No one wants to get that 3:00 A.M. “knock on the door.” You know, the knock that is followed by a policemen and chaplain standing at your door. No one wants to hear the dreaded words, “I’m sorry to inform you that there was a bad accident and your loved one did not make it,” all to find out later that it was due to another ‘Drunk Driver.’ In a time when drinking and driving is a prevalent problem and part of the culture, in a time where most fatalities are involving alcohol, in a time where more and more innocent people are killed and the guilty rarely get the punishment they deserve; why is Darren White and Ray Schultz willing to put “public safety” aside for the sake of saving a “few bucks?” Because of their statistics that haven’t been proven to the citizens? If you ask anyone who has lost a loved one, the Eye is sure they would give White and Schultz 100 times return for their “blood money” just to have their loved one back.
Many officers and citizens of Albuquerque assumed that the implementation of the DWI Specialized Unit was largely due to Schultz and White. It was after all while Schultz and White were with the DWI Unit, they worked hard to take DWI’s from officers, sergeants, and anyone who needed to get back to their field duties and not have their time consumed with a DWI investigation. But then again, that is the philosophy behind the DWI Unit, isn’t it? Part of their mission statement is “to support field services.” Schultz has forgotten that he set the precedence and established the court ruling in the State of New Mexico on the “police officer team concept.” Chief Schultz was a rookie K-9 officer headed to a call and was forced to stop a drunk driver. Schultz needed to get to the call; he gave the DWI to another officer to process.
So, why would our Public Safety Director and our Chief of Police take away the responsibilities from the DWI Unit? Officers are not allowed to turn over a DWI investigation to a DWI Unit. Why is this important? As a citizen calling for police help, don’t you want an officer to show up as quickly as possible? Do you have or want to wait that extra 30 minutes, an hour, even more for an officer to respond? If a citizen calls for police it is because they need help now, not in two hours.
With all of this in mind, why would Chief Ray Schultz and CPSD Darren White jeopardize public safety and prohibit DWI officers to do the job they were assigned and paid to do? Why can’t an officer who pulls over a DWI offender be allowed to hand over the investigation to a member of the specialized DWI Unit? The safety of the public is jeopardized when an officer is called out of the field for several hours. This is the mission statement that the Department boasts? How did Schultz and White come up with the numbers they did when they claimed they single handedly saved the city millions? The Spin Doctors, as many refer to them, have a knack of spewing out $@!*, we mean numbers without being able to back them up. This is nothing new to the Berry Administration. Because officers are tied up with other calls or other drunk drivers; many other drunk drivers go about their business freely. DWI officers are seasoned and have been trained in depth to handle drunk drivers on a frequent basis. If the officers could still stop them and allow the DWI officers to do their jobs, this would make our streets safer. It’s a crazy idea but maybe an idea that would save a life?If you have been keeping up with the news, Albuquerque has seen one DWI crash after another. Many of these crashes end with fatalities. The City had not seen a rash like this in some time. The common factor is the flawed policies of the Berry Administration. Trying to save a buck at the expense of the citizen’s safety is unacceptable. White and Schultz apparently don’t care who gets hurt, as long as they save a buck.
A DWI case takes months to process through the court system; there is no way to immediately see any cost saving measures. What we are seeing is more and more serious or fatal crashes involving DWI offenders. Just ask Chief Breen about his future brides’ crash. If only one life is saved; it is worth every penny! If money is their only benefit, most will take public safety over a few bucks any day. Comparing a few bucks to the life of any citizen, the citizen’s life is worth a few bucks. After all, Judas sold Jesus for a few pieces of silver; we all saw where that got him.Chief Public Safety Officer Darren White is still being sued in court over his alleged failure to enforce the laws in the county while he was sheriff, and now this? Great pick Governor Martinez. It may be a good idea for everyone to start calling the Governor again. Governor Martinez needs to understand that respect is not just given, it is earned. Governor Martinez lost respect when she appointed White to the Judicial Standards Commission. Schultz lost his in Federal Court after being convicted of violating an officer’s civil rights. The Eye does not believe that White was ever respected according to all the votes of “NO CONFIDENCE” he has on his mantle.
Now that both Chief Schultz and CPSD White have blood money on their hands, maybe it is time to right the wrong. Correct the policy and get all these drunks off of our streets! Do not allow another person to die at the hand of a drunk driver. Do not continue with a “bloody” policy in spite of those who brought it to our attention; do correct the policy because it is the right thing to do.
PLEASE STOP THIS!
NO MORE!
