Rio Rancho Police Chief expands training by taking a page out of Albuquerque’s playbook

According to the Journal Rio Rancho’s new Chief of Police, Michael Geier, has stolen Albuquerque’s playbook (READ IT HERE). This is not possible because if Albuquerque used that playbook the City of Albuquerque would never be in the situation it is in.  The APD has failed to properly train their police force which has led to the fall of a once great department.

The concept of training police officers in the art of dealing with people in crisis is nothing new for law enforcement and goes hand-in-hand with the use of force issues.  If Ray Schultz’s preppy new academy would have trained these officers properly this deadly course APD has embarked upon would not exist.

When an officer is trained to react inappropriately; tragedy is inevitable.  Instead of using the art of dealing with people in crisis, the officer responds violently to certain situations. An example is a mentally ill person in crisis who is not compliant.  The officer becomes angry and reachs for the greatest power they have been trained with that they have at their disposal, mace, tazer, baton or a firearm.  This is not warranted the majority of time.

According to Geier, the key is staying on top of current issues.  We here at the Eye agree to a certain point.  It would be better and more effective if a police department headed off issues before they become top current issues.

Berry and Schultz spent their time ruining the City’s police department.  It will take many years to rectify all the damage caused by the donkey duel.  Too bad Geier was not APD’s Chief but then again we know anyone with brains was a clear threat to Schultz, Perry and Berry.

ABQ, APD, Leftovers, and Betatesters...

Shame on the local rag and our dwindling talk radio. Hey KKOB-770, you're losing listeners...failed business model just like Berry/Perry.

 

Your loveable Eye has been very damning of our local media over the years as they ignore stories of local government corruption.  In the past it seemed that the local media was drunk on the Berry flavored Kool-Aid that the current administration has poured for them since 2009.

 

It seems Richard Berry’s Kool-Aid stand isn’t pouring the juice for our local TV stations any longer.  The Eye would like to say “Thanks” to KOB, KRQE and KOAT for coming out with some truly hard hitting stories over the last ninety days.  The local TV media is exposing corruption and inept leadership at all levels in Berry’s administration, Thank you!  This is what the media in a democracy does.  This is why Berry can’t stand the heat and Eden no longer appears on camera.  They can’t take the hard hitting questions about the corruption in their administration. And these are supposed to be our finest? So the Eye would like to say “Thanks” job well done to some recent stories that these three reporters have done. The Eye hopes the readers follow these links and watch / read these stories.  The truth of the train wreck of the Richard Berry administration is being exposed.  Watch and get involved, call your city council and Berry and demand answers.

 

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3515191.shtml?cat=500#.U9PGBTh0y70

 

http://krqe.com/2014/07/24/apd-releases-new-details-in-latest-officer-involved-shooting/

 

http://krqe.com/2014/07/24/doj-abq-sign-joint-statement-to-reforme-apd/

 

http://www.koat.com/news/citys-relationship-with-taser-stunning-for-some/26219124#!bm2KFb

 

The Eye must call out the Journal Editorial Board and 770 KKOB for still drinking the Berry Kool-Aid and ignoring the mess Albuquerque has become.

 

Bob Clark on 770 KKOB told a caller this week that he was not familiar with the area where the two homeless were murdered.  Well Bob should make it a point to go there, get out of his car and speak to the homeless.  The homeless are not the type of people that listen to his show, but if he is going to have a conversation about them he should educate himself.  The Journal Editorial Board continues to run interference for Berry.  They point fingers at the APOA and others but never at their mayor who they support.  The Eye would love to see a one sentence Editorial from the Journal:

 

“Berry has been here since 2009, Albuquerque’s economy and APD’s mess is his fault”. 

 

It will never happen. 

 

The owners of the Journal are hardcore right wing conservatives and they will never tell the public the truth.  Albuquerque needs another newspaper so the public can get the truth.  Until that day we recommend Joe Monahan and the Albuquerque Free Press (and of course the Eye).  The public can not expect the Journal Editors to tell them the truth.

 

We can only hope that the citizens, those who live in Taylor Ranch, Tanoan, High Desert, Los Ranchos etc start waking up.  Just because your neighborhoods are not seeing the destruction that Berry’s lack of vision and leadership has caused the rest of the city doesn’t mean you should ignore it.  The Eye urges our citizens in the rich and upper middle class neighborhoods to get involved.  Go downtown on a Saturday night at midnight and see what really is going on.  Take a walk outside of Nob Hill into the war zone (International District) and see how our neighbors live.  Take a drive down West Central and stop by the Ski Hi Lounge and speak to our homeless neighbors and ask them about their friends who were murdered across the street.

 

Albuquerque residents are in this together.  Our neighbors are hurting.  Our town is becoming the Detroit of the southwest.  Those who live in comfort behind their locked gates must step out and show their concern for the Albuquerque that is plagued by zombie homes, murder, child abuse etc.  Do nothing and it will be on your doorstep soon enough.  Let’s work together, rich and poor, to make Albuquerque that “diamond in the desert” it can be.  Get involved.

WHY?

Ever since the DOJ announced their formal investigation into the City of Albuquerque and their police department in November 2012, and even before, we've been told over and over how fantastic all things are with the city. We've heard from Richard "RJ" Berry how great the city's operations are. He told us how great the city's economy is and that we've "turned the corner." He told us that APD is one of the best departments in the country. Richard "RJ" Berry told us he has some of the best advisers money can buy. He told us how crime is at an all time low. He told us how persons responsible for crimes and waster in APD will be held responsible.

But we know these are all lies. And now, in the days following the disgusting "wilding" murder of two transients by three of the city's teenagers, the DOJ released a "Statement of Principles" report summarizing some agreements between DOJ and the city of Albuquerque.

See it here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/July/14-crt-777.html

What is so stunning in this report is how, so much is now agreed upon by the city and their confirming of lies by Richard "RJ" Berry.  Among the statement's highlights:

1. APD has systemic issues and problems.
2. APD's problems require systemic reform.
3. APD's problems include: use of force policies, interaction with persons with mental disabilities policies, tactical unit policies, IA policies, managements and supervision policies, recruitment policies, and community engagement policies.
4. APD's problems require urgent attention.
5. The agreement requires filing it in court and having it entered as a court order.

Clearly if Richard "RJ" Berry and company will lie about what is obviously a failed police department, isn't it likely he'll lie about anything? Is it not time to fully review both the record of Berry and of course Susana Martinez's record. In fact, it seems like everything either of these two politicos have said is just a lie.  You know, like Richard "RJ" Berry keeping Ray Schultz as chief and praising him as a great chief.

We at the Eye ask.....Why?

Will the Real Susana Martinez Please Come On Down!!!

With all the drama of the state's largest city unfolding on an hourly basis, your loveable Eye has been remiss.

You see, believe it or not there's a governor's race going on! And if you haven't been paying attention there are some very unusual things going on.

You see, four years ago, the state was facing an "illegal alien crisis" that candidate Susana Martinez campaigned to stop. Now, it's an "immigration issue" and Governor and candidate Susana Martinez is visiting the Immigration and Custom Enforcement holding facility down in Artesia visiting women and children who are detained there.

As if that doesn't strike you as odd, there's this little tidbit. Usually, Republicans are all gung-ho when it comes to supporting veterans. You do remember what veterans are right? Those former soldiers, sailors, and airmen who served in our nation's armed forces? Well, it seems our Governor is just a little bit picky about her support of veterans. You see, when it comes to draping herself in a flag and saying she's all for them, she's got no problem doing that. But when it comes to actually supporting them, well, not so fast.

There's a little case involving a veteran that is headed to New Mexico's supreme court and it involves federally protected rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and ReEmployment Rights Act. In a nutshell:

USERRA protects civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and members of the active and Reserve components of the U.S. armed forces. USERRA provides that returning service-members must be promptly reemployed in the same position that they would have attained had they not been absent for military service, with the same seniority, status and pay, as well as other rights and benefits determined by seniority.

And a certain soldier, Phillip Ramirez had his USERRA rights violated when he was fired by none other than CYFD. Mr. Ramirez filed suit and won. The state, under direction of Governor Martinez, appealed and the court found that federal law has no authority over state law. (Huh?). Mr. Ramieriz then appealed to the supreme court and was granted his appeal. Now entering the fight on behalf of Mr. Ramirez is the state's Attorney General and possibly the US Dept. of Justice. Of course, who is on the other side? Susana Martinez. Here's the governor posing with Mr. Ramirez unbeknownst to her that this is the man suing her. But for all she seems to care....it's a photo-op with a vet!!

So folks, it doesn't take a genius to figure this out, but the question is why would Susana Martinez drape herself in "immigrants" but now abandon veterans who have been harmed by her own administration?

To those the support Susana, the floor is yours. Please justify her actions that clearly do not support a veteran's rights. 

We want to be sure we get it, to Susana Martinez: Illegal Immigrants--OK  Veteran Employment Rights: NO OK.

APOA Meltdown

On Monday a lawsuit was filed against the Albuquerque Police Officer's Association by former officers Rob Woollever and John Doyle. Our Eyes have been telling us this has been a longtime coming. In the press release by their lawyer, and former APD officer Thomas Grover, it said:

"With no acknowledgment or thanks to self-serving purposeful actions and omissions by the APOA, Mr. Schultz generated near hysteria as he paraded the video (and misrepresented) Mr. Doyle and Mr. Woolever’s efforts as they subdued an armed fleeing felon without using deadly force February 2011. He terminated them later that year in November. This, not by coincidence, occurred during a time when the United States Department of Justice was conducting a preliminary investigation into Mr. Schultz and his police department for patterns and practices of unconstitutional use of force.

“I thought the APOA and their lawyer Fred Mowrer were there to defend us and all the other officers. Finding out, and realizing, they were just using Rob and I to help Schultz keep his job and to keep feathering their own nest with union money was one of the most cowardly, disgusting, and dishonorable acts I’ve seen in my twenty plus years as a street cop” remarked former APD officer John Doyle. “I truly feel that this lawsuit is only the beginning of what needs to be done to clean up the APOA. This incident needs a full-blown criminal investigation.”

Despite all of Mr. Schultz’s efforts to use Mr. Doyle and Mr. Woolever as scapegoats to avoid a formal Department of Justice investigation, the DOJ still came in upon APD because of the broad and deep failures of Mr. Schultz himself. Noticeably absent from the April 10, 2014, Department of Justice findings letter was the incident involving Mr. Doyle and Mr. Woolver."

 

The APOA has long had a history of granting preferential treatment to some members while openly discriminating against others in the issuance of member benefits. These internal problems are in addition to all of the financial improprieties which were revealed in 2012. With this lawsuit, Mr. Doyle and Mr. Woolever not only seek recovery of damages caused upon them by Defendants Filiberto “Joey” Sigala, Ronald Olivas, Stephanie Lopez, Shaun Willoughby, and their counsel Frederick Mowrer, but relief for all the regular patrol officers and detectives who also have been victimized by the failures of their union.

As we've reported here at the Eye for many years things  in the APOA have been a little too loose with officers money and too cozy with administration. In response to the lawsuit, APOA president Lopez said in today's Albuquerque Journal that she didn't know if the Doyle or Woolever ever asked the APOA for assistance in their case.

Look folks, this is a slam dunk for Doyle and Woollever and we wish them the best possible outcome in their case against the APOA. Since when does a sitting police chief go around promoting the criminal prosecution of his officers and a police union sit quiet about it? And given that virtually every APOA president since Lawrence Torres has had their hand in the union's bank account while Schultz has had them on a leash...we'd say this is a long time coming.

 

Would the Real Chief Step Forward?

Our Eyes out on the street tell us, let’s just say, there is a power struggle within APD.  The issue is, “Who is the Chief of Police?”  This is like watching a bad act.

 

ACT #1

 

As you recall Berry claimed Ray Schultz walked on water and was the greatest thing since the toilet.  Well, APD continued to be flushed down the toilet because of the inept leadership, Berry and Shultz.

 

ACT #2

 

Eden was brought in as the Chief of Police the last day of the advertised vacancy to throw his hat in.  Eden was given a whopping salary to be the Chief of Police and Ray Schultz was sent skidding out the door (so much for walking on water and being the greatest thing since the toilet).  Meanwhile Eden gave his blessing to the Boyd shooting as being justified and immediately lost all credibility.  We acknowledge Eden never really had control of the PD nor did Schultz.

 

ACT #3

 

So in order to fix the blunder of hiring and keeping Eden, after bouncing Schultz, Berry promises the world to Bob Huntsman if he would return to APD as a Deputy Chief of Police.  Well, Huntsman has been barking all the orders to the troops.  However, problems still remain and APD is still in the toilet because of inept leadership.

 

ACT #4

 

Next course of inept action is to hire an official PIO (public information officer).  Janet Blair is brought on as the new PIO and has been caught several times, let’s just say, fibbing.  Some of our Eyes are telling us Blair is now behind the scenes giving orders also.

 

Now APD has technically, three Chiefs of Police.  The combined salary of the three administrators (Eden, Huntsman and Blair) is in the neighborhood of $350,000.00. The City is spending a lot of money and one would reasonably expect some results.  Well, here are the results:

 

 APD is still in the toilet because of past inept leadership and now current inept leadership.

 

The troops do not have a clear and defined leadership.

 

Tax payers are out $350,000.00.

 

The Berry Administration needs to admit their wrong and cut their losses and hire a real leader.  The deterioration continues and the men and women in the APD are paying the price directly; indirectly the public is being ripped apart.  There is a huge difference between a “Classy Act” and a “Class-C Act.”  The Berry Administration is the latter of the two. 

Surging Storm: Mary Han

Our Eyes forwarded this excerpt from what we are told is an explosive segment of KNME's New Mexico In Focus that is going to be aired this evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLRAAw3pd0s

You see, in the midst of all the protests and controversies involving APD, there's been a quiet but very dark shadow looming over the city's leadership. For those that don't remember, very prominent and outspoken civil rights and criminal defense lawyer Mary Han was found deceased on November 18, 2010. At that death scene, virtually all of then APD's brass and much of the city's civilian leadership showed up, flooded, and tampered with the scene so that no effective investigation could be done to determine what had happened. In fact, the allegations that department brass were so ghoulish in their behavior is only compounded by the fact that they were aided and abetted by the likes of current CAO Rob Perry and then Public Safety Director Darren White and their minions, TJ Wilham and Chris Huffman-Rameriz.

If you recall, in 2010 people were then calling for DOJ to investigate APD. Then upon Ms. Han's suspicious death, all reins on APD and Albuquerque seemed to break loose and now look at the mess we are in.

In this interview segment, we see that the family's attorney, Rosario Vega-Lynn is present, the chief counsel, David Pederson, for the NM Attorney General, and two former officers from APD: Thomas Grover (former APD sergeant and friend of Ms. Han) and Brian McCutcheon (former APD crime lab lieutenant).

Now we know the Susana'ites and haters will come out and try to justify or distract the happenings at the scene on November 18, 2010 by attacking those that dare speak out against the misconduct of those there at the scene.

Misconduct like, as we are told, the taking of cell phone images, trespassing, destroying evidence, tampering with evidence, and the mere presence of civilian personnel who had no business whatsoever at a crime scene. So instead of attacking those that step up, go ahead and defend the actions of Rob Perry, Allen Banks, Paul Feist, Beth Paiz, Darren White, TJ Wilham, Chris Huffman Ramirez, Marc Adams, Trish Hoffman, and Mike Muniz....

Mr. Perry recently stated he goes to high-profile APD scenes so that he can provide dissemination of information. Well perhaps he can step out of his hovel and disseminate some information about why he was at this scene doing things that so many cops have been fired for while he gets a $30,000 raise? Perhaps Mr. Wilham could put the burr-eat-oh down and answer a few questions without breaking into a cold green sweat?

As one of our more frequent commentators says, this should be "very interesting"....

APOA Contract Pass: But Who's to Blame?

Yesterday the much discussed APOA/City contract passed 260 FOR versus 194 AGAINST out of a possible total vote of about 775.  Quickly issuing a statement concerning the split vote, APOA president Stephanie Lopez said:

"The APOA membership is thankful that this contract met with the approval of the majority of our Officers. We view this as a key element in the continued efforts necessary to build trust and cooperation with the citizens of this great city. The hard work of our leadership, the administration and city council has proven that we are moving forward in the right direction, to restore what our Officers have been harmed."

But quickly taking credit for the contract was Mayor Berry (who came out of his bunker for one quick second):

“I am very pleased that our police officers voted to accept this contract that takes their cumulative pay increases since I took office to almost 12 percent, while ending the practice of taxpayers footing the bill for union business. I appreciate the efforts of the City Council for appropriating the funding and of the APOA and my staff for putting together a contract that makes sense for officers and our community."

Hmmmm.....