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

Nov 21, 2013

Misleading and Mischaracterized Statements: Yermal Style

Recently the above memo was distributed out to Albuquerque city employees. In it Berry/Perry & Company's very own Human Resources director, Vinnie Yermal,  reacted to a public comment by a labor union president representing the local AFSCME chapter. Yermal you see was upset about some comments made by the president that revealed publicly what has been the city's method of working with labor unions: Don't Work With Them. And here, Yermal went on the attack.

Since Berry took office, he and Perry have not backed down from their efforts to remove all city paid compensation to city employees who get paid to work for their unions. This is an ideological argument that neo-conservatives can't seem to get over. Nevermind the fact that at most we're talking about a handful of employees and that in reality they bring a positive savings that out weighs their earnings. But by the city's actions of not negotiation on this issue, they have brought an impasse to union contracts with the police, fire, and AFSCME covered city employees. And from those impasse's there are lawsuits and decreased productivity. Not bright executive management style at all if you ask us. Out of protest of a few employees, Berry/Perry have harmed thousands of other employees.

While Berry/Perry's lead contract negotiator has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in his efforts to make sure all the main unions do not get new contracts, the affected employees have also seen their pay go down while their expenses go up. Now with the AFSCME president bringing attention to this matter, Yermal goes on the offensive in actually blames her for the impasse.

Oddly Yermal makes the statement that had the unions folded on this issue all employees would have seen a 1% raise each year for each of the last three years. Funny, affected city employees have seen a reduction in income and had this increase occurred it would have been a pay restoration and not a raise. Silly Yermal.

Yermal then closes the memo by saying, after his lies, that he hopes the "memo clears up and confusion and misunderstanding regarding the City's position." Right, because only in the land of Berry/Perry is it called leadership where you punish the vast majority of your employees while you give your impulse control impaired CAO a $33,000/year raise.

We at the Eye have to state the obvious, Yermal sounds way too upset for a guy that according to the city's transgression, oops we me transparency, site makes $45.94/hour.

But then again, since Yermal only gave $500 to Berry's campaign (reported on August 20th), unlike the $2500 Perry gave Berry, I guess we shouldn't be surprised he's been tasked to push back against the city's workers.

Given how APOA Vice President Willoughby can't support APD interim chief Allen Banks enough praise (even though Banks is even more anti-union than Schultz) we don't expect much from the city's finest to fight for their wages. AFD shows promise but the cards are still out.

Who knows, maybe it will be the clerical workers, the solid waster drivers, or perhaps those fiesty librarians that finally pull the plug on Berry/Perry & Company's war on their employees. We do know that they just got a huge ally with the election of Diane Gibson to city council.....we see.....

Nov 20, 2013

Balance of Power Tips...

As expected, more than 20% additional voters flocked to the polls to vote in the special election deciding whether or not Albuquerque would have a more restrictive pregnancy termination law and who would be the city councilor for District 7.

Like everybody else, we all knew there was no way the "abortion" ordinance was going to make it on the October ballot because that would bring Democrats to the polls. And Democrats to the polls meant candidate Pete Dinelli would win the mayor's race.

The 11th Floor braintrust decided their jobs were more important than the city's interests, or the voter's wishes, so they kicked that ordinance vote down the road. But as usual Berry & Perry, Inc. only think of the immediate issue and not long term. That would require responsible decision making.

By kicking the ordinance question to yesterday's vote, they sunk the majority they held on city council because had it not been on the ballot, Janice Arnold-Jones would've been a shoe-in. Our Eyes tell us of an endless onslaught of McCleskey marketing in support of JAJ that all but smothered any of Diane Gibson's efforts. Yet still, Gibson won simply because folks came out to vote against the ordinance. Over four-thousand more people than who voted in October's general election.

Our Eyes also tell us there is more than a crack in the fringe cabal of Republicans that are in power in the city and state thanks to this simple election. Perhaps their grasp in power is truly not as strong as they would like us to all think it is....

So now, city council is weighted heavily with Democrats and they hold the majority. And ideologue appointees by Berry that were there, are now gone. And waiting in the wings is Councilor Ken Sanchez's inquiry into whether or not city council has authority to approve Mr. Perry's self-defined raise.....

Hold on folks, things are about to get interesting....

Nov 18, 2013

Conflict of Interest Confirmed

As many people know, Nate Korn is the "citizen at large" member of the state's Law Enforcement Academy Board. It is this board that decides to institute a wide range of things including whether to take a police officer/deputy's certification to the recent reduction in required training in order to get that certification.

This past September the board held its monthly meeting at APD's police academy just behind the Valley Substation at 2nd/Montano NW. Our Eyes recently forwarded us the following remarks that were made at what was Ray Schultz's last meeting as he was the board member representing city police departments in the state:



MR. KORN: "I would like to add my comments. It's true, as Mr. Barncastle has said, that Chief Schultz has been a mentor and a friend to all of us on the Board. I'd like to share with the people that are assembled a quick story about the way our Board would operate when we get in closed session. We talk about cases. We are almost always unanimous in our cases. Some cases are a little simpler than others for us to come to a quick conclusion. Other cases we have to sit over and battle through the facts and really think it through. And on those times when we're trying to battle and figure out how the case resolution should be fairest, frequently what would happen is all of us would give our comments. And Chief Schultz would be the last to talk. And then, when he would finally speak, it would be like EF Hutton. Everybody was quiet and we listened to what he said on these difficult cases fell into two grounds. One was he would find something that was so obvious that we missed that made all the difference in the world. And then it was like a light bulb coming on and we're all going on how come we didn't think of that. It was just very brilliant and it was there all along. And the other one would be where his years of institutional knowledge, either on this Board or at APD, came to bear. And he would take complex cases and help us understand how to best simplify them for the law and the facts. So that was something that I think all of us benefited from. And I know I certainly learned so much from the chief. And his presence will be missed. We wish him the best of luck in the future."

Aside from what is obviously and clearly patronizing praise, did Mr. Korn bother to reveal his vested business interests with Mr. Schultz's department? As we all know, Kaufman's West holds many city contracts with the police department. Including most recently the replacement of all of the soft armor vests issued to APD personnel....  And in the context of DOJ coming to town and pouring through APD's records, is this statement by Mr. Korn not simply, well, bizarre?

Nov 13, 2013

Unforthcoming and Truth Distortion Revealed: Banks and Perea

"Grunt"                  "You make my head hurt"         "Lies!!!"

Faced with having to reinstate Russell Perea as a police officer with all back pay, benefits, seniority, and attorney’s fees, the City of Albuquerque and APD’s interim chief Allen Banks are spinning in crisis mode.  And there is no better evidence of this than City of Albuquerque attorney David Tourek’s statement on the matter:

“We’re evaluating this problematic ruling from the court that is forcing us to take back a Police Officer that we felt we had sufficient grounds to terminate. We’ll be reviewing Judge Bacon’s decision and exploring all appellate, administrative, and policy options that are available.”

We know the city lives in backwards land.

How else do you explain giving the city’s CAO a 22% raise (equal to $33,0000) when his police department has cost tax payers over $55,000,000 in judgments?

Or promoting a deputy chief to the rank of chief when he’s been caught lying in public, lying under oath, tampering with crime scenes, covering up crimes, violates his own officer’s civil rights, and can hardly speak a single sentence with proper grammar?

Or describing a city as operating efficiently when, duh, there are 30% fewer officers and morale is in the tank amongst all NON MANAGEMENT personnel?

Or maintaining the health and safety of fire department personnel when toxic fumes continue to bleed into several fire stations despite the public reporting of these issues?

Or in this case, claiming that not only was the hearing officer wrong, but the personnel board, and District Court Judge Nash, and District Court Judge Bacon. In fact, Judge Bacon wasn’t just wrong according to Tourek, but it was problematic.

Well, let’s put Tourek’s statement in the context of things. 

•Russell Perea was the target of an IA investigation shortly after Levi Chavez was indicted for  
  murdering his wife and interviewed by Commander Doug West on 5/10/11.
•7/18/11 DCOP Allen Banks adopts and supports the termination of Perea for untruthfulness.
•7/28/11 the Albuquerque Journal quotes Ray Schultz as saying an officer in connection with
  Levi Chavez will be fired.
•7/29/11 Russell Perea is notified by APD that he will be fired.
•8/8/11 DCOP Feist holds Perea’s Laudermill hearing and confirms Perea will be fired.
•8/15/11 Perea receives written notice of his termination signed by Feist.
•12/9/11 Perea appeals the termination through the city’s administrative hearing office and Dr. Zane Reeves is randomly selected as the hearing officer. Hearing to start on 12/9.
•12/29/11 the 12/9 hearing reconvenes because the city failed to provide all internal affairs documents to Perea. The hearing is rescheduled for 1/27/12.
•1/27/12 hearing concludes.
•2/6/12 Dr. Reeves issues his recommendation finding the city did not have just cause to terminate Perea because the city failed to demonstrate wrongdoing by Perea.
•2/13/12 City attorneys contact Dr. Reeves in private and ask that he recuse himself from the current case and not appear before the April meeting of the Personnel Board as required.
•3/5/12 City attorney and CAO ask the Personnel Board to remove Dr. Reeves
•4/11/12 the Personnel Board denies the city’s effort to remove Dr. Reeves and unanimously votes to accept Dr. Reeves’ recommendation and orders the city to reinstate Perea
•4/20/12 city attorneys appeal the Personnel Board’s decision to district court and seek a restraining order against Dr. Reeves from hearing other scheduled personnel hearings.
•5/1/12 District Court Judge Nash hears arguments and denies the city’s motions from the bench.
•5/1/12 Rob Perry terminates Dr. Reeves’s contract with the city by fax.

And of course Tourek/Perry resist the order of their own personnel board. Think about that for a minute. Doesn't this mean that for every hearing officer's recommendation that the city DID have justification to terminate an employee and the board adopted that recommendation gets to be reinstated if Tourek/Perry get their way?!?!?

But the secret to decoding the idiocy of the Perry/Tourek actions is not just looking at the obvious. But in looking at what isn’t being said. Paralleling Perea's case is another high profile matter:

•11/17/11 APD officer Rob Woolever receives notice of termination and files his appeal
•2/1/12 Woolever receives notice that his personnel hearing is scheduled for 4/18/12
•2/1/12 Dr. ZANE REEVES randomly selected as the hearing officer in the Woolever matter
•5/11/12 Woolever receives notice that his hearing is rescheduled to 7/20/12 and Bingham is the hearing officer.

These are things that not only make one go hmmmmmm, but they make one ill. 

Up until 2/1/12, Dr. Reeves had been a contract employee with the city of Albuquerque as a hearing officer for decades. And now Tourek/Perry would have us believe that after one decision he is biased and prejudiced when over 75% of his decisions were in favor of the city? Nah, it’s only too obvious. This isn't about Perea at all, it's about Doyle and Woolever.

Tourek/Perry/Schultz saw the writing on the wall. They knew that even though they had bungled up the investigation and termination of Perea they had done even worse with the matter involving officers Rob Woolever and John Doyle. They knew that if those cases were going to be held, and with Woolever’s scheduled to occur on 4/18/12 their lies and illegal actions were going to be disclosed as well.

So they did what bullies do, they tried to get others to fight their fight. In this case, first they went to the personnel board. When the board said no, they went to court. When the judge said no, only then did they do what they could’ve done all along and directly fire Dr. Reeves.

Except now, the proverbial chickens are coming home. Judge Bacon found Tourek/Perry’s actions not just dumb but unfounded. Dr. Reeves’s decision was found to be the correct one even after intense judicial scrutiny. And Tourek/Perry have failed. Again…… Our Eyes tell us, Mr. Doyle’s case is in district court where once again the actions of the city will be subject to intense judicial scrutiny. And we are told the lies and illegal actions by city personnel involved in this matter defy belief.

Remember the city’s argument to fire Perea was that he was unforthcoming in correcting facts asked of him by West. Funny, with current officer Brett Lampiris-Tremba not only did you have somebody who had blatantly lied to supervisors but falsified calendar records.

And there is no greater truth-distortionist than the grand poo-bah of unforthcoming actions than APD’s own Allen Banks. Perhaps Mr. Banks would like to go under oath and answer some very direct questions about his nefarious on and off duty activities?

Doyle and Woolever were cast away by APD as an offering to keep DOJ investigators from coming in. Schultz/Banks thought by making a huge publicity stunt it would send a message to DOJ that APD polices itself and doesn't need review by Washington. But like everything else Schultz has touched, this plan also failed but at the expense of two decent officers.

But don't take our word for it, hear what happened directly from an interview journalist Peter St. Cyr did with Dr. Reeves just last week:

Professional Truth Distortionist
Perhaps Banks, Tourek, or Perry would like to go on record and challenge these details? What's that? Crickets? Nah, we thought so....

Nov 11, 2013

There is a Threat in the Breenze…

Our Eyes are telling us Fire Chief Breen has been riding the wind around town.  Apparently, Breen has been going to the different fire stations around the City threatening the rank and file.  Breen has told the fire guys and gals if their Union does not do what they are told; they will pay for it.

Breen has told the fire guys and ladies their hours and shifts will be changed if the Union does not comply with Berry’s desires.  Currently, the Fire Department field personnel work two days on with four days off.  Breen threatened the field personnel he would make them pay if the Union did not succumb to what Berry wants, by placing the field personnel on a one day on and two day off schedule.  One of our Eyes told us Deputy Chief Dave Downy also went to a fire station and echoed the same threats as Breen.
Yes, politics is politics but now because Berry’s bullish mentality, the public will pay the final price.  Fire fighters have hundreds of unused compensation hours, vacation and sick leave that they have not used.  Why; because of understaffing.  They cannot take off and come in sick to ensure there are personnel on duty.  This threat from Berry will lead to people taking more leave which will lead to understaffing at the fire stations; thus, there will not be enough personnel to respond to emergencies.  In addition to threatening personnel at the fire stations we are hearing from our Eyes inside the Fire Department Administration that marching orders are coming down from Perry and Berry to start writing up the fire guys and gals for everything and anything.
This is not a coincidence; Perry was out vocally threatening fire fighters and other City employees who were peacefully holding up signs for their mayoral candidate during the mayoral race. Perry made statements to the effect, “I can’t wait till this shit is over tomorrow; you people will pay for this!” And to answer your question, yes documentation does exist about this incident.
Let’s not kid ourselves; Berry and Perry know exactly what they are doing and have things planned and mapped out. Look at the facts, Berry spent $900,000.00 to win election for a job that will only pay $400,000.00 over four years.  Berry is reelected and gives the check book to Perry, which resulted in a whopping $30,000.00 per year pay increase for Perry.  This places Perry at $180,000.00 a year.
Speaking of worthless leaders, our local APS Superintendent, Winston Brooks (who sent nasty and hateful tweets to the New Mexico  Secretary of Education) makes close to $300,000.00 per year for what? Being an 80 year old child sending inappropriate messages to women? A failing school system?  An astronomical dropout rate?  A failed graduation rate?  Not to worry, Brooks received a three day suspension for his foul tweets.  But keep in mind, three days’ pay comes out to around $3,000.00. That comes out to 1% of Brooks $300,000.00 a year salary.  If you did the same thing; you would be looking for another job.
The message is clear; our leaders such as Berry, Perry, Breen and Brooks believe bulling is acceptable and there are no consequences for their actions and they get paid big bucks to abuse people…

Nov 10, 2013

The Crisis

Below is an open letter to the Eye On Albuquerque...please read on and enjoy knowing there are people out there that still have a sense of what is right and what is wrong...

Benjamin Franklin said, “Passion governs and she never governs wisely.”
 

My fellow Americans, how fickle, forgetful and short minded we all can be. Was it not just a short while ago we were lauding our teachers as the bastions of our society, those who were charged with molding and shaping our youth, educating our children and preparing the next generation to take its place and care for us, the next generation of elderly?
 

We decried the fate of teachers, chanting of the injustice of poor wages as we watched our teachers desert our communities in search of wages befitting the service. “Our children are suffering”, was the cry in all corners. Now these same people are villains. How dare they ask for competitive wages to teach our children!
 

Policemen and firemen were not so long ago the very first line of defense against terrorism and those who would seek to do us harm. Ah, but 9-11 is so long since past. How soon we forget America. The very men and women we call upon to protect us in those dark moments when we cannot protect ourselves. How dare they ask for just compensation to place their lives in harms way for strangers! How arrogant they are to ask that their medical bills be covered when they are injured while performing their sacred duties. They should be content just doing the Lord’s good work and return to their homes covered in sackcloth and ash, happy to just be making ends meet while they ruin their health for the sake of others. They do not need tools and equipment nor fair compensation for their skilled labors!
 
The cry continues unabated, against the reprobates that make our communities livable and disease free by hauling away our refuse, not only for our convenience but the sustaining of our healthy environments. The audacity of those that haul our trash! To ask for reasonable wages and safe working conditions that they might be able to live in the very communities in whose garbage they toil. The impudence they must have.  And yet our reliance on them continues, all of those faceless, nameless individuals that perform the myriad of tasks designed to make our lives in this great nation more than livable but comfortable. 
 
What’s more, those same mouths, screaming of the injustice created by those that provide us with service, are the very sons and daughters of Americans that stood up against oppression in the work place, the very ones who fought for equality in the workplace; those who struggled to create a safer work environment for all. The very grandchildren of those who said, “no more” to a six-day workweek, “no longer” to the 78-hour workweek, these people are now the ones attempting to undo the better life given them to suppress those seen as subservient and expendable. It seems oppression knows no bounds and matters only from perspective. “Here, here!!!”, they chant for the return to indentured servitude of the American worker.
 
And now we seem to live in a country in which our elected officials, those that serve but to voice our collective opinions and not their own, these political figures, who have done a superb job of painting themselves as victims, believe that their position in our society exists not to protect the helpless but rather to promote and protect themselves. Selfishness abounds in those that have mismanaged our communities and economy and yet somehow they still point to the lowest members of our country as the ones to blame. How dare these peasants ask for more! Should they not be content with their low lot in life and their scrapings to get by?
 
Our cities and towns are beset with political duplication and duplicity. Cronyism thrives as elected officials continue to create unnecessary, imaginary titles and positions with exorbitant salaries for friends, funding these positions with Blue Collar service wage cuts. A Governor is publically caught considering the perpetration of violent, illegal assaults in the form of labor busting tactics from the 1920's. Bankers that receive federal stimulus dollars give executive pay raises while refusing to make loans that would prime the pumps of our economy. All this while lawmakers continue to probe the wound for legalized methods to subvert the American Dream of a better life for workers who long for better than just getting by. Of course the little man is the cause of all our woes! We have entered the wilderness of mirrors.
 
How dare those who prevent our communities from crumbling ask for the means to live amongst us! Those who provide skilled service, security, fresh water and lighted streets! Their arrogance! Those who drive our cities buses and pave our roads, do they really need to be our neighbors? How does your heart beat America? Will we continue to abuse those that provide us with the very services we demand in order to live as Americans?
 
And as the rain continues to fall on the heads of the lowest in our great homeland we see our industry and business leaders pining for and extolling the virtues of the days of the Robber Barons, when the little workers knew their place, worked for scraps and would avert their eyes from their social betters. The insolence of those workmen! They’re lucky to be given a job at all!
Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in which he said, “Now is emphatically the crisis.”  
 
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,” the Declaration Of Independence. This is the cornerstone of all our beliefs in this great nation, that our elected officials exist to voice our concerns, not their own; to help those that cannot help themselves.
 
We cannot live in communities without certain services, otherwise what is the point of civilization and residing within a community? Neither can exorbitant budgets be balanced on the backs of a very select few that provide such vital services and who live within the very communities being served.
 
These folks, who are made out as pariahs, live amongst us and pay taxes too; they also feel the burden and, sometimes more than the rest. Are we going to allow our community pillars and servicemen to be undermined to the point the community will crumble? If so at what cost, the very survival of our community? Maybe we should consider removing, “In God We Trust,” in favor of Dante’s, “Abandon All Hope ye who enter Here.”
 
PS- We did not forget our Veterans'; we know, understand and appreciate the sacrifice of all the men and women who have served and those who continue to serve these UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! 

We consider the letter above to be patriotic and serves well on today's celebration of our military personnel.

WE LOVE, APPRECIATE AND RESPECT EACH AND EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WHO SERVES THIS COUNTRY!

Nov 7, 2013

Zane Prevails!!

On May 12, 2012 we reported how City of Albuquerque CAO Rob Perry had terminated contract employment with nationally respected hearing officer Zane Reeves because of a recent finding Dr. Reeves had made in a case before him. (Reread the story here:http://eyeonalbuquerque.blogspot.com/2012/05/city-does-insane-to-zane.html)

You see, Mr. Perry was upset that Dr. Reeves had held the city to task for unjustly terminating then APD Officer Russell Perea. While many presume Mr. Perea covered for former officer Levi Chavez during the night of Tera Chavez's death, APD failed to prove in Mr. Perea's termination hearing that he did anything to justify his firing from APD. The primary reason the city offered for Mr. Perea's termination was that he was "unforthcoming" as APD's current Chief, and then Deputy Chief and the one responsible for Mr. Perea's termination, put it. Unforthcoming.

Well, yesterday the honorable 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Shannon Bacon found the city unforthcoming in their reasons to appeal Mr. Perea's reinstatement as ordered by the city's own Personnel Board. Where the city stated Dr. Reeves was "arbitrary and capricious," Judge Bacon found the city's own reasoning "specious." That's another way of saying the city was wrong. In fact, and even more directly, Judge Bacon wrote:

"The Court has reviewed the transcript of all three hearings—including those portions the City cites in support of its claim—and finds the City’s claim that the hearing officer acted arbitrarily is unfounded."

Where the city said Dr. Reeves considered evidence not part of the case, Judge Bacon pondered the city's reasoning when the city itself, through Kathy Levy's cohort Rebecca Wardlaw, raised the link between Mr. Perea and Mr. Chavez.

In short, Judge Bacon denied the city's appeal of the Personnel Board's order to reinstate Mr. Perea and she flat out rejected the Ms. Wardlaw's pathetic arguments that Dr. Reeves acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. In closing, Judge Bacon ordered:

"The Court concludes: (1) the Hearing Officer’s determination is supported by substantial evidence; (2) the Hearing Officer did not act arbitrarily or capriciously; (3) the Board did not act arbitrarily or capriciously; and (4) the City has failed to demonstrate grounds for reversal. Accordingly, the decision of the City Personnel Board is AFFIRMED."

We at the Eye would like to remind our readers that the mess that will unfold because of the city's inept and illegal actions are the result of decisions made by none other than, yup the city's highest paid employee: Rob Perry.  One would think the city's CAO would know a little about contract law. Ooops, our bad.

None of this should really be surprising because if you recall, during this hearing we got a taste of the future as then DCOP Allen Banks was caught being untruthful while giving testimony under oath.  Here is an audio clip with "lowlights" from the Perea hearing:


In it you can also hear the poor and incompetent testimony by then DCOP Paul "Crime Scene Tampering Expert" Feist and Commander Doug "Baby Huey" West.

Folks, this is but one of many chickens that are coming home to roost. Get ready for many more....  The Eye wishes to extend a hearty congratulations to Dr. Reeves for vindication from the city and Rob Perry's despicable acts. We wish him well it whatever course of action he pursues against Mr. Perry.

UPDATE

 Thanks to one of our Eyes.....It seems back when Perry terminated Dr. Reeves's contract, he made the following statement to KRQE: "We think its basically in the city's best interest this time to terminate the contract and proceed with future personnel hearings with a different personnel officer. “We have to be assured there is an absolutely fair and neutral process in place. I’m not asking for a stacked deck, but I’m certainly asking – and the citizens expect – a fair one.
Dr. Reeves was already scheduled to hear former APD officer Rob Woolever's appeal of his termination. As Judge Bacon confirmed in her ruling yesterday, the city's appeal was unfounded and had no merit. In other words Perry was wrong again. This entire fiasco rests upon the decision personally made by Rob Perry. Please tell us Mr. Perry how unlawfully terminating a contract involving a nationally respected hearing officer is in the city's best interest? Please tell us how intimidating other hearing officers who are sworn to be objective and are quasi-judicial personnel is in the city's best interest? Please tell us how actions such as this and the endless other justify your existence as an employee nevermind your disgusting raise of $33,000?

Nov 4, 2013

Details, Details, Details.....

INITIAL RESPONSE



Last Friday APD’s interim chief Allen Banks was supposed to hold a press conference regarding the week’s “recent events” and the awarding of coffee cups to various officers involved in the 10/26/13 attack on Albuquerque law enforcement officers. As we know, the press conference was postponed and pushed to Saturday because of “investigative” reasons.

Of course, on Friday, we all found out that Berry’s CAO, Rob Perry, gave himself a $33,000 raise. An amount  that exceeds what an average New Mexican makes in a year! Your loveable Eye also posted an open memo to the DOJ requesting that they move forward with a preliminary report regarding their investigation into APD. Our Eyes also told us, not all the officers selected to attend the conference were going to attend. As we know, when Banks, Berry, Perry, etc are hit with any significant scrutiny they fold like wet towels.

Given that the Saturday conference really didn’t do much but distort an already distorted incident, and given Banks’ inability to sound professional during any public speaking occasion and no concern about looking professional, it’s all too obvious that the conference was moved to a day and time where few would be watching it or the stories reporting it.

So instead we got Banks fumbling around with a PowerPoint presentation, misidentifying guns, misrepresenting the facts of what occurred on the 26th, and generally representing APD in the worst possible way.  No pride in his appearance (we find this truly ironic given how Will Roseman makes such a big issue over people’s appearances. Especially when he is known to have taken pictures of other female officers in their civilian clothing). No command presence. No understanding of the issues facing the city and the department. No answering hard questions. No taking ownership of issues. And a constant avoidance of responsibility.

Notice Mr. Banks only included pictures of weapons recovered from Chase? Notice he did not play any of the dispatch recording. Notice he did not reveal elements of the dispatch report. Banks made the following conclusions that simply defy belief:

-It was the caller’s error which sent officers into the scene of a masked armed gunman waiting in public to shoot them.

-It was the media’s fault for not understanding by broadcasting to the public what was happening, even more people could have been endangered.

-It was not the public’s concern as to why the offender was allowed to run around Albuquerque’s North Valley for at least 11.5 miles over a period of 16 minutes.

Banks closed the conference with the following statement, “I want to make sure my officers have the best tools possible to perform their jobs safely.”

Well Mr. Banks, among those tools is respect. Respect by the department that employs them. By the leaders who appreciate their work and sacrifices by honoring contracts when it is not convenient to them. By empowering a department that has cascaded to 2/3 its size four years ago by acknowledging it has failed its personnel and the citizens.

But no, instead we have more hiding and misrepresentation. More personnel abuses. More ineptitude.
So, thanks to our continued Eyes, what happened on 10/26/12 is starting to unfold very clearly…as a pic of the above CAD reveals, there is much to discuss…especially given that once again Mr. Banks lied to the public about what happened. 
TIMELINE OF THE PURSUIT

"INSIDE VOICE: UMMMM, Let me think of something that isn't true...."