Obvious and Not Obvious Layers of an Onion

(Allium Cepa Albuquerquim)

Patronage, Bribes, and Milking the Bank..

Why is the Department of Justice investigating APD? How many layers of the onion's skin will they peel? Let's take a look at some layers that we've seen over the last week....

PATRONAGE

Here is one layer as reported by KRQE (Katie Kim and Jeff Proctor).

http://krqe.com/2014/01/24/abq-finds-loophole-in-double-dipping-law/

I urge everyone to read this article. It has a lot more information regarding Hammon, Padilla and Fisher and how Schultz worked to side step the law, even allowing Fisher to run her private company out of APD headquarters (apparently rent free). There is a genuine question as to whether or not Fisher is still working at APD in another loophole capacity. While the "legality" of this is unclear, we all know this doesn't pass any smell test.

KRQE reported that Ex Chief Ray Schultz spent the last few months of his career at APD trying to find a loophole in the states double dipping repeal law that would allow him to reward three female employees. Schultz knew that the spirit of this law was to end double dipping by government employees.  Yet he worked to find a way around this law so these three government employees could double dip their salaries. 

Is this what we expect from a Chief of Police? You don't like a law, you understand what it is supposed to prohibit, so you working day trying to find a loophole all at the expense of tax payer money. Really??

I am sure Schultz misses the good old days when Darren, Perry and Schultz would call a press conference and lecture the media on how professional they are and how misguided the media is. Here is why Ray misses those days, quoted from Rob Perry regarding Hammon, Padilla and Fisher, "The city wants to look at both the letter - and that's whether the law was complied with - and we think that it was in all of these cases - and the spirit of the law: what was intended to be avoided".

Let me translate Rob Perry's double cycle spin. He is saying that Schultz worked to find a loophole around the law. That Schultz knew bringing these three people back was wrong. That bus coming down Central Ave appears to be driven by Rob Perry and Ray Schultz is being tossed under it.

This blatant attempt to find loopholes and side step the spirit of the law should be of high concern for Albuquerque residents. 

First, a chief of police is supposed to support the legal system, not find ways around laws you don't like. This is part of the problem at APD. Schultz apparently felt that some laws just didn't pertain to him or his favored ones, so he would work to find loopholes around them. This is not the leadership Albuquerque wants but from Schultz it came to be the leadership we expected.

Another question is why did Schultz feel so indebted to these three women that he would work so diligently to find a way for them to double dip? Seriously, while the patronage to these three? APD is supposed to be a police department. We'd expect to see cops who have spent and risked their lives getting special gigs not three civilians.

These three women also bear responsibility also as they were public servants. They know right from wrong and all they had to do was tell Schultz, "thanks but no thanks." It didn't happen.

Is this the current state of the Albuquerque Police Department? From the chief on down it is not about following the law and setting an example, but about how to game the system and get away with it.

BRIBES

http://www.abqjournal.com/342763/news/redflex-accused-of-bribes.html

The Albuquerque Journal is reporting that RedFlex, the company who managed red light cameras in Albuquerque, is being investigated by the FBI for the "bestowed gifts and bribes" in cities in New Mexico and other states. City Councilor Dan Lewis is calling for the City Inspector General and other auditors to investigate.

Hmmmmmmmmmm who brought Red Flex to Albuquerque to begin with? Look below for your answer:

Albuquerque Journal, Colleen Heild, December 18, 2007.

The red light program operated by the Scottsdale-based company (Red Flex) was the brainchild of Mayor Martin Chávez and Police Chief Ray Schultz......

Is this another layer of the onion being peeled? We won't know until an investigation into Red Flex and Albuquerque is approved and completed. Lewis is on the right track but he should remove the investigation from the City Inspector General and instead ask that the Department of Justice look into this also. Heck the DoJ are already here and the feds are already investigating Red Flex. Take this out of the city and put it into the hands of the Department of Justice.

Funny how we aren't even speaking about the onion layers that the DOJ stated they were going to look into. These two onion layers are all about corruption and losing faith in our appointed and elected leaders.

Congratulations for KRQE and the Journal in doing these reports. A free an unbiased media is the cornerstone of democracy. It seems you’re finding your way back.

MILKING

Banks Retires and what does that peel expose?

Acting Chief Banks has announced he is retiring at the end of February 2014.  While much is being made of this by the asleep at the wheel city council and the APOA president, his retirement really doesn't matter.  People come and go; it is what we expect.  APD is not about one man (did you hear that Ray???).   But there are three glaring issues citizens of Albuquerque should be concerned with:

1. The inability for R J Berry to make ANY hard decision.  Berry knew since March 2013, when Schultz announced his retirement, that he needed to bring in a new chief.  With the the DoJ investigation, leadership of the department is very important to getting APD back on track.  Yet it is now almost one year later and still no chief for APD.  Berry can't make a hard decision, no amount of his spin will change his failure.

2.  The city council and APOA are crying about Banks leaving.  Why?  Banks is just one person.  Why don't they show the same concern for the citizens coughing up $300,000 for the "human waste disposal killing".  Where is the outrage over $8,000,000 settlement for the Ellis killing?  What about Banks's involvement with the Mary Han death scene? The concern should be for the community and the department, not for one individual.  This is where our city and union leadership fail us.  They are more loyal to an individual than to their police department and community.

3.  Banks will leave with a cashout of over $160,000!  Schultz had a huge cashout in 2004 and then again in 2013.  Many APD command staff and City Directors leave with huge amounts of unused sick and vacation.  I must say these leaders at APD and City Hall are extraordinarily healthy.  Their families are very healthy too.  Because normally when a family member is ill people take off.  This never seems to happen in the City of Albuquerque.  Here is the dirty little secret that the media and city leaders ignore or miss. How many times have people come to work sick, only to be present for an hour, and then to disappear?  The possibility that there is fraud and abuse going on within the cash out program is all too confirmed by facts.  The time has come for a complete audit of Schultz and Banks and anyone else who cashes out over $50,000 from the city upon retirement.  If it shows they used ZERO or little sick time during their career a red flag should go up.  Maybe the command staff at APD and the Directors at City Hall need to have someone making sure they do show up for work everyday.  Just because you are "on call" or "on my cell" doesn't mean you are working your shift.  It appears Schultz and Banks were never sick.  Their families were never sick.  Really?  An audit needs to be done.  This is another layer of the onion that needs exposure.

So good luck to Banks, and God help Albuquerque as we are being lead by a mayor who cannot make a decision and a city council that has been asleep for years.  The onion layers have exposed elected officials who are not doing their jobs.

By the way there is one final pressing question for Albuquerque citizens, Where is Richard Berry?

-----Anonymous APD sergeant

Police Chief Witness Protection Program: Operation Round Rock

 

"um, I'm here, um now, but, um (smack), I'm not going to be, um, staying."

****Feel free to let Round Rock, Texas city manager Steve Norwood know what they apparently did not find out regarding Mr. Banks when they (if they even did one) did his background investigation. You see, apparently Mr. Noorwood thinks Banks founded the DARE program and implemented it throughout APD.  Hmmm...Here's his email:  snorwood@roundrocktexas.gov

Back on August 2, 2013 then deputy chief Allen Banks was promoted to Chief of the Albuquerque Police Department by RJ Berry. Like many, we knew this was an election time ploy to create an image that a hardcore fringe Republican like Berry could enjoy having minorities work for him. At the time Banks boasted, "I've been in every unit in this department which gives me great institutional knowledge of this department, that's why I'm so excited to be the leader." While we and many of our Eyes knew the real Allen Banks was not suitable for any position above the rank of P1/C, we were still surprised to see Allen's ineptness on full display at every press conference.

In September, an audio leaked out revealing Banks admitting he'd been at high profile crime scenes but lying about things he is confirmed to have done. Including endless violations of department SOPs.

Here's the audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q9Mn_pgS0Y

Then on the Sunday after Christmas, December 29th, in a huge front page spread, the Albuquerque Journal embraced the all but confirmed notion that Banks would be the permanent chief of the beleaguered APD. In response to questions about DOJ's investigation into APD, Banks stated, "If they come back and say that we’re doing everything great, then that’s great, too. We’ll continue to go forward and try and make this the best department in the nation."

Now on January 29th, Banks recorded a video statement explaining that he in fact is leaving his "much loved" family for the security of a job as the chief of police in Round Rock, Texas (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oKqEV6xJD78). As he stated in his video, he cannot "gamble" on whether or not he'll be selected for his position on a permanent basis. so Mr. Banks is leaving for a quiet police department of 150 officers just north of Austin.

Just like Schultz "announced" his retirement after the Ellis verdict, here we have Banks "announcing" his retirement after the Ellis payout. Coincidence or another shove by Berry's little terrier Rob Perry?

Since it's clear he is not capable of the job and was really just a place holder for Berry's re-election, we at the Eye are not surprised. We do find it disturbing that for somebody who has gone on and on about how Albuquerque is their home and how they love APD, they'd just abandon it before being told a successor was inbound. But then again, Banks has always been about Banks first and the truth and integrity second. Remember it was only this fall that armed felon Christopher Chase went on a shooting rampage against the APD, and of course, there was little if any debrief concerning that incident and certainly no leadership by Banks that day. All that's remembered was, "we're hurting."

Well we're sure the citizens of Round Rock would like to hear about Mr. Banks, so in the best spirit of the idea that an intelligent citizenry is an informed citizenry, please let them know. After all if the city had truly vetted out Mr. Banks, would they really have hired a confirmed liar, habitual SOP violator, and tamperer of crime scenes???

http://kxan.com/2014/01/30/round-rock-police-chief-comes-from-department-under-scrutiny/

http://www.keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/new-round-rock-police-chief-named-15796.shtml


The question now on the table is who is coming in as either the 2nd interim chief of APD or has a selection already been made. Our Eyes tell us a selection has indeed been made and it is none other than former BCSO'r and current secretary of NM Department of Corrections, Gregg Marcantel. We at the Eye will with hold any commentary on Mr. Marcantel except that given he seems to be quite friendly with disgraced former sheriff and former PSD Darren White, we view him with caution.

EYE Project: Public Liars

This weekend we received a very interesting email from somebody who is significantly smarter than us.

They suggested we keep track of city and state pubic figures by the types of lies they spew and they provided us with a very interesting and brilliant formula way to do it. As the above chart reflects, there are really four types of lies:

1. Unintentional Omissions
2. Unintentional Fabrications
3. Intentional Omissions
4. Intentional Fabrications.

Our emailer from academia advised us, and we agree, that not all lies are equal and some are indeed worse than others. Some, in fact, are criminal. But they told us it will be very interesting to see what types of lies these people regularly put forward.

So as our...um....local and state leaders step in front of the camera or microphone, we will be watching and listening and plotting them on our chart. 2014 is an interesting year so far, and we expect it to get even more interesting. If any of our readers have suggestions about how best deploy this project, by all means we're all "eyes."

A Double Serving of Crow

YUM!!!

Since last year, we reported how prior to disgraced former APD chief Ray Schultz was shown his walking papers, he took care of a few good friends. You see he made sure those "special" friends of his who were also retiring were able to quickly find new jobs within APD as soon as they left. Well paying jobs at the expense of other people but also where they got to push their weight around a bit also.

We reported how Schultz had the department's IT person, Joanna Hamman placed right after retirement in May where she was before: making a digital mess of Copperfire, Tiburon and all the MDT issues. She continued on with her special skills there: trying to figure out if a floppy drive can handle a hard drive.

Then Schultz had his ongtime secretary, ooops we mean administrative aide, Diane Padilla  placed in APD's Internal Affairs Unit in July. She carried on with her specialized skill there also: filing paper and shredding evidence.

Then of course, Schultz gave the ARAPA queen Karen Fischer, um, special treatment to not only continue what she was doing to but to have her organization operate out of the APD's main police station.

Well on Friday KRQE-13s reporter Katie Kim (and what seems to be her new sidekick, former Albuquerque Journal reporter Jeff Proctor) exploded this story on the mainstream media.

(Here: http://krqe.com/2014/01/24/abq-finds-loophole-in-double-dipping-law/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+krqe-topstories+%28KRQE+News+13+-+Top+Stories%29/)

The facts showed that Padilla is/was working in IA and making $17.00/hr; Hamman $65.00/hr and Fischer $26,000/year.

These people were not just placed in these position though. As reported, none other than CAO Rob Perry approved of the assignments as shown in the memos posted here.

Of course, what did Perry say about this?

"The employees had very specialized, unique program knowledge of the projects they were working on”

But of course, now that the light is on these contracts have been suspended. We guess in daylight this "special unique program knowledge" is about as accurate has Perry's thinking after he catches himself being video'd.

When asked about this matter, disgraced former chief Schultz had no comment other than that he's "retired."

Hmmm, so lets get this right, over 93% of officers rightly reject an insulting contract "proposal" and now Berry/Perry are caught again with more of mess Schultz left. All in the same day?

Rob, we know you like to talk about your game, but c'mon friend, that double serving of crow is, well, foul. But hey, at least it's in synch with the theme for Friday's double-dipping of sulliedness!

P.S. By the way, we at the Eye find it interesting that Select Staffing hasn't had an account with the city before until 2013. Now all of the sudden there are these employees being hired through an independent franchise of a nationwide company? Also, if Hamman was getting $85/hour then we know Select Staffing was charging $170/hour. So the question is.....who here in Albuquerque owns Select Staffing. Because as we've seen with Schultz and his dealing with Nate Korn of Kaufman's West, what good business if you can't get kickbacks in return????

 P.S. We'd ask where's Berry, but he's in D.C. trying to be "all-that" with other mayors. Not that it matters, he'd be hiding anyway.

OUR EYES HAVE REPORTED THE STORY IS NOW ON A DEAD LINK ON THE KRQE.COM SITE. WE'VE PLAYED THIS GAME BEFORE. KUDOS TO GOOGLE CACHE. HERE IT IS IN PRINT:

Once you’re gone, you’re gone.

That was the message the New Mexico Legislature sent to government employees in 2010 when lawmakers banned the widely abused practice of “double dipping” — coming back to work on the taxpayers’ dime while collecting a pension.

But there’s a loophole in the city of Albuquerque through which at least two APD civilian employees have been, for all intents and purposes, pulling two paychecks.

City and state officials say the arrangements don’t specifically violate the prohibition on double dipping. They also don’t appear to uphold the spirit of the law.

In the months before he retired last August, then-Police Chief Ray Schultz drafted memos requesting new positions for two women with whom he had worked closely for years, and who were about to retire themselves.

Diana Padilla had been Schultz’s longtime administrative assistant. JoAnna Hamman was an information-technology specialist who was instrumental in a massive overhaul of the department’s computer systems during the former chief’s tenure
.
Hamman left first, retiring May 31 after 19 years with APD. Three days later, she was back at APD, essentially working in the same job she had just left. Her $5,300-a-month pension checks from the Public Employees Retirement Association began rolling in, and so did the $86 an hour she was earning in her new job. That’s a pay bump of more than $40 an hour over the amount Hamman was paid when she was a full-timer at APD.

Padilla retired the same month Schultz did and started collecting her $3,200 monthly checks from PERA. Before August was even over, she had a second income: $23 an hour from processing records requests in APD’s Internal Affairs unit.

How were Padilla and Hamman able to engage in a practice the Legislature had intended to do away with after a series of news stories by KRQE News 13 and other news organizations had exposed it?
Their new jobs were through a temp agency, which acted as a middle man between the city and the employees.

So, once Schultz had written the memos and city Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry had signed them, Padilla and Hamman were clear to come back to work at APD.
Employing the two through the temp agency kept the city from running afoul of the law, said Wayne Propst, executive director of PERA. But the arrangement was exactly the sort of thing legislators had intended to halt.

“The Legislature was pretty clear where they didn’t want situations again there was a revolving door and people were able to draw both a salary and a pension,” Propst said in an interview. “We identified the potential for people to use third-party agents to get around the law. No law is perfect …

“It’s always difficult to see someone find their way around the law through a loophole, but it happens with almost every law. So I do think it may be something the Legislature needs to look at again.”
Schultz declined to sit down with KRQE for an interview, saying: “I’m retired now, and I’m just enjoying my retirement.”

He did, however, insist in a brief telephone conversation that neither Padilla nor Hamman had received special treatment.

Neither Padilla nor Hamman responded to requests for interviews.

In an interview, Perry cautiously defended the arrangements that brought Padilla and Hamman back to APD. “The employees had very specialized, unique program knowledge of the projects they were working on,” he said.

Perry also conceded that, in the context of the double-dipping law, Padilla and Hamman coming back to work at APD doesn’t look good.

“The city wants to look at both the letter — and that’s whether the law was complied with — and we think that it was in all of these cases — and the spirit of the law: what was intended to be avoided,” he said. “At the same time, we have to look at trying to complete our technology projects and computer projects in this particular example in the most cost effective means.”
Perry said that in Hamman’s case, Interim Police Chief Allen Banks determined that keeping her on to work on IT projects wasn’t the best use of taxpayer dollars. So last month, Banks “suspended” Hamman’s contract through Select Staff Inc., the temp agency the city uses to hire many of its contract employees.

‘People thought it wasn’t fair’

Propst said the 2010 ban on double dipping was meant, in part, to stop employees from retiring either exactly at the moment they were eligible or, in some cases, even before, then seek a second paycheck in government.

Double dipping, he said, strained the state’s pension fund. That’s because the longer an employee works, the more he or she contributes to the fund – and the less he or she takes out after retirement.
“People thought (double dipping) wasn’t fair,” Propst said. “It wasn’t fair for someone to have a salary from the state and also a pension check from the state …Just the perception that it’s wrong to allow people to receive both a pension and a check from the state of New Mexico.”
State Rep. Bill Rehm (R-Albuquerque) has been an outspoken critic of double dipping through the years.

“We should not allow the return to work for an area where there’s plenty of applicants to come in and fill those jobs,” he said in an interview. “When the individual decides to retire, he’s retired.”
KRQE News 13 explained to Rehm the circumstances of Hamman’s and Padilla’s temporary positions at APD.

“I do not support a person retiring on Friday and coming back to work on Monday morning,” he said.
Rehm is sponsoring a bill in the Legislature that would allow police officers to collect a pension and a paycheck. The proposed legislation is aimed at addressing a statewide officer shortage, which Albuquerque is feeling acutely. APD is down about 200 police officers from the 1,100 it had in 2010, the department’s strongest manpower days.

Rehm had a message for the city of Albuquerque: “When you have a sufficient number of qualified applicants for a non-law enforcement position, don’t come and ask me to support across the board return to work.”

“The public is offended when they find out you’re allowing people to retire on Friday afternoon and come back to work on Monday,” he said. “It’s wrong …By (the city’s) efforts what (it is) doing is adding to the opposition of a return to work in an area (the city) needs it, law enforcement public safety.”

Perry said he asked APD officials whether, in Padilla’s case, there may have been other qualified applicants for the job.

“Because of her knowledge of the Internal Affairs system itself, the filing, the sequestration of files, the utilization of certain provisions of the union contract and the like, her familiarity with that probably made a certain case of uniqueness to that,” he said. “But I think at the same time you could say those are mostly clerical administrative positions and it would be possible to skill someone up to do that and still meet the spirit and letter of the retirement law.”

Another loophole?

KRQE News 13 looked at a third former APD employee’s return to the department.
It wasn’t the same deal Padilla and Hamman had, but Karen Fischer found a way back in, too. She was a longtime civilian employee with the department’s strategic support division who, particularly in the past half-decade or so, worked closely with Schultz on APD’s property crimes initiatives.
Schultz and Fischer won national awards for their work, much of which was done in partnership with the Albuquerque Retail Assets Protection Association, known as ARAPA. The group is a nonprofit that essentially works as a bridge between law enforcement and the retail community to fight property crimes. Schultz and Fischer both were heavily involved with ARAPA, which Schultz often touted as a national model for public-private partnerships.

Fischer retired from APD on Jan. 1, 2013 and began retirement checks that would add up to $55,000 a year. The day before, Schultz signed a one-year contract for ARAPA worth $26,000. And Fischer went to work for ARAPA.

Fischer did not respond to interview requests. Schultz indicated that she didn’t get special treatment, either.

According to corporations records reviewed by KRQE News 13, Fischer is listed as a director for ARAPA – and she’s listed as the nonprofit’s registered agent.
And ARAPA’s physical address? That’s 400 Roma NW, the same address as APD headquarters.
Perry said he wasn’t aware of ARAPA’s address, and he didn’t know whether the group was paying the city rent for office space. He also didn’t know whether Fischer – or anyone else from ARAPA – had access to sensitive police information.

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All rights reserved.

OFFICERS STAND UNITED AGAINST CORRUPTION: PROPOSED CONTRACT REJECTED!!!!

BERRY AND PERRY'S LATEST MEAL: CROW

In a tremendous show of unity, the officers and detectives of the Albuquerque Police Department have spoken in virtual unity and have rejected the proposed "contract" offered by the Perry/Berry and the City and endorsed by the APOA Leadership Negotiation team.

What was promoted as something that should be ratified, over 93% of almost 600 officers and detectives who voted stood strong and voted NO against the proposed contract.

We applaud the efforts of those personnel who took time to vote and voted against what was obviously an insult to all those who wear a badge and serve the city of Albuquerque.

While we know that the Berry fed media will criticize the officers, we encourage you to stand strong in your unity and keep the momentum. They gain power by your division but are in fact terrified of a true collective force.  Well done.

Unsullied?

At the front of virtually every law enforcement agency's standard operation procedure manual in the United States, there is an allegiance to the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. You will find this in the SOP manuals in departments from Alaska to Florida, from Los Angeles to Scranton. And you will find it in the SOPs of the Albuquerque Police Department.  Adherence to it is mandatory for inclusion with the International Association of Chiefs of Police and to CALEA.

It reads:

Law Enforcement Code of Ethics

AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice.

I WILL keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.

I WILL never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

I RECOGNIZE the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession . . . law enforcement.

The folks running APD and the city might do well to remember this words.... 

Another APD Sergeant Speaks Out: "Where to begin????"

Tontos

 Well it's another beautiful day in Albuquerque.  

We just spent another $300,000 to settle another police shooting. http://www.abqjournal.com/336238/news/APD-settles-for-300000.html

I know the media likes to play up the "human waste disposal" angle, but being a APD sergeant I like it that the officer used a gun he couldn't qualify with, thereby being ordered not to carry that firearm.  What are orders anyway?  Do officers actually have to obey orders?  And if they don't like an order can officers judge fudge and say they didn't know? Or better yet just lie about it?   Yep that Richard Berry has changed APD for the better.  He has really brought the standards up.  I mean what was the rule on untruthfulness before he was mayor?  Since Berry now allows officers to lie and keep their jobs the old rule must have been if you lie you get 30 days free subscription to Southwest Companions.  I am not sure about that because the city has never released any of the Southwest Companions documents.  But I trust Berry, he wouldn't hide anything.  He is a most transparent mayor.

http://www.abqjournal.com/336161/news/lawsuit-apd-illegally-denying-shooting-records.html

http://www.abqjournal.com/193585/news/apd-changes-truth-policy.html

By the way, APD doesn't need the shooting range when officers have qualified on the streets of Albuquerque.  Qualify with guns, we don't need to qualify with no stinking guns! (I think Sierra Madre is the movie).  

I like it that the Kennedy Law Firm family is making sure they will have an inheritance for their children, paid for the citizens of Albuquerque.  It makes it easier to have an Albuquerque police settlement template that includes the Kennedy Law Firm already listed.  That way it speeds up just having to add zero's to the payout total.

Will we ever hear anything from the city or Kennedy law firm regarding Mary Han?  What is that noise?  Oh it is the sound of crickets on a summer evening in Albuquerque?  That is all we will ever hear regarding Mary Han.  Up until the settlement check is sent.  Oh but wait, back on December 20 2013 KOB reported that City Attorney David Tourek said the Mary Han case was "frivolous,  we do not settle frivolous lawsuits".  http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3255771.shtml#.UtVUBvRDvK0  

But within weeks this story comes from the Albuquerque Journal.  The city and Mary Han's attorneys are in settlement talks in Las Cruces.  http://www.abqjournal.com/334221/news/quiet-prevails-in-han-death-case.html  

Well I sure hope that Tourek tells them to bring it on.  Albuquerque doesn't settle frivolous lawsuits.  If the Han family wants to take this to court I am sure Perry and Wheeler will be waiting in the parking garage.................

Still waiting for the video of our $30,000 pay raise CAO (we call him the Lone Perry and his side kick Tonto-Wheeler).  It was so nice to see him obstruct citizens at the city council meeting.  When politely asked to not kick a camera he tells the citizen not to touch him.  Oh so professional.  Of course Tonto-Wheeler is not going to stand for the Lone Perry being singled out by a citizen.  So Tonto-Wheeler goes into action in the parking garage, letting the citizen know just who the bosses are in this town.  Of course we don't know exactly what Tonto-Wheeler did because the city won't release the video. http://www.krqe.com/news/local/top-abq-officials-accused-of-petty-antics

KOAT is still reporting, every night, that APD and Chief Banks is still refusing their interview requests regarding Omaree Varela.  Hey just who does KOAT think they are?  Asking the Chief of APD to comment on the death of a child who APD had the opportunity to intervene with in 2012.  Why does KOAT want to know why the police report didn't make it to the DA?  Or why Crimes Against Children were not called out?  KOAT needs to know their place and go back to telling us who won Dancing with the Stars and which aging star broke their leg due to osteoporsis. http://www.koat.com/news/new-mexico/albuquerque/omaree-investigation-cyfd-unclear-what-can-be-made-public/-/9153728/23911898/-/5p75ghz/-/index.html

Crickets?????? Yes that sound is crickets on a winter evening as no further noise is made by anyone regarding another "lost" APD police report and the ensuing dismissal of murder charges.http://www.abqjournal.com/309275/news/judge-appalled-about-case.html  Why should we care that the judge is "appalled" by APD actions in this case?  Or that the APD detective stated that the DA's told him to lie?  Is this really news?  Is this really anything that should be looked into?  If we want another Breaking Bad TV series to film in Albuquerque we have to start acting like it.  This is a good start.  The silence is roaring in my ears.

NM Gas is selling out to Tampa Electric.  Does this mean more Albuquerque jobs will be Breaking Bad?

http://www.krqe.com/news/business/teco-to-buy-new-mexico-gas-in-deal-worth-750m

EmCore is laying off employees http://www.krqe.com/news/local/emcore-trims-albuquerque-workforce. 

Albertson's in 4 Hills is closing  http://www.abqjournal.com/335964/abqnewsseeker/albertsons-closing-four-hills-grocery-store.html.  

Another 70 plus jobs lost, but who is counting.  The nice thing is that empty building already has a neighbor as the 4 Hills Regal Cinema already shut down.  Who needs movies anyway?  We are living the Breaking Bad life.  Albuquerque jobs, Breaking Bad.  Albuquerque police settlement payouts, Breaking Bad.  City transparency, Breaking Bad.

Baillos is closing in Santa Fe, but I don't want to get sidetracked.  Who cares about Santa Fe anyway?  So long as oil is coming out of Hobbs like the night before you have a colonoscopy New Mexico (and Susanna's campaign) will be just fine

Not Going ANYWHERE!

Over the last weekend, your lovable Eye received the following post from an unknown "anonymous" person:

We found this comment rather ironic given the recent events over the last week. From the $1.2 Million dollars spent on settlements; the gross, if not criminal, conduct by CAO Rob Perry and Assistant Attorney Greg Wheeler, and the broadening of the DOJ's investigation of APD and the city.

All of that in just the last week!

One of our Eyes sent us the following video which gives us an idea of why Mr. Perry was so upset at last week's city council meeting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm3EmM-d44Q&feature=youtu.be

At the podium is a citizen berating city attorney David Tourek over recent comments concerning the Han family's case which is still pending against the city. A case where Mr. Perry himself is named individually as a defendant.

Retired APD Senior Sergeant Paul Heh had this to say when asked about the comment, "I've only begun. Maybe Mr. Anonymous would like to know about the letter I sent to Gary King regarding the misconduct by APD brass at Ms. Han's suspicious death scene? Maybe Mr. Anonymous would like to know about my recent comment before the state law enforcement academy board? If they did, they'd know the last thing I am is gone. Justice will come!"

And as far as the "Eye's Plan," we have this to say: we have no plan. Never had one. Never will.

We are just a mere spotlight casting a beam upon things that, though they affect all of us here in the city and the state, would prefer hide in the dark.....

Kudos to one of our Eyes who caught this glare in the video. Hello Mr. Wheeler...

Blame Game to AVOID Responsibility

While Governor Martinez, AG King, interim-Chief Banks, Mayor Berry, and DA Brandenburg, all weigh in how the recent murder of a 9-year old boy affect them and their office, let's be real clear about the things they've all said in the past few days:

Governor Martinez, when you built your very own campaign on your prosecution of the "Baby Briana" case, leave hundreds of state jobs vacant, continue to underfund state agencies like CYFD, and because of your own miserable leadership, New Mexico is recognized as being the WORST in the country for the well-being of children, we are simply not interested in whatever you have to say on the matter. And for you, and your snakes, to attack AG King like you have is hypocritcal at best; but let's be real....it's McClesky style politic. Disgusting beyond words.

AG King, you talk a big game but is this going to be yet another press conference? Your office stunned the city last summer with your findings of APD/City of Albuquerque's gross, reckless, and malicious actions at the Mary Han death scene, but since then city leaders have pushed back and said they were cleared by the FBI and have not been held accountable. If you're in, you're in. Act like it.

interim-Chief Banks, our expectations of you are low. And no, this is not because of your self asserted race. It's because you have a history of disgrace and failure. And once again, instead of owning an issue, you hide. Since when do APD investigations get turned over to the DA for further investigation? We're not even going to bother with criticism because you obviously don't get it or simply don't care. To hide and avoid hard questions about this mess when it involves the murder of a 9-year old?  They teach that at your church? Disgusting.

Mayor Berry, hello? Anybody home on the 11th floor? You do realize that once again the city is at the center of ANOTHER disgusting controversy. Nevermind, you won't acknowledge it. Even if a red thong landed on your desk, you don't see the obvious. See our comment regarding Banks regarding our advice. Ditto for you.

DA Brandeburg, we are surprised by your pushback against APD. We actually applaud your aggressive stance on this. Could this new boldness be a reflections of the fact that Schultz is no longer running APD or maybe you're realizing what a mess it is. We hold criticism on you for now in this matter, but we like what we've heard so far. (Don't worry we don't kiss and tell anyway.)

Here's a little hint for our media friends as they go over the APD report as written by APD officer Jennifer Jara.

-She wouldn't have sent the report to the DA's office, she would've had Crimes Against Children Unit detectives come out.

-At the time of the report, the sergeant of the CACU unit was Greg Weber, you should remember him because at the same time he was the president of the APOA.

-Heather Hindi de Chavez was also, and our Eyes tell us still is, a detective in the CACU unit at the time of this police report.

-Jara states she's taken numerous child abuse calls and "in my experience with situations of this kind, I have never encountered parents and CYFD together..." Despite this vast experience, and seeing evidence of major physical harm, inconsistent statements (when is there not in child abuse cases), a lack of congruity between the stories explained by the victim, the offender, and the physical harm, her own admission that the parties were together, we are now to believe she couldn't order a hold per SOP and state statute?  APD's own Procedural Orders 2-33 hold:

Pursuant to New Mexico Statute 32A-3B-3, an officer may take a child into protective custody when the officer had reasonable  grounds to believe the child is:

 

1.       Suffering from illness or injury 

2.       Has been abandoned 

                                    3.       Is in danger from it's surroundings and removal from those          
                                              surroundings is necessary.


Nevermind all the requirements that an officer SHALL notify CACU and that they SHALL notify their supervisor, none of this happened for this poor young boy. Jara had an FI come out and take some pictures and then filed the report. And then the boy went home with a felony offender.

Policing at its worst. Police leadership at its worst. City leadership at its worst. And so it goes....