Degradation of APD Continues
I
have watched in silence as the Albuquerque Police Department slips into ruin. I talk to people who still love and respect
the fine men and women of the police force.
These citizens have voiced to me their anger and dismay of how some have
chosen to bash the officers but have failed to place blame where it belongs;
the main fault lies squarely and firmly with the administration of the city.
I
retired from APD as a police administrator, at the rank of lieutenant, at the
end of 2007 after serving the City of Albuquerque for twenty-five years. I feel it is very relevant to set the record
straight as to who is at fault, why and what should be done to correct and
rectify the problems plaguing the Albuquerque Police Department.
Here
is a list of what the police administration should implement to stop the hemorrhaging
at APD:
- APD should immediately flathead the department and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and its consequence: ambiguity. This would require the elimination of all deputy chiefs and majors with the exception of one under-chief to act in place of the chief when he or she is not available. All area commanders, directors and other lead personnel would answer directly to the Chief of Police. The Chief would know what was going on in the City and who was involved and these endless layers of bureaucratic protection would be removed. The citizens would know the Chief of Police was in charge, responsible and accountable for the department.
- APD should immediately de-centralize the department and force all non-essential personnel into uniform and take calls for service. APD is severely understaffed in the streets. The Chief should have officers as generalists and shift the department from the specialization. Yes, there is a need for certain units, such as, the Crimes Against Children Unit and Homicide Unit, etc…Implement mandatory rotation of personnel and enforce those rotations of personnel in specialized units. This would give an immediate relief to calls for service from citizens.
- Eliminate the college requirements without lowering the standards which are designed to weed out unfit candidates. Eliminate the “College Academy” atmosphere and reinstitute managed stress at the academy. Albuquerque streets are not kind, and we need officers who are not afraid to work in that environment. The mentality of a college atmosphere is great for UNM students but not for cadets who the department is attempting to transform into responsible officers who have very broad authority. I attended a high stress academy and the idea was to ensure the officers could handle the stress of being a police officer. A consequence of a low/non stress academy is officers “immediately going for the gun” instead of using the other skills and techniques taught in the academy.
- Immediately implement training on how to deal with the mentally ill, shoot/don’t shoot scenarios, additional weapons training on the appropriate use of those weapons, verbal judo and other proven methods of dealing with people that do not necessitate the use of force. This training would include a full block on ethical treatment of citizens and leadership. Revamp the Field Training Program where new officers are mentored to seek out less than lethal methods to resolve problems they are confronted with.
- Strictly enforce the use of lapel cameras and audio to include harsh punishment if this policy is violated. While I was a lieutenant I mandated all officers under my command to use the tape recorder on every citizen contact (this was prior to the issuance of the lapel cameras). Some officers told me they hated me for my policy but my team had very few complaints and the few complaints I did receive were cleared almost immediately by listening to the tape recording. I made my officers responsible and accountable.
- Mandate supervisors go out to all critical calls. Accountability starts with the administration and holding supervisors accountable for their personnel is critical.
- Take appropriate action when the situation and/or circumstance dictate. If there is a clean and blatant violation by an officer; the Chief of Police must act responsibly. If an officer commits a crime while on-duty and it is documented by a recording, the Chief must act accordingly.*The APD shooting that made National news is a prime example. The Chief should have had the offending parties’ arrest and booked. The case should have immediately been sent to the District Attorney for any possible prosecution. Some officers would view this as negative when in-fact it is positive and would have saved the rest of the department from the mayhem that ensued. Facts do not lie.
- Implement an educational program to allow citizens an inside view of the police department. Acknowledging that several officer involved shootings are problematic, notwithstanding, the Albuquerque Police Department takes hundreds and hundreds of thousands of calls per year without anyone being hurt. There are relevant facts the public is not educated about.
These
are the first steps to gain control of the department and prove the Chief of
Police is in charge, responsible and accountable to the citizens of
Albuquerque. The citizens must hold the
City administration accountable; this includes the Mayor, the CAO and the Chief
of Police. I respect the administration
but I also believe many mistakes have been made by the administration and more
mistakes continue to be made. This
culture started many years ago and it will take several years to fully correct
the problems in APD if the administration makes the correct movements.
Please
take all the facts into consideration before you make a judgment call about the
men and women of APD who sacrifice their lives every day in the preservation of
peace and of life. While you’re asleep they
are out there protecting all of us; when you’re in your pajamas opening
Christmas gifts with family, they are out there away from their families
protecting us. One last note and it
doesn’t matter what side you’re rallying for; always have respect for one
another. We have and need police officers
because we are a civilized civilization.
--Joe
Byers
34 comments:
I disagree with only one thing. I have absolutely no respect for this lying, corrupt, malfeasant, self serving pathetic, childish, vindictive, malevolent, administration. I think they should be thrown out on their asses as disrespectfully and dismissively as they have done to anyone in their way. Make no bones about it, they respect no one.
My thoughts above aside, that was the most comprehensive and productive list of positive suggestions. Outstanding article.
Excellent recommendations and I fully agree. This should be printed everywhere for all to see. This letter should be a guidance for the City. The Administration is responsible, not the officers on the streets-as the ole adage goes-"The buck stops here." However, the City continues to deny and acknowledge the problems, much less take responsibility. The 'leaders' should all be charged for misprision of a felony, accomplices, concealment of crimes and the list goes on. I have lost total faith in the DOJ taking any action.
You say Protecting us, yeah right , killing and harrassing us..I protect my family.When in my car or home I am armed.I don't see a need for police. They only show up late impose a fine or arrest someone after the fact 90% of the time. Then in cases of violent crime add to it by beating the suspect.after the fact again. Cops these days are unintelligent by design
, the test taken are designed to pick low iq's. Our system wants easy to manipulate thugs. POLICE Don't STOP THE CRIME. They are a part of it.
I agree with the letter except that the City and APD need to earn the respect of the citizens.
Before Eden and Berry are allowed to comment on this they must run it through the Cincinnati Taser boys, several recently hired and high paid public information officers (janet blair), more levels of bureacracy (huntsman and the majors)and wait for Perry to wake up from his hang over.
Albuquerque is in the clutches of fools and we elected them.
Mr. Byers, you say “*The APD shooting that made National news is a prime example. The Chief should have had the offending parties’ arrest and booked. The case should have immediately been sent to the District Attorney for any possible persecution.”
Interesting. I take it that you read the entire case file and have based your opinion on all the facts. But wait a minute, Violent Crimes has yet to complete the case. So, it can not be that you have reached an opinion based on all the facts. No. Instead, you have based you assessment of the shooting on a video. Sadly, you are no better than the citizen who demanded a public show trial before the officer are imprisoned for murder.
Now as a retired officer, you seek to enlighten us all with your wisdom and experience. What your opinion on the Boyd shooting has revealed is that you are no better than all those citizens who seek find “guilt” in the officers’ actions without knowing all the facts. Have you already forgotten that there is more than one side to this shooting?
The Journal refused to post this letter to the editor? What a shock. Walz and his ilk are in league with Berry and the other corrupt politicians trying to drain the taxpayers of Albuquerque of their hard earned money. I canceled my subscription to the Journal 3 years ago and urge as many people as possible to do the same. The Journal bases their advertising rates based on estimated subscriptions. If those subscriptions drop, the rates drop, advertising dries up, then so does the Berry butt kissers at the Journal. Oh, wait,I forgot, the City pays hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to the Journal for...for...just for what, exactly? This is an excellent letter, but to get things done you must remove the head of the snake, Mayor Berry. Recall him!
Good letter by Byers. Glad to see he at least was watching the Mayors race 8 months ago. Virtually all of the major eight recommendations by Byers, in one form or another, were advocated by Berry's opponents during the Mayor's race. Byer's worked on Heh's campaign.
Berry's opponents talked about reorganizing the Department, decentralize the Department, eliminate the bureaucracy, get rid of most if not all the specialized units, get rid of college requirement, return the academy to where it was on training and crisis scenarios, emphasize more CIT and handling the mentally ill, get the supervisors out on critical calls, and enforce accountability, implement more citizen involvement and return to community base policing and citizen involvement, ect., ect, ad naseum. No one listened, no one cared and no one voted.
Berry lied to the public during the election, said there was nothing wrong with APD and said his PERF recommended reforms worked, despite the DoJ investigation. Now the DoJ will step in and cram the major reforms needed right up Berry and Perrys ass. Perry will be so numb from the booze he wont care as long as he gets his $180,000 a year, and Berry will say thank you, sir, may I have another,and say he reformed APD while our city council looks impotent and does nothing. Berry has a bright future in politics so long as the media cover his ass and the Journal keeps being his number one fan
@6/8 1:48
Agreed; Byers is not informed of the nuances of a complicated critical incident. He offers no analysis of 'facts' supporting his opinion and offers as a solution booking the officers. Disappointing from a former lieutenant. I expect such simplicity from citizens not familiar with police policies and tactics. Joe, i believe you would compliment the current administration nicely, if you would like to return to our employ.
Finally there is a solution to resolving the dissention in Albuquerque and New Mexico.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-jon-stewart-of-egypt-bassem-youssef/
And if Martinez wins and Berry survives, I’m sure they will welcome a similar concept in New Mexico!
Can’t wait to see it! It’s just what we need!
At 1:48, oh but wait, you seem to be simply the other side of the coin where the officers involved in the Boyd shooting are assumed to have done no wrong.
David Correia was charged with assaulting an officer at the recent protest on the llth floor. Here is the video that proves otherwise..
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/06/08/new-citizen-video-evidence-exonerates-burque-13/
Anybody who thinks these problems happened only in the last few years needs to read Lois Duncan's "on the trail of a killer" (latest book about the killing of her daughter). This department has been crappy and incompetent and rolling in corruption for years. A grassroots effort within the department to do the right thing (have some basic freaking morals) and report crappy behavior, including the right environment in which to do so, is really what is needed. You can change leadership and org structure all you want, but if morals are questionable, then nothing really changes.
I just watched all of those videos. Perry really is pathetic. He incites and provokes the protestors. He condescendingly calls one of the protestors son, then backs up like a punk and let's the other punk cop to the right of him who thinks he is tough step forward and intimidate the protestor. I really would like to know who this pussy assed steroided up bitch titted wanna be tough ass is because he needs to go back to street smarts class 101. It is always amusing to see a little cunt like this who lifts weights for a little while, act like it automatically qualifies him as a tough guy. This stupid asshole approaches someone with his hands at his side like a moron to defend and impress his daddy Perry. This clown must be Perry's minime. He should be given a Test Epi-test level test for steroid use, then individually tested for each and every oral and injectable anabolic steroid made.
The only person Perry had the balls to approach was a 70 year old woman, and he tells her to get her finger out of his face. You are a gutless pussy Perry. You and your little dick sucking bitch midget wannabe bodyguard. You two probably blow eachother.
"APD Forward" Campaign Launched Today
Community-driven campaign will press for sustainable APD reforms
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2014
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org
ALBUQUERQUE, NM-Today, Albuquerque community leaders and a broad spectrum of
New Mexico-based organizations announced the launch of the APD Forward
campaign, a community-driven effort to hold the City of Albuquerque and the
Albuquerque Police Department (APD) accountable for implementing reforms of
the city's police department. APD Forward will serve as a powerful, targeted
platform for Albuquerque communities to press for sustainable reforms of APD
policies and procedures.
"The time has come for communities across the city to join together in
pressing for crucial reforms so APD officers can safely and responsibly
protect the people of Albuquerque," said ACLU of New Mexico Executive
Director Peter Simonson. "This is our best opportunity in decades to move
the APD and our city forward so that the people of Albuquerque can believe
in their police department again."
In recent weeks, a Department of Justice's (DOJ) investigation confirmed
that longstanding deficiencies in oversight, training and polices have
allowed a culture of aggression and a sense of impunity to thrive within the
Albuquerque Police Department. APD officers frequently use excessive force
against people who pose a minimal threat, including those who are unarmed or
suffering from mental illness. To help fix these serious issues, the APD
Forward campaign will use advocacy, community organizing, and public
education to accomplishing the following four objectives:
1. Achieve a court enforced agreement between the Department of Justice
and the Albuquerque Police Department that ensures that the reforms we need
are fully implemented.
2. Obtain the appointment of a qualified, independent monitoring team
to oversee compliance with the court-ordered agreement.
3. Ensure that the City of Albuquerque dedicates adequate resources to
fully fund the necessary reforms.
4. Obtain sustained evidence that the City of Albuquerque and APD is
complying with the reform agreement and taking real, concrete steps to
address the problems uncovered by the Department of Justice investigation.
"Right now, many Albuquerque residents are justifiably angry that the
political process has failed to bring about long overdue reforms to our
police department," said Strong Families Field Director Adriann Barboa. "The
APD Forward campaign is dedicated to addressing the systemic problems within
our police department that were highlighted by the Department of Justice.
These problems are daunting, but we know they can be fixed if we work
together."
For more news and campaign updates, visit APD Forward online at
www.APDforward.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/APDforward, and on
Twitter at www.twitter.com/APDforward.
APD Forward Partners
Organizations
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless
American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico
Disability Rights New Mexico
Equality New Mexico
La Mesa Presbyterian Church
League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico
National Association of Social Workers - New Mexico Chapter
Native American Voters Alliance
New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Strong Families
Individuals
Fabrizio Bertoletti - former Police Oversight Task Force member
Rev. Susan Allison-Hatch - Missionary to the Homeless, Episcopal Diocese of
the Rio Grande
###
This won't end until Berry and Perry, the drunk are gone! We will have to wait 3 years people before APD gets better! Berry and Perry will continue to bring down this department until then. It's too bad he was just voted in before all this blew up in his face.
At least the Sheriff's department was able to oust their QUACK/TYRANT through the voice of the people. Dan had the least amount of votes, Gonzalez first, Stanley, Baird and last, Houston. I guess all those dumb decisions and racist BS caught up with him. The only Sheriff besides Gallagher to lose his 2nd term. Two peas in a pod! That will be the last they hear from him, thank god and good riddance!
Is the gross receipts tax increase off the table at tonight's City Council meeting? One has been withdrawn and one has been postponed until August 4th.
Go to:
https://cabq.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
and then download the agenda to find P-14-3 and O-14.
BTW, note all of the outside legal services citizens are paying for in this agenda. Maybe they could instead dismantle the army they are building and redirect those funds to assist citizens instead.
Here’s a suggestion about restructuring to better serve the citizens:
Dismantle the army Berry has been building by:
a) Removing Blair - a good police chief could handle her job,
b) Replace Perry with someone who understands and appreciates community involvement in resolution,
c) Remove the Taser consultants and replace them with individuals familiar with the diversity, issues unique to Albuquerque and that can represent the community,
d) Remove the two master commanders - an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy,
e) Remove Huntsman and replace his position with an ombudsman for citizens who understands the issues unique to Albuquerque, not just within APD but all of the city government,
f) Remove Eden and replace him with one of the better qualified candidates who previously applied for the job and who reside outside of NM. They should have an established record of leading by way of community involvement, rather than a militaristic approach,
g) Remove city attorneys such as Levy, Dubois and Tourek who have questionable judgement and qualifications at best as attorneys based on their "leadership" on all of the law suits that we have and will have to pay out. This in in itself could save the city millions.
Instead of the city council approving an increase on the gross receipts tax, use the funds that will be available due to the restructuring to support the mentally ill and homeless. The gross receipts tax is a regressive tax and unfairly taxes the poor.
I realize that some of this is outside the purview of the City Council. Maybe they could get some time with Berry to shift the philosophy so that our government leaders will do what’s best for the citizens rather than create a hitleresque society.
Yes-APD wallows in a culture of corruption, and the trigger happy cops are just the part of the dirty blue iceberg that can't be hidden. The website realcrimes.com has documented some, and Eye has done a service to the community, too. Corruption so cancerous and contagious that it's a chain-The DA and OMI, and feds and some judges. Too much" easy" drug $, and car theft, and no consequences have Fed the Beast. So to" fix" this is a Herculean task. The harsh spotlight of the media and the Protestors has been crucial and must continue. Burn clean!
I agree with above poster that this stuff has been going on for a while. Why are we slamming some of these people. Berry was elected in a land slide. The people protesting voted for him. Where is Ray Schultz. MIA this all began during his tenure. We all said it would come crashing down just didn't think it would take this long. I would like some more stories on the real problem SCHULTZ and LEVY
So is this undertaking the brain child of the DOJ or Berry ?
I wonder how many times Perry's boy had to change his diaper for him while peaceful citizens sat there and read their letters to the Mayor aloud. What a dufus coward he is...
Start counting the days Rob...your sham of a life is over...
@2:32 PM Now that makes perfect sense. Berry keeps hiring all these people to do the job Eden was suppose to do, all at the tax payer's expense. What's TJ still doing here?
One good competent chief could have fixed all these problems, instead of adding to them like Eden has done. He just does not have the experience to be a chief!
It sure will be nice once the Sheriff and his two little Hobits are gone. Those two under educated midgets, Gonzales and Katz sold their souls to the devil and will be gone will the devil. They will jump ship so fast it will make his head spin. He has nothing for those two now. Those guys through out their entire career's would latch onto whoever had power and then jump off once the person had nothing to offer them.
Good luck boys, your daddy is gone.
The Garrity Group public relations firm has an interesting survey about New Mexicans that can be found here:
http://www.garritypr.com/blog/garrity-perception-survey-2014
Under the caption “Access of News and Information sources” they state:
“The traditional media sources, while still dominant, are losing ground to digital news and information sources like the Internet (55 percent), social networking (43 percent) and blogs (37 percent). It is interesting to note that over the last year, television dropped 11 percent and social networking increased 10 percent as a news and information source.”
“Television is still the single most accessed source of news and information for New Mexico residents (75 percent), followed by newspapers (58 percent) and radio (57 percent).“
I’d like to see this information based on age. I expect the traditional (old) media viewers are highly skewed to those that won’t be around in 10 years. And in this city and state, the new (digital news) media is the ONLY place to get truthful information and not the propaganda put out by the Martinez/Berry machine. THANK YOU EYE FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND PERSISTENCE!
Now all New Mexico needs is to get the new media viewers to vote, since the old media viewers are skewing the results as they are the majority of voters nowadays.
King is wise to be searching for a new campaign manager. If he’s smart, he’ll do what Obama did and realize that the way to win is via social media and the importance of “big data.” Here’s his latest ad. That’s the way to do it Gary! Martinez needs to be destroyed just like she’s destroying New Mexico!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBA-Nxg8Ws&feature=youtu.be
For a little break from the drama, I hope you will post this EYE.
For those of you who remember the importance of the Sunday paper way back when, here’s new media’s take on the old media, Sunday paper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ3NDP-Qiak
Here’s the lyrics in case you have trouble watching the video:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/joejackson/sundaypapers.html
And some of you over 50 may remember Joe Jackson for his other song, Steppin’ Out. Yes, he’s one of us OP’s (old people)!
Still a great song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBJUHvQPFTI
6:17,
They keep TJ around to consume all of the leftover food at the main. You know, from the break room refrigerators, trash cans, and table crumbs.
@ 6:17
You're right. I forgot to include that part.
h) Instead of all of the millions being spent on investigation agencies and the RTCC system to spy on citizens, minimize that budget to be used ONLY for its intended purpose and put those funds into providing services to assist those in need such as the mentally ill and homeless population.
BTW, did anyone watch the City Council meeting on Gov TV last night, http://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/govtv/
Don Harris, with his sour puss face who said NOTHING, too bad you can't continue to screw over the citizens anymore. Your days are numbered!
6:24, it's too bad because Scott really wanted to have at those 2 losers. Matt and Jason! They have just been skirt chasers their entire careers.
Aclu
Joe,,,you were always a bottom feeder with nothing wotth while to contribute. When you finally were able to promote to Sergeant after 18 years, you held that position wit no distinction for a couple of years until you sued to be included in the LTs process,,,,anyone who knows of your stink knows your about as credible as a doper on the stand....nobody wants to hear your bullshit bro,,,,go away.
IMHO – although very good in many ways – I think this letter glosses over the “few bad apples” rank and file cops – and gives their very bad behavior a ‘free ride’ on the classic and expected “it’s the administration’s fault”. My personal experience, and that of several friends, is that the APD culture allows and condones the “high school bully” getting the only job he can, being a cop, and then running wild with his individual version of “same guy, but now I’ve graduated to having a gun and a badge too – and you can’t do shit about my one-man form of justice as I see it …” And, BTW, I've lived in several states, and have -- until ABQ -- always been impressed with the professionalism of other police forces. ABQ's police culture IS unique, unfortunately -- and the DOJ attention on it is sorely justified.
6-11, 9:18pm
Your comment pretty well defines APD. And as for "a few bad apples"; there are a few bad alles in APD just like there are a "few" maggots in a rabbit run over a week ago.
Who are the few bad allies??
Not "allies", not "alles". Should read "apples". No wonder I could never pass a typing test. Thank you for pointing it out.
Post a Comment