning respect and loyalty with the troops are many, but here are a few:
Set a congruent example; practice what you preach. Don’t ask employees to do what you wouldn’t be willing to do. Pass along credit to employees, even if their involvement was marginal compared to yours. Nobody likes a glory-hounding boss who is perceived as someone who takes credit for other people’s accomplishments. Actually provide a vision for the organization, which leads us to weak leader test number 4…
4. Vision-less
By definition, a leader needs two things in order to exist. The first is followers, and we’ve covered that. The second is a direction, somewhere to take the followers. Thousands of managers in modern business miss the mark here, wandering aimlessly through life, rolling with the punches. How do you spot the vision-less manager? Ask her, “What’s your vision for the future of your department, division, etc.?” If an immediate answer doesn’t follow, summed up in one clear, distinct sentence, you’ve found an impostor. If she takes out her business card, flips it over and reads the company mission statement, strike two.
5. No Follow-through
Effective leaders demand, and get results for, the major initiatives that they want to implement, often by the power of their own personalities. If a manager launches an event that needs care and feeding, then abandons it the next time he reads a business book on a trans-continental flight, he is wishy-washy and ineffective. This coward doesn’t have the courage to follow his convictions about what is right for the business, so the direction of the group is set by what’s hot--the flavor of the month. Look for this symptom too--a manager who aborts a project at the first sign of trouble, not recognizing the opportunity and success that lies beyond the wall of failure. This occurs every day, where the company accountant brings a report into the big cheese’s office that shows red ink at the start of a project. The manager then thanks the bean counter and withdraws support for the change, which heretofore was touted as the “strategic paradigm shift for the organization, critical to our future success.” Hogwash!
THE SAD TRUTH IS THAT THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN WHEN YOU CUT THE TRAINING DOWN!!!! IT'S NOT GUZMAN'S FAULT, BUT THE DEPT'S FOR NOT GIVING HIM THE PROPER TRAINING. CHIEF SCHULTZ WILL SAY THE SHORTEND TRAINING IS NOT THE REASON. HOWEVER, ALL THAT WORK HERE AND HAVE WORKED FOR APD KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THE QUICK RUSH THROUGH ACADEMIES THAT APD NOW HAS IS THE RESONS THAT APD IS EXPERIENCING ALL THESE PROBLEMS WITH BAD ARRESTS...IF YOU DON'T THINK SO, READ THE PAPER AND SEE HOW MANY ARE YOUNG OFFICERS MAKING THESE BAD ARRESTS. I WOULD SAY ALL OF THEM.
WELL CHIEF, YOU ARE TRYING TO GET OFFICERS ON THE STREET ASAP BUT, BAD THINGS HAPPENS WHEN YOU CUT SHORT THEIR TRAINING! STOP LYING TO THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA AND FESS UP THAT WE WILL NEVER GET THE NUMBER TO 1100. WE WILL HOWEVER GET A BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN COPS IN THE FIRST PLACE!
OH YES, gUZMAN WILL BEAT THIS TERMINATION IN COURT AND YOU KNOW IT! YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO LOOK GOOD FOR NOW!
The chief said nothing but BS in our citywide. No one spoke up like the other briefings. He wants to take comp away and pay us OT instead. What he does not understand is we want to be off and away from this bad corrupt place. Right now we have the option of comp or OT chief. Do you really think we are stupid. We know you are trying to screw us once more. And like the post said above, we don't dislike you, we HATE you!
People bitch that the Chief is not more selective with recruiting just to make the numbers and now that he is trying to remove an unfit officer, people still bitch.
The bottom line no matter what he does, some people will find a reason to whine.
Shut up already and be productive, you are embarrassing the rest of us.
And before someone opens their jaw before knowing the facts, I am not a command officer.
I liked the fact that both Bowdich and Calloway were dozing off during the briefing- Now how does it feel. I love how the chief got so flustered. The Chief totally and completely lied. Go talk to the one officer, got has everything on tape! Here is one officer that is going to stand up for us. NO CONFIDENCE VOTE.....
It's so ironic that I had just finished reading an old blog post from local blogger Buggs and then I read this post here and all the comments.
It's an eye opener and since I am not a cop, it made me really think about this whole controversy of cops gone bad, or are they?
http://buggsblog.com/2005/07/25/the-blue-truth/
The above link was bad, but I did find it on a search from the site, very interesting:
Here is the correct link:
http://buggsblog.com/2002/07/25/the-blue-truth/
Bowdich slept through 4 years while being the Sheriff of the county..what's new that he dozes off at a briefing...??? And he can add to his resume that he protects DEA informant pedophiles...
"It's not Guzman's fault"
Geez what a bunch of bs. No matter what lack of training you want to pass the blame off to this one is a slam dunk. Please don't follow Schultz's lead, take responsibility and call it correctly. By trying to blame someone else for Guzman's actions you kind of sound like Ray.
You just receivd a 47% raise, have a free car and gas, make overtime and have great benefits to include a 20 year retirement and you complain about working 5 days a week. Give me a break.
The chief wants to look good in the paper so when he looks for another job they will read past issues of the journal to see what he has done. When he goes looking for another job we need to make sure the hiring agency for schultz reads this blog. he does not care about this dept or its officers, just what the journal writes.
Wouldn't the comp issue be a contract issue, the chief said that in our citywide. Now the union has to stand up and the chief already said comp will be fazed and wow, were not even in contract negotiations. Guess we know who is running the union, big surprise.
No lies were told by the chief in the briefing I was in.
Like he said no other dept in the country our size even attempts citywide briefings. He should stop wasting his time trying cause no-one appreciates that shit anyways.
Sounds to me like he's trying to make our lives easier by doing more telephone reports, and making people involved in crashes handle it among themselves. I think crash reports are just for insurance companies anyways. Last I checked Allstate or Farmers doesn't pay me the City of ABQ does. Not handling those calls frees me up to do more important calls. Sounds like he's tryin to help us do our job to me.
He isn't ready to bring 10's back because 8's are working. He is the boss and he can do that. We all work for the citizens of ABQ and it's his job to make sure calls are taken. Its our job as police officers to take the calls.
So stop ur bitchin and go back to work and take some calls. All your whining is an embarassment to the badge.
Chief Schultz feed us a line of bullshit during our citywide. No one spoke up, but we all knew he was NOT looking out for our best interest, only his, as usual!
We all talked about how bad of a Chief, Schultz has been. Even though we only know Chief Gallegos, who was dirty. Chief Schultz has been much worse, at least Gallegos was not an arrogant and vindictive man like Schultz.
Schultz does not have the personality to be a good chief anywhere! He is all about himself, not his dept or the officers. Schultz could give a rats ass about any one of us, except his little click!
We can't wait until he is gone!
WE dont work 5-8s, we work 7 days a week. NO SLEEP. NO FAMILY TIME. Enough is enough. Schultz lied in our briefing. He said we were on 5-8s to take calls for service, then at the end he stated AND I QUOTE.. he "doesnt care if calls are stacking, they have been stacking since the beginning of his term.." he then said the only call that is important is helping out another officer....
I think this is all about common sense, good attitude, and leadership. Guzman obviously didn't show any common sense or a good attitude during his 15 minutes of stardome and showing of a weak judgement. Leadership appears to be lacking from the "higher ups" also.
I worked 5 8s and I worked 4 10s. You guys really sound like a bunch of cry babies about this. 5 8s is not that big of a deal. My first 10 years was on 8s and I didn't cry, neither I nor my family had a problem with it. I just can't figure out what is wrong you some of you.
Schultz may not be the best chief we ever had, but he gets to call the shifts, we don't. This is really a nonsense issue.
well thats great, lets see how a schedule works:
go to work at 23 (or 22 hrs) get off at 0700 (or 0600), go to court at 0830 (sometimes pretrial at 0700. stay at court until 1330 (if u r lucky), pick up kids at 1430 or 1530, go home, get dinner, get 2-3 hrs sleep, get ready for work. You dont see a problem? Crybaby? So its not ok to voice concerns and opinions?
Haha all the day shifters love the 5/8's that's why they don't mind the eights. Its bad enu
Seems like the 5th floor deputy chief's are reading and writing on this blog. You can tell which coments they write. Come on, 5/8's suck and are costing the city more money and the chief knows it.
"well thats great, lets see how a schedule works:
go to work at 23 (or 22 hrs) get off at 0700 (or 0600), go to court at 0830 (sometimes pretrial at 0700. stay at court until 1330 (if u r lucky), pick up kids at 1430 or 1530, go home, get dinner, get 2-3 hrs sleep, get ready for work. You dont see a problem?"
Don't take this as being mean, but if it is causing you this much trouble maybe you should find another job. Or at the next bid go to a different shift. Apparently graveyard will not work for you so you need to do something about it that you control. The chief controls the work schedule, you don't...... But you control where you work and what shift. You might have to wait for the bid but if it is causing you this much trouble do something more than complain, fix it for yourself, you have options.
"So stop ur bitchin and go back to work and take some calls. All your whining is an embarassment to the badge".
The person who wrote this has to be someone from the 5th floor.When was the last time they took a call? Went to court on thier day off? Stayed late on thier shift to help with the calls the 5th floor whine so much about? Worries about child care? Wonders if they have a union to support them? etc. etc. I think NEVER.
First of all to “anonymous” defending officer Rick Foley known as “coward of the county” running from a gunfight---we know that was your daddy! I do know people that were there, it a was pool hall, not a bar. Like father, like son! Second, the truth needs to come out about who’s lying in this case. You were DETAINED for about 20 minutes in the backseat of a police car, crying, spitting, cussing and banging your head on the windows like a little BITCH! Too bad nobody filmed that part. YOU WERE CITED AND RELEASED!!! Why don’t you stop lying to the public for sympathy??? And third, KOB why don’t you get the full story before you air the news? You are supposed to REPORT THE NEWS…NOT MAKE THE NEWS!!! How desperate for a cameraman do you have to be to have this idiot on your team??? This drama queen,has been lying to all of you the whole time, the public, the media, the police department and the mayor’s office...just hoping to cash in at the taxpayers expense! It was a matter of officer safety to remove that crybaby cameraman shining a light on officers who were being shot at…duh…. This city is in serious need of change in it's administration! Marty has them all walking around like robots with no balls, no guts and no brains! Some investigation!
we do not have options. you have to be on well over 10 years to get a good day shift with weekends off, unless you go inside but then you are on-call. the new schedule only allows the weekends off people to have the good 6-2 shift. people who work the weekend are punished and cant get good early shifts and anyone with middle of week off cant get a good shift, not to mention court on your "days off". good going jeff mcdonald, you made the schedule to benefit you. your schedule sucks and you have no good overlap. day shift on 5/8s is not bad at all, great even. but swing and grave on 5/8s is a joke. so maybe thats why people go inside so fast, to get decent schedules.
First of all - I do think it's BS that Guzman was fired for that. No, he wasn't innocent - yes, disciplinary action should have been taken, but come on. We're complaining so much about how we don't have enough officers on the field, and firing them for BS like this. It's not like he killed anyone - but we don't fire for that apparently...
No matter what the chief says about 5/8's, how it's making calls for service better/call response time, blah blah - It's BS. There are more calls holding now then I have ever seen citywide. 5/8's is not helping the dept, the officers are getting held over more than they have in a long time to help clear up calls which isn't helping with morale, one shift is blaming another shift for not taking enough calls and letting them stack. 5/8's could possibly work, but not with the way the shifts are staggered....whoever came up with the hours is a moron.
OPtions. I dont have options. My spouse and I rarely see each other and with my little one, there is no way I can work any other shift.
"First of all to “anonymous” defending officer Rick Foley known as “coward of the county” running from a gunfight---we know that was your daddy! I do know people that were there,"
I was there. Unless you have first hand knowledge of what went on, all you are doing is spreading rumors. You can bitch all you want too, but why don't you ask Vic Webb how he feels. He is the only one that matters. Your opinion of a police shooting that happened 24 years ago, that you were not present at, means nothing except showing your stupidity.
By confusing two names and 24 years you are really showing how dumb you are. If you are an APD cop I sure hope you investigate crimes better than rumors.
pos
Did anyone see the 100 class special yesterday. What a joke. Nadine there with her short skirt and shirt buttoned down (no uniform) and john walsh in uniform with sgt stripes that he never earned. I have to be honest if I had the balls, i would vote a no confidence. but i cant afford to get fired
the chief made it a training issue, said it several times to the media and went as far as mandatory training. That is an admission of fault on his part, he is responsible for our training. You can bet Guzman and his team has all the media reports to support this. We only have the tools they give us and the chief already admitted fault.
Chief Schultz has messed up this dept by cutting the training just to get his numbers. He tells everyone that it is better than the states, but it's a watered down version of what APD used to have. The Chief lies through his teeth just to put under trained officers on the street. Just wait and see how many other problems surface in the months and years ahead because of Schultz and his hiring practices.
"I have to be honest if I had the balls, i would vote a no confidence. but i cant afford to get fired"
That's the whole point and exactly why are we/you/me are paying APOA dues.
IF SOMEBODY THERE CAN'T STEP UP AND BE A THORN IN SCHULTZ'S ASS WHO WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!
we are already seeing the trend of his faulty hiring. Look at the ones that he personally called when backgrounds and/or recruiting said "no". he made a call and told them "yes". he is such a liar. I love how he never answers the questions posed to him directly, he broadens his answers and starts talking about all of his wonderful ideas.
if 5 8s is causing you and your family so much distress, and you see no other options, then you should probably move on to a career that gives you the hours you want with no court or overtime.
Listen, you take the good with the bad. This is a damn good job with great benefits. I do believe some of you would bitch if Jesus himself was chief.
5 8s are here. Live with it or write the chief a memo, but quit bitching to the rest of us.
Nadine is a waste of space. We all know why the 5th floor brought her up there. She was worthless at the Airport on grave. All she did was meet Lt Sauer in the back, and she knows what I mean. We all saw her several times. We use to just sit back and laugh. She's worthless as a cop and she knows it!
She met Henz in his office for closed door meetings too. You should have seen her at briefings. It was pathetic.
How'd that NC vote go? Did it get off the ground?
Wow, what a bunch of idiots posting here. First of all the IRO does not fire (or insist on) any officer getting fired. Learn how the system works. Anyone with an IQ over 50 knew Guzman needed to be fired. His lack of common sense was scary.
2nd - Shultz has done a great job as Chief, especially considering the whiney bitches most of you are. It's hard to lead when you are leading a bunch of babies.
i hope guzman doesnt beat women the way he beats cameramen!
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