Is There Even One Honest Person on the 5th Floor of APD?

Here is an open letter to the Eye. It details all the lies and SOP violations that were committed by APD’s Deputy Chief, Paul Feist. This Deputy Chief lied to the media when he was interview by KRQE Channel 13 which mean that he lied to you; the public. It’s no wonder Feist lies so much since he was raised by Ray Schultz. We have said it many times here on the Eye; corruption starts at the top and trickles its way down.

Good Evening Eye,

My name is Orlando Camacho, the former APD officer that you did a
story on regarding the shell casing that was returned to me by APD
Evidence and also KRQE did a story on KRQE (Read it HERE). I am
writing to you tonight because after I saw the KRQE story about Deputy Chief
Feist, I found out by APD releasing the casing to me, they
violated procedures and regulations regarding the handling of evidence
and I filed a complaint with the Independent Review Office.

Today I received the attached letter from the IRO stating that due to
the fact I retrieved the evidence in April of 2012 and filed my
complaint in November 2012 it was past the 90 days of the incident and
their office has no jurisdiction to conduct a further investigation
in the matter and inactivated my complaint without further
investigation. Also, in my complaint, I stated Deputy Chief Feist
lied in the KRQE interview stating the shell casing was released
as a result of a court order and should also be investigated. I
never had an attorney file any kind of injunction with the courts to
have the city release my items. Nor, did I file any sort of paperwork
on my own behalf with the courts for my items to be released.

The way I see it, by Feist lying, he violated several operating procedures:

1-04-4 W. Personnel shall truthfully answer all questions
specifically directed to them, and narrowly related to the scope of
employment and operations of the department. (Truthfulness)

1-04-1G Conduct unbecoming an officer or employee shall include:
1. That which could bring the department into disrepute; or

2. That which impairs the operation or efficiency of the department.

1-04-1 F. Personnel shall conduct themselves both on and
off-duty in such a manner as to reflect most favorably on the
department

1-02-2 D. Use of discretion by sworn personnel
during the performance of their law enforcement
duties.

1. When sworn employees of this department are faced with a
situation where discretion can be exercised, they must evaluate the
circumstances, consider the available resources, and rely on their
training, department policies, department procedures, statutory law
and supervision in making the appropriate decision.

2. In addition, within each situation, the appropriate
decision should be the least restrictive that still accomplishes the
intent of the law, is in accordance with department policy, and does
not compromise officers' safety.


These same operating procedures when violated by other officers,
especially 1-04-4W Truthfulness, is an offense that usually results in
termination or the officer having to resign instead of being
terminated. I'm not here to sound like a cry baby, the reason I'm
contacting you is because this is another clear example of the current
APD administration picking and choosing who gets disciplined and who
does not and it needs to be brought to the public’s attention. Please
feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your time and God Bless,

Orlando Camacho

This statement by Hammer (below) clears the way for every single officer to get an investigation quashed rather they are right or wrong. Here you go Police Union. The City deserves what they get…

Here are a few questions; is there ANYONE on the 5th Floor of APD that doesn’t lie constantly? If a high ranking officer can boldly lie why isn't it okay for every officer to lie? We Think the answer to the first question is; there is not one. The answer to the second question is "NO!" Lying is a bad thing; a thing Feist should have been FIRED for period. Feist is suppose to be setting the correct example for the rank and file. It is time to vote in a Mayor who can and will do the job. Berry needs to start counting down the days till his departure.

 

Proof Schultz Is Attempting To Suppressing The Truth To Avoid Responsibility

As we mentioned earlier, during last week’s Chief’s Staff meeting, we were told that Schultz launched a campaign of intimidation against his officers. Apparently he thinks it is his officer’s fault for the mess that has now brought the DOJ in. And in being true to his form, Schultz will do everything he can to suppress the truth and avoid responsibility.

As we were told, and confirm with the displayed memo, now that the DOJ is here, Schultz states he will be attending officer briefings. Now that DOJ is here, Schultz states he wants to hear what concerns officers have regarding APD. Now that DOJ is here, Schultz wants his Deputy Chiefs, Allen Banks, Steve Warfield, and whomever is named to the space abandoned by Paul Feist, to meet with officers. Now that DOJ is here Schultz wants people to make sure they are all following their SOPs. And now that DOJ is here, Schultz wants his officers aware that the department has pattern and practice problems involving civil rights and use of force. Now that DOJ is here, everything is “we…we…we.”

We think this memo speaks for itself. Anybody who knows Schultz knows that this is nothing but an effort to keep officers quiet and to alert his supervisors as to what DOJ will be looking at—and thus make all efforts to conceal anything “of concern.”

The reason why DOJ is here is NOT because of officers, it is because as APD’s Chief of Police, Schultz has led the department to failure. From incidents where his staff has run amok at crime scenes, arbitrarily fired officers, covered up endless incidents of civil rights violations against citizens, squandered federal grants, lied under oath, and let the issues in the evidence room get worse, Schultz has been the one ultimately responsible for the tarnished reputation APD now has. And Mayor Berry has endorsed Schultz’s actions by either openly defending him or hiding behind his inept city lawyers Robert Kidd and Robert Perry.

As anybody who has been in APD knows, the only thing surprising here is Schutz’s admission that he doesn’t regularly talk to his officers. He hides in his office behind a lobby door he installed to separate him from the rest of the city. He acknowledges the department is in pieces. He acknowledges, subtly, that APD’s house is not in order….

Kudos goes to one of our Eyes for forwarding us the memo shown. As we can see APD’s Schultz has engaged in a full court press….but all it takes are a few brave souls to stand firm and honor the oath they took for their badge.

 

Tainted

The Albuquerque Police Department’s standard operating procedures covering officer involved shootings are outlined in Procedural Orders 2-31. 2-31 details the necessary actions investigators MUST do to secure the scene of the shooting, manage the scene, manage witness, manage evidence, and manage the principal actors. Following these procedures is crucial, and mandatory, because the integrity of the investigation is at stake. It’s important to remember that all police shootings are treated as criminal investigations and NOT administrative investigations. Given the microscope APD is under for each incident where an officer shoots a subject, one would think the folks on the 5thfloor would strictly and obediently follow their own SOPs regarding officer involved shootings…

Some the more essential elements of Procedural Orders 2-31 include:

2-31-1B(2)
A. Place all witnesses, including principal personnel, in separate locations to ensure witness credibility.

B. Ensure all principal personnel remain in the same attire and do not dispose of any items, which were in his/her possession at the time of the shooting until authorized by Criminalistics personnel.

2-31-3 A. The on-call PST is responsible for all phases of the criminal investigation, with the exception of processing the scene and the collection of evidence

2-31-7 E. Control the release of information relating to the incident. Any information to be released to the media must have prior approval of the Commander of the on-call PST or the Deputy Chief of Police.

2-31-8 G. Ensure the case is completed and submitted to the District Attorney's office.

H. Take responsibility for the principal personnel upon completion of collection
of physical evidence by Criminalistics personnel.

I. Within seven working days, schedule a debriefing with the investigators of
the PST, OMI and the District Attorney's office to discuss the status of the criminal investigation.

2-31-10 C. Principal personnel will remain separated and will be removed from the scene as expeditiously as possible and transported to an appropriate police facility as directed by the on-call PST commander.

Following these procedures is crucial in order to keep evidence and witnesses from cross contamination and thus jeopardizing the investigation. Remember, this is a criminal investigation that ultimately is submitted to the District Attorney’s office for review. Criminal liability is on the table as is civil liability on part of the city, the department, and the parties involved.

Chief Schultz and his minor deputy chief’s seem to think an officer involved shooting is a public relations opportunity. In the hours after the shooting, Deputy Chief Paul Feist stated that the subject shot was waving a gun and threatening undercover officers during an undercover narcotics operation. The following day the department released lapel camera footage showing undercover officers rushing in and the undercover sergeant’s lone shot sounding off in the background. Chief Schultz returned from yet another out of state trip to respond and detail elements of the incident in yet another push to justify the department’s latest officer involved shooting. Within thirty-six hours of the incident, Chief Schultz had an officer’s lapel/body camera video of the event released to the media.

Yet as of Wednesday, August 8, 2012, the sergeant involved in the shooting had yet to be interviewed. As that officer is a principal in this investigation we fail to find any basis for the disclosure of such highly detailed and sensitive information, never mind video evidence, before witness interviews are complete. Feist’s statements are prejudicial and suggest witness intimidation, evidence tampering and jury pool tampering. They defy belief when you consider the investigation is far from complete. Even more staggering is the department’s release of video evidence of the incident. As the above SOP’s indicate, none of these actions are to even be considered before the case is turned in to the district attorney’s office. If an officer obtains evidence of a crime and were to commit these actions I think we all know how quickly they would not only be fired but prosecuted.

Ask former officer Brad Ahrensfield who was tipped off by former detective Ron Olivas concerning an investigation by the FBI whether or not people are prosecuted for tampering with an investigation. With this most recent incident there is a multi-agency “shoot team” whose investigation was just compromised by the direct and intentional actions of Chief Schultz and Deputy Chief Paul Feist. Who will hold them accountable for flagrant violations of the above SOPs? By their actions and statements, Schultz and Feist have failed to ensure witness credibility, tampered with evidence, deviated from guidelines required by the district attorney, identified parties before interviews, and disclosed sensitive elements regarding department undercover tactics. How likely is it, the officer involved in the shooting will provide a statement consistent with the assertions made by Schultz and Feist? And what of the deviations?

Given that the department is under intense scrutiny for its handling of critical incidents and major crime scenes, one would think Chief Schultz would do everything imaginable to support an objective and lawful investigation. Instead, we have this tainted mess. One thing however is completely obvious, when the department wants to spin something in its or Chief Schultz’s favor, it will do anything to get video, reports, or records out before the public. When the information is damaging…they hide and lie.

You Can Always "Bank(s)" on a Liar

The credibility issues challenging the Albuquerque Police Department are not the result of sporadic officer misconduct incidents. Rather they are the consequence of persistent deviations from sound management practices and leadership. As echoed throughout the EYE there are endless examples of these deviations. Most recently the violence that unfolds each weekend night downtown was given special attention. The fights and mayhem that occurred during Fat Tuesday are nothing new to any officer who has worked Valley graveyard for the last twenty years. Despite the downtown shootings which occurred on New Year’s Day, APD again failed to adequately prepare for another holiday distinctive for its celebration and partying: Fat Tuesday. APD’s response was to present an effort represented as novel and new: out came a watch-tower, horses, and additional cops on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal. Sadly, nothing is new. The watch-tower was purchased over four years ago. Horses have always been used to combat the crowds, and officers have always been expected to be present at bar closing time. This information may appear to be new to average citizens, but to the ranks of officers throughout the department this representation is false. What message does this send to officers when their chief openly lies to the public when addressing a legitimate safety concern? What issue does this raise for patrons of downtown bars/restaurants expecting a safer environment because of Chief Schultz’s representations when in fact they are simply the same?

Discipline practices continue to be disparate and arbitrary. Some officers seem to do no wrong despite egregious misconduct while others are subject to unprecedented scrutiny. Frequently, officers become scape-goat targets when there is media generated negative publicity concerning APD. Last summer, Detective Russell Perea was named as a target in an IA investigation related to former officer Levi Chavez. The media focused significant attention upon APD’s leadership for the ongoing employment of Levi Chavez who for years had been on administrative reassignment pending a Valencia County investigation. With Chavez’s employment with the city finally terminated when he was indicted for the murder of his wife, attention was given to officers associated with Levi Chavez and those that responded to his house the night it seems Tera Chavez was murdered. This attention immediately followed negative publicity in the Albuquerque Journal. Russell Perea was named as a target because he is Levi Chavez’s alibi as they were working together as a two-man unit that night. Despite the fact that APD had recently just praised Perea publicly for his involvement in some highly publicized cases, APD conducted an IA investigation into Perea. It’s not clear what the triggering offense was that Perea did other than be assigned to work with Chavez but nonetheless he became a target. Ultimately, Perea was found to have violated a few SOPs carrying low levels of discipline (a verbal reprimand for being profane for instance) but was terminated for “untruthfulness.” The issue of untruthfulness draws from inconsistencies Perea made in statements to IA investigators when compared against answers to similar questions made during a deposition of a civil case. APD claimed Perea’s statements to the lawyer of Tera Chavez’s estate were not identical to the statements he made to IA investigators. The statements that were inconsistent or (unforthcoming as DCOP Allen Banks likes to say) involved whether or not Perea remembered seeing Chavez texting a lot the night Tera Chavez died. The difference was much like “Not really” and “I don’t know.” In January, Perea won his labor hearing with the hearing officer finding that APD was without cause in terminating Perea never mind disciplining him.

Yet, in the midst of Perea’s investigation, APD found no issue with almost all of the other officers involved with Levi Chavez. All the APD officers, including APD Lt. Shawn O’Connell, who went out of their jurisdiction to a violent death scene, who removed and destroyed personnel effects not belonging to them, and who intimidated in jurisdiction officers were found to have NOT violated ANY SOPs. That is except for Officer Nick Wheeler who was disciplined with hours off for having a personal relationship with Tera Chavez. Keep the elements of this incident in mind as another tragedy equally as disheartening yet involving even more and higher ranking APD personnel is starting to unfold....


Below is a recording from the closing arguments at Russell Perea’s public labor hearing. While you listen to the representations made by SID Commander Doug West, Deputy Chief Paul Feist, and Deputy Chief Allen Banks, ask yourself the most glaring question of all that remains unasked and unanswered: If Russell Perea in fact lied as he covered up for Levi Chavez, why is he not the subject of a criminal investigation law enforcement? It stands that IF indeed Perea lied in his actions and statements then he is guilty of numerous felonies from tampering with public records to being an accomplice in a murder. Yet, he has not been investigated, nor seems will he be investigated, for these offenses because if he is named as a target than all of APD’s involvement with Levi Chavez is subject to scrutiny—including the numerous attempts of other supervisors who tried to have Chavez terminated before his wife’s death. Ask yourself if the statements and representations made by two of APD’s Deputy Chief’s reinforce confidence in their ability to run a major city police department? Ask yourself, if Perea’s discipline for discrepancies between two sworn statements is termination, what level of discipline for Deputy Chief Allen Banks’s intentional misrepresentations are justified?

Sadly these two examples of APD’s challenges are not isolated but are part of a management culture that has lost all value of what it means to be a police officer. Being a police officer means more than maintaining order and enforcing laws, it means setting an example and doing the right thing ESPECIALLY when nobody is looking….

Due to overwhelming requests;please click here to hear the actual recording.

Murdoch to Walk on All Charges

Is it possible for a man who is paralyzed from the waist down to walk? Here in Albuquerque it is. The Eye On Albuquerque called this one from the beginning and now it is coming to light, all charges against Presiding Criminal Judge, Pat Murdoch, will be dismissed. This case is a classical illegal search and seizure case. When this is all over, Murdoch will be the only true man standing.

It has now come to the attention of the DA’s office that the evidence obtained in the Murdoch case was obtained illegally. The Great State of New Mexico passed a voyeurism law that prohibits the video taping others in their homes, restrooms, etc… What does this mean, for Murdoch’s dream team; it means that the video will be suppressed. As a result of suppression, everything else obtain as a result of the illegally recorded video will be suppressed by the courts as well. This means that the Albuquerque Police Department does not have a case and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office looks like a bunch of buffoons for allowing this bogus trash in the first place.

This will clear the way for Murdoch to sue the Albuquerque Police Department and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. The dollar amount may be well over a million dollars. This case will never go to trial. Any jury that sees a respected presiding district court judge who is paralyzed from the waist down, whose career and life was ruined by the reckless acts of the Albuquerque Police Department and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office will quickly grant an enormous award; around the four to ten million dollar range. Berry may be asking for a tax increase to cover the millions of dollars that Schultz keeps costing the City of Albuquerque. The City will be wise to pull out the “Sam Costales Check Book” and start writing out those zero’s behind that first digit.

One last thing for Kari Brandenburg; amend the charges against Murdoch; this will help Murdoch’s dream team show malicious prosecution. This will open up the DA’s checkbook wider. As you know juries are big on retaliation.

Here is another case for the IRO to look into. The Murdoch caper will need to be administratively reviewed and swift action must be taken in order to save what little credibility APD has left. At this point the final domino from the Fifth Floor will fall; DC Paul Feist. Obviously Feist being a deputy chief had knowledge of the shoddy investigation and approved it. When the Murdoch fiasco broke, Feist was on television acting conservatively smug and victorious, as did Commander Doug West. Another two careers flushed down the toilet.

Gov. Martinez; get off your tail feathers and do something. The “lame duck” routine is getting old and quite frankly, it has been old for a very long time. This goes for all of us including the Republicans who back your duff. All this is “public corruption,” do something, anything or you will be a one termer just like Berry.

Berry will need to be a man and give the orders to clear the Fifth Floor. Berry needs a lifeline from someone out there who is known for their credibility, boldness, a stand-up kind of guy, who has dignity and honesty to lead APD. The new leader will need flexibility to hire, fire, and promote as he deems appropriate. Repairs will take many years.

Is Judge Murdoch just a Distraction?

The media has been lavishing in the news concerning Judge Murdoch, but is Murdoch just a pawn in Ray Schultz’s game of chess? Cases like this take several weeks or months to put together. Yet, Murdoch’s case is completed from start to finish in two days. The Eye smells a rat. Did Schultz have this investigation rushed to distract from his own behavior? Where was Chief Schultz when one of the biggest arrests in APD history was made?

Murdoch may have been a participant in some type of perverted acts but is he actually guilty of raping a prostitute? A person who accepted money in exchange for sexual acts? Our Eyes tell us that the “tape” shows Murdoch (who is partially paralyzed) participating in “role playing.” Can this partially paralyzed man actually rape someone? Really? According to one new site (read it here), “The woman told police she met with the judge about eight times and he paid her about $200 each time. She said he forced himself on her during one visit, and she returned and secretly recorded a second forced encounter.” How is it that this prostitute, after being traumatized from being raped, managed to grab her camera, return to Murdoch’s, collect her $200 and video tape being raped again? The alleged rape victims’ boyfriend sold the DVD to police for $400.00? Does this add up to anyone? The Eye doesn’t buy this rubbish. The Eye is not belittling any legitimate victim of rape. Rape is an extremely serious offense.

The Eye wants to present a different logical look at this situation. Schultz is in hot water for lying and participating in Darren White’s crimes. Murdoch’s case comes up and Schultz decides to have his staff rush it and make the arrest to distract from his own misdeeds. He sends out the only deputy chief who has not been draped with Schultz and White’s fiascos. Schultz could not send out Paiz because she allegedly ordered Walck to falsify his report. Schultz could not send out Banks because Banks supposedly knew about the whole cover-up plot and did not report it. DC Feist was the only stool-pigeon left to sacrifice. Schultz is given an opportunity to run his department and “shine” but instead he hides. Why? Where was Schultz when the big arrest was made? Is he afraid of the media asking him why he lied to everyone? Is he afraid the media will ask why he participated in Darren White’s fiasco? What is Schultz afraid of?

This entire mess is called a smoke scene or a ruse. Yes, Murdoch may have done something wrong by hiring a prostitute but will the final facts support the media grand-standing that the police department has taunted? Based on the face-value of the facts given up to this point, the Eye is calling this one now; Murdoch will be found not guilty of the current felony charges. This appears to be mostly an illegal civil matter and a possible misdemeanor solicitation of a prostitute. The real facts will, in all probability, support the concept that Schultz wanted someone else shoved under the bus to save his own hide. In this process DC Feist was made to look like a fool.

Here we go again, another cover-up involving one of Darren White’s followers.