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

Mar 26, 2012

Last Straw: Public Safety Remains Compromised

Below is an open letter to the Eye. It is not just us at the Eye that can see through Schultz and his band of thugs...

Last straw…from the experiences of a retired APD civilian employee

I was out of town when Officer Al Walck died and was shocked to learn of the circumstances surrounding his forced retirement and death. It is my understanding that APD's Chief and/or his minions were pursuing law enforcement de-certification of Officer Walck, a retired, 38 year APD veteran, which is believed to have led to his massive heart attack and death. This course of action taken by APD management has since been dismissed as unwarranted by the NMDPS Law Enforcement Board. Will there be any disciplinary action taken against those who submitted the unwarranted, de-certification request against Officer Walck? How come the APD brass are able to continue immoral and unethical behavior toward APD officers and civilians with impunity, time and time again? Why are they allowed to continue to use APD's Internal Affair's Unit to intimidate and harass not only APD officers, but also APD civilians who dare to question their actions? And finally, how much longer will Mayor Berry continue to support this police chief's administration of the Albuquerque Police Department which has cost the citizens of Albuquerque millions of dollars in law suits and many APD employees their health?

I recently retired from APD after 26 years as a civilian in the Crime Lab/DNA Unit and wasn't sure I would make it out alive due to the stress from an incredibly hostile work environment. Trying to address serious issues of concern in the APD Crime Lab/DNA Unit, the other DNA analysts and myself brought these issues to the attention of our immediate supervisors, and then proceeded up the chain of command to Chief Schultz when our pleas for help were ignored. Instead of any positive solutions, our attempts for assistance were met with an increasingly hostile work environment. I spoke with Officer Walck last summer after he had another run-in with APD brass over the circumstances involving Mrs. (Darren) White's car accident. The paper reported that Officer Walck had been ordered to change his accident report by his deputy chief and he refused, which resulted in an Internal Affairs (IA) investigation. Similarly to Officer Walck, I had been ordered by my deputy chief to do something illegal and was targeted for an IA investigation when I wouldn't comply. Unlike Officer Walck, I did not have an attorney, so my charges were not dropped immediately. Instead, the proposed 40 hour suspension punishment (after 25 years service with no discipline issues) was used to try to force me into retirement by my deputy chief, prior to resolution of my medical issues. When I later requested a witness after being called to the Crime Lab Director's office (a valid request according to city HR), I was immediately reassigned to the Records division through IA. This drastic action was based on a trumped up charge of insubordination, which involved another IA complaint (never investigated) and I was barred from the Crime Lab property and Crime Lab personnel. This went on for 4 weeks until I submitted my letter of resignation, at which time, during a so-called "mediation" with only my deputy chief present, I was re-assigned to the Crime Lab to finish up my work. All IA charges and proposed punishments were to be dropped, as long as I did not "misbehave" again before I retired. These actions were not only a huge waste of taxpayer's money and resources, but highly unethical and, in my opinion, an incredible mis-use of police powers. As far as I know, the same individual, Deputy Chief Feist (acting as Chief Schultz' agent), who issued what I believed to be illegal orders, was also the one who targeted me for the Internal Affairs (IA) investigations, reviewed the results from the IA investigations, determined the proposed punishment that was used in what appeared to be a thinly veiled blackmail attempt to force me to retire, banished me from the Crime Lab on an unsubstantiated IA charge until I submitted my letter of resignation and then acted as "mediator" to set the terms of my return to the Crime Lab to finish up my work and the dismissal of all charges. How is this not a huge conflict of interest? The investigation of issues involving police employees should be completely separated from the control of the police chief and his staff to avoid any temptation to manipulate the system for their gain. Civilian employees should not be supervised by sworn police officers or investigated by Internal Affairs, especially when the city already has disciplinary procedures in place. As stated by Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

In the meantime, public safety remains compromised. Upper APD management continues to ignore the issues of serious concern raised by the analysts of the APD Crime Lab DNA Unit to include inadequate staffing and the enormous backlog of DNA cases. Detectives have been frustrated when their cases can't be worked since the priority cases being worked have been those going to court. The public has been told in the past that the Crime Lab DNA Unit does not have a backlog of sexual assault cases to be worked- I almost fell off my chair when I heard this stated at a conference. While Mayor Berry has been hard at work addressing the Property Crime issue in Albuquerque, the public would be safer and better served if he prioritized and provided the resources required for the DNA analysis of unworked violent crime cases (Homicide, Criminal Sexual Penetration and Aggravated Battery cases), as well as Property Crime cases.

The posts I have read on the Eye primarily have to do with sworn officers, with little or no reference to the civilians who work alongside these officers as support staff to accomplish the law enforcement mission. As mentioned in postings prior to mine, there are many examples of harassment and a hostile work environment for officers who get on the wrong side of the current APD brass. There are many more unreported examples of injustice and harassment for APD civilians who find their numbers dwindling while their duties are expanded in order to try to accomplish the increasing work demands with less personnel. Many times there is little consideration or respect for a civilian's point of view- we have been referred to as "snivilians" or categorized as "the sworn at" vs. "the sworn", although, I do want to acknowledge, with appreciation, the recognition and thanks our DNA Unit received in the past from many individual officers or units like Cold Case and Sex Crimes.

I have written this in honor of Officer Walck and his numerous efforts to shine the light on unethical behavior demonstrated by some of APD's brass. As I have experienced, the chief's influence and power must be very extensive because NO ONE I contacted over the years concerning the DNA unit's issues would take a stand to problem solve unethical actions or orders our unit experienced…to include the APD Internal Affairs Unit, Mayor's Berry's office, the Independent Review Office, City of Albuquerque Human Resources Office and the city Inspector General's Office.

Enough is enough: Mayor Berry, too many people have been negatively affected by this chief and his minions during his tenure as Chief and I fear for the safety of our current officers as they deal with a disillusioned public and the fallout from failed policies. Please take a stand for positive change at APD that would encompass honor and respect for all people, regardless of whether they are police officers, civilians or the public that is served by Albuquerque's police department.

Cathy Pfefferle
Retired APD Forensic Scientist

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to lay it out Cathy. I can only imagine how much fun it was over in records under O'Connell or Gonterman! What she says is true with so much emphasis and pressure to deal with property crimes, violent crimes are being poorly handled if not overlooked. Some of them very high in profile.

But wait we sure have our vice unit picking up hookers and the new and improved burglary unit playing with their gps enabled truck. Anything that looks good on the news right?!?! But wait, what did we hear, another cop that Schultz fired...lot was it Feist again????....is gonna get rehired!!!

Anonymous said...

Cathy,
Excellent letter. Every bit of it is true. Feist Schultz and the rest of the 5th floor are blatantly arrogant because they have all gone unchecked. Well, that is over. The process has begun. With everyone that has come forward, along with those that will after seeing the progress of speaking out against this corruption, they will be forced out. Charges will be filed, and everyone from the cowards at the top who are ordering malicious prosecution, witness tampering, intimidition of witnesses, hostile work environments, retaliation, and lies, to the sergeants in IA who do their bidding like bigger cowards only to get rewarded with promotions and cush assignments when they were never cops to begin with, will all be jobless and disgraced just as they have conspired to do to all of their victims who are now uniting to see that justice has it's day.

Anonymous said...

Wow..... Ya know Cathy. I really think ur letter needs to be submitted tothe editorial section of the paper. The weird thing is, I know the fifth floor and the mayors office reads the "eye". But how many voters and reasonably minded citizens read it? When I was in the process of resigning myself, people would ask me, "are you going to sue"? I told them that suing for wrongful termination would require me to be fired. Which I absolutely could not afford to do. The department put me between a rock and a hard place. Do I get fired? Wait the two or three years for a lawsuit to get my job back? (With a substantial check, taxpayer funded of course, for a civil rights violation ) or do I resign and leave quietly with the hopes that the the chief doesnt try to do me like he did Al? Turns out he's doing it anyway. Being the detective that I am. I reaearched an alternative to the wrongful termination lawsuit. Maybe a class action constructive discharge lawsuit against the city will open their eyes. Constructive discharge basically states that an employee was harassed to the point that he/she had no other alternative but to resign. And that employee is entilted to compensation if a judge decides that the harassment was not justified. Food for thought..... Thank you for your service Cathy.

Anonymous said...

Complain about the Chief,Mayor,and whoever else you want to. When they are all gone you will continue to blame your hardships on someone else. Get you butts out there and do your damn job and be glad you have a job. I get so damn tired of hearing police bitch about how tough they have it. I retired from APD and it wasn't that damn hard. The Administration will always want to break it off in your ass. What else is new ? Suck it up and do your job. You wanted to be a Police officer and make a difference ? Make one and quit bitching already.

Anonymous said...

Good for you Kathy. Its pretty pathetic when the unethical line crosses bounderies we can only imagine. What is truth right? I pray this Chief and Mark do not drive away all the hardworking officers and civilians within the ranks of APD. Keep your head up folks

Anonymous said...

Well said............ It's too bad one has to be retired to be able to BLOG the truth... Steve Tate, Paul Heh, Marty Gilmore, now Cathy.. I have no idea what the answer is but we have to do something soon this ship is sinking faster then the TITANIC... Crime in Albuquerque is OUT OF CONTROL but if I was the victim of a sexual assault I would hope it was getting more attention then a TURD that stole my stereo. Bait cars, John stings, Montgomery Tac Plan give me a FREAKIN break...

S. Sgt. Paul J. Heh (ret.) said...

Cathy: Thank you for your comment. As a retired officer of 24 plus years I believe every word you have written and have lived much of the same myself. Please join with me in seeing that Mayor Berry is replaced in the next election. In my opinion he can not be trusted. Just ask any of the Police Officers he spoke to before he was elected.

Anonymous said...

It does not stop at marc and fiest nick dodge was brought in from outside to "fix the evidence room" and all he has done is play smoke and mirrors. The rules and being compromised to the point of rehires being able to hideout,steal and not follow the rules that were made to prevent theft.Get rid of the micro manageing hitler .

Anonymous said...

Just a quick note. Fiest has forgotten when he worked grave yard and would go to his house and play video games all night while on duty. People dont change just their motives!!

Anonymous said...

He just occupied a graveyard position and hung a uniform on his worthless ass. A cop is someone who took the job to be a cop. He wouldn't know what that is, nor would the sneak know what it is like to actually work for a living. His hands are probably soft as a newborns feet. He would probably seek medical attention for a callus. If he lost his job and had to do manual labor he wouldn't know what the hell to do.

All of these liars need to be fired.

I wonder who is going to squeql on who when everyone is facing charges.

Anonymous said...

Oh wait, wasn't it the great Paul Feist who processed and solved the west side murders?!?

Anonymous said...

Paul, how do we help you on your quest to rid this city of the mayor and the worthless chief?

Anonymous said...

How to help? This fuk'n blog has come alive again, pass the word around!

Anonymous said...

Cathy, How does one get in touch with you? A grass roots movement is under way right now. Evidence is piling up. They won't be able to hide their actions after this.
After everyone who was criminally violated by the likes of these creeps is linked up and the evidence is dropped on the right desks, prosecutors will have no choice but to go after these vermin.

Anonymous said...

Fire every APD employee and bring in the National Guard!