Three Chiefs

It's been a year since APD's disgraced former "chief" Ray Schultz resigned from the troubled department to take his place with Taser International as he goes around hustling a product that seems to be on everybody's "don't get list." Of course, in the eight years Schultz oversaw APD, the department now mired in such a mess it overshadows the Ferguson, Missouri police department in disgraceful management, not once was there any public criticism of Schultz by the state's largest paper, the Albuquerque Journal.

Schultz was routinely praised by the paper and its chief editor Kent Walz for being "the right type of leader" or "the right man for the job." Yet, time and time again we saw Schultz publicly stumble when he was caught lying, held responsible in the courts, or even when he turned on his own officers. So finally, with the DOJ on the front porch, the brain-trust of Berry/Perry sent Schultz packing because, hey, it was an election year and nothing looks better than having a black chief.

In came Allen Banks and waddya know, as devious as Schultz was, Banks was just incompetent. His level of ineptitude grew to such proportion that he was not allowed to do any press conferences because aside from being unable to string a simple sentence together, his mouth dried up to such levels he could talk with out smacking his lips. But still, while Banks held the top chair on the 5th Floor, our pal Kent Walz continued to land endless praise on Banks for being the hometown southvalley kid that did good by taking over APD. We even had a year ending piece praising Banks by his old highschool basketball coach.  But little did we know that Banks had been traveling to Round Rock, Texas, to let his feet show what he really felt about the city he professed he so "loved."

Then came in Mr. Eden. He was chosen over at least three other command level police officers from Texas who had put in for the top job at APD. While not having been a cop for decades and not having any experience running a police department, our sturdy braintrust of Perry/Berry brought in the golden boy to take over the fix APD. But the funny thing is, since day one, our buddy Kent has really not liked Mr. Eden.  In story after story, and editorial after editorial (most recently this weekend's here: http://www.abqjournal.com/474420/opinion/its-troubling-that-eden-didnt-listen-to-sandy-tape.html) Mr. Walz has made it clear that while Schultz is the one who made a mess of APD, it is Eden who is left holding the bag.

What does this mean for Mr. Eden? Could it be that his departure is now inevtiable like our Eyes are telling us and that DCOP Bob Huntsman is soon to put on the coveted 5th star and become APD's chief? Maybe.

You see, what strikes us as funny is not so much that the paper is taking Eden to task, is that their bias is so obvious. Where was this scrutiny for Schultz and Banks? After all they created this mess! The funny thing is, in New Mexico, the truth is in the the details. And our Eyes have been busy....you see it looks like Mr. Walz was highly indebted to Schultz. It has little to do with the Southwest Cyber Companions. Rather it has a lot to do with two young fellows named Jordan and Devon. Maybe it's time their police reports are pulled because from what we've seen, it sure looks like there's been some suspiciously favored treatment. And yeah, they're Kent's adult kids.

Look folks we're not giving Eden a pass, but we are saying let's be fair and when we ask which one of these chiefs is not like the others, things are much more subtle and corrupt than they appear....

"Serious Reform? No, This is Serious BS!"

As all the officers in APD now know, "Chief" Gordon Eden recently decreed that officers SHALL NOT be allowed to carry personal weapons but must utilize department issued Glock or Smith & Wesson 9mm pistols. We were getting ready to address this when we received the following email from retired senior police sergeant Paul Heh:

"Dear Eye,

After reading today's editorial in today's paper where Kent Walz claims that standardizing guns that officers carry is a sign of serious "reform", I'm convinced we are in an asylum and where the lunatics are running the city. To call this "reform" is just insane.

So let me talk about this issue with the guns. I didn't carry a department issued weapon because that's what worked for me. But to think that because a department lets others carry different guns somehow creates a status symbol out of the gun is ridiculous. First, in order to carry a different gun you had to complete a transition class, complete and pass the necessary shooting quals, be approved by the rangemaster, and then get the weapon approved by your entire chain of command. So there was oversight and red tape everywhere which suppressed any notion of a status symbol if anything.

Then there are the little hypocritical details in this new "policy." Eden was seen carrying a 1911 style pistol. Bob Huntsman carried an oversized revolver. And the Journal and Walz's favorite chief, Ray Schultz carried a 1911 style pistol.  

So if there are "reforms" being done, if we are to be serious about this then start by asking these people about this policy since they didn't seem to care about it.

Then there's the reality which puts this new policy to shame. Some officers are in assignments where they need specialized guns for concealed carry. Or secondary weapons. Then there's the fact that the department issued weapon carries 18 rounds plus one in the chamber whereas a 1911 carries 7 rounds plus one in the chamber. 9mm rounds are also much more likely to overpenetrate their target and go through walls where .45 ACP is a big fat slow round that does not have the same issues as 9mm.

So folks, this is all window dressing and nothing but more of the same by Walz, Eden, Perry, and Berry. Except I don't think Walz even knows what he's talking about. The reality is the new weapon is actually a much more deadly weapon. And really to call it "reform?" Isn't that like calling Ray Schultz ethical?

The bottom line is, our officers need to be allowed to carry whatever best suits them for their protection. The challenges facing APD and the city have nothing to do with officers carrying Kimber 1911 pistols or Sig Sauers or Nighthawks. The challenges have everything to do with a lack of leadership and lack of ownership by the city's executives and the main paper in this town"

--Paul Heh

P.S. In my haste to get this letter written, I meant I did not carry a department issued Glock. I carried a Glock 23.

Not Scary?

Scary?

Is it Jeff Proctor or Alfred E. Neuman or are they one in the same?

As we commented earlier this year, the state's largest paper the Albuquerque Journal, frequently deviates from it's duty to provide fair, balanced, and unbiased news reporting. It fails in this regard because frequently it buries important stories in the back pages, heavily edits AP wire stories, or simply refuses to publish "newsworthy" reports.
 

It's no wonder that it's circulation has steadily fallen over the last years. Just like the City of Albuquerque and its dwindling job market, declining economy, disgraceful child wellness standing, soaring crime rate, soaring misconduct cases, the Journal refuses to confront the reality that it is little more than a propaganda device for the Berry and Martinez administrations.
 

Now, our Eyes tell us that the paper's primary crime/police reporter Jeff Proctor, is once again either omitting newsworthy stories or that he has no backbone to stand up against his boss Ken Walz.

You see, over the last few months, almost all of mayoral candidate Paul Heh's campaign staff have been the target of very similar criminal offenses. From forced entry residential break-ins, false cable repairmen, computer hacking, arbitrary and discriminatory "spot" inspections by city authorities, prowlers seen fleeing the backside of residences, and vandalism to homes and cars.  This information was conveyed to Mr. Proctor a few weeks ago and Mr. Proctor even interviewed some of the campaign workers.
 

Yet, despite these clear acts of intimidation, the Journal has not published any story concerning these events that have been documented with police reports and calls to federal officials. And these offenses are not limited to workers involved with the Heh campaign, but also Pete Dinelli's campaign staff as well.
 

Maybe Mr. Proctor has not even written a story? Maybe Walz has suppressed the story? Maybe Proctor is not a reporter but still part of the funny section "posing" as a reporter?

In any event, these actions as they've been relayed to us cannot stand. Not surprisingly, the two campaign workers who have not been directly targeted are former police officers. Perhaps the perpetrators of these offenses have a grain of common sense in knowing armed former officers are not to be victimized.... Perhaps the perpetrators of these offenses have something else in store for them.
 

However, if anybody knows Mr. Heh, they know he will not run nor hide unlike the incumbent. He will become more visible, more passionate, and more outspoken. And we know his workers will defend themselves with any necessary force if they and their families are attacked.
 

Folks, while we know Albuquerque has major crime problems, the strike of criminal offenses that cluster around certain individuals during a certain time of year when never such incidents have happened before is not coincidence. It is orchestrated.
 

We at the Eye call upon our friends in the DOJ to investigate this matter immediately before somebody gets hurt. We have been told the Heh campaign has already contacted the FBI regarding these federal criminal offenses designed to suppress free elections and free campaign activities.
 

Shame on Proctor for not pushing this story before the citizens of Albuquerque either on his Twitter page or in his paper! Shame on Walz for suppressing a major newsworthy issues. And shame on Berry and Shultz for endorsing such nefarious activity!

Albuquerque Journal Assumes Too Much Based On Their Own Bias

Ever since RJ Berry won election to be Albuquerque's Mayor in October 2009, the local paper (the Albuquerque Journal) continues to unleash a never ending attack on the rank and file of the state's largest police force: the Albuquerque Police Department.

Week after week, month after month, the editors of the state's largest and most influential paper criticize, comment, and defame officers and non-management personnel who frequently are vindicated from the uninformed attacks. A case in point is the paper's most recent editorial where they address the "steroid" problem facing APD. This investigation is barely off the ground, the details hardly known (if they exist at all), and appear to be as bizarre as the case against APD Officer Burge who is accused of kicking in the apartment door of a fellow officer and stealing a flat screen plasma TV from the apartment. But the paper unloads as if its a given that there is widespread steroid use amongst officers in APD.

Yet the paper's uninformed bias continues and reinforces the notion that poor Ray Schultz has his hands full and just trying to clean up his department of a few bad cops. But the reality is, Schultz has been in charge of APD since 2005, and much of whom the department was staffed with since then are....gone. APD is but a shadow of the department it was yet the paper continues to hold Schultz blameless for the mess APD is in now. APD is a mirror of Ray Schultz based on his creation, choices and selections.  A mirrored mess so large, the US Department of Justice is doing the most thorough investigation it possibly can of the wreck APD has become under Schultz. The Journal however is quick to blame and attack rank and file officers, is glaringly obvious in its lack of criticism of the very people who have brought this problem upon the citizens of Albuquerque: Schultz, Berry, and Perry.

While red states, blue states, red cities, and blue cities surround us show positive economic and employment growth since Berry's election, Albuquerque remains stagnant; a literal black hole in the desert. Few new jobs, declining revenues, stagnant home sales, virtually no new construction, and downgraded municipal bond rates. But the Journal under editor Kent Walz's leadership and decisions continues to grant exceptions to the very people it should be holding accountable--City and Department leaders. It seems tonight's statements by Schultz on KKOB-4 (watch it HERE) about the Albuquerque Police Officer Association's survey will be more of the same: the officers just don't get it and the data is skewed. In other words: I know I'm chief, but it's not me, it's the other guy.

Well, here's some data for you Mr. Schultz. Below is a list of every editorial published by the Albuquerque Journal since Berry was elected mayor. While so many officers have left, and so many "new" policies have been implemented (at least on paper, we all know there's nothing really new), and so many unqualified people have been placed into positions of leadership, the problems in APD have only gotten worse.

Yet despite all this turnover and change in APD, one thing has remained constant: Raymond Schultz has been APD's chief of police.

Schultz Returns Shine to All APD Badges	10/21/2009
APD Brass Shares Blame	1/17/2010
APD Shouldn’t be "The Young and the Restless"	2/5/2010
Facebook Posts Put All APD Conduct in Doubt	2/17/2011
City, APD Break Down a Blue Wall of Silence	6/2/2011
Time For Change in APD Culture, Practice	6/13/2011
Stakes Just Got Higher in APD/White Inquiry	6/25/2011
All of APD Needs to Scrube This "Stain" Out	6/26/2011
DOJ Probe Could be Positive Step for APD	8/7/2011
APD Needs One Chief, Schultz Right for Job	9/2/2011
APD Security Overkill Raining on Parades	9/15/2011
APD Officer Deserves Community Thanks	10/20/2011
Cost of APD Rogue Cop? Close to Priceless	10/24/2011
Felon Freed Because APD Didn't Disclose	11/4/2011
Mayor Missed Chance to Step up on APD	11/18/2011
APD Protects a Culture Out of Control	11/23/2011
Make APD's Oversight Commission Effective	12/10/2011
APD's Efforts Pay Off in a Safer Community	1/2/2012
Current Process Won't Rebuild Trust in Police	4/24/2012
APD's Learning Curve On Use of Force is Steep	4/24/2012
APD Changes Should Make Us All Safer	5/9/2012
Friends Have No Place in Ex-cop Investigation	5/25/2012
Keep Troubling APD Lawsuit Out in Open	6/12/2012
Video Shows Challenge for APD Training Boss	6/23/2012
Another Suit Reveals Deep Problems in APD	6/27/2012
Electing Chief Would Hurt Department	6/28/2012
Kicking Case Reveals Need for Better Intel	8/9/2012
Fix APD the Right Way	8/9/2012
Schultz Moves to Stop Game of Pass Bad Cop	8/31/2012
Schultz Gives APD an A for Reforms	9/12/2012
Weigh APD Grade with DOJ Resolution	9/17/2012
Schultz Sets Example of Policing APD Needs	9/18/2012
APD Doesn’t Need Cops Who Sext Minors	10/2/2012
APD Should Build Its Force the Right Way	10/10/2012
Consider Chiefs Action With Survey	11/17/2012
3 Months of Paid APD Leave Enough Already	11/21/2012
APD Must Fire Bad Cops	11/27/2012
DOJ Probe Could Make a Better APD	12/1/2012
Steroid Use in APD Raises Concerns	12/27/2012

It's a never ending cycle of blame the cops but hold the chief blameless. Despite the fact that the largest and most grotesque scandals have occurred under Ray Schultz--there's no comment about that by Walz. Despite the fact Schultz personally caused millions of dollars in judgements--there's no comment. Despite the fact Schultz own officers are turning on him--there's no comment. Berry recently said he could care less about what the rank and file feel about him. We find that humorous because looking at the list of editorials, it seems all they care about is the rank and file...

If APD's devastation were to be converted to a mathematical equation it would be very simplistic to solve.  The "constant" in this situation is Ray Schultz throughout the time frame that APD has been decimated.  Ray Schultz is the main problem; not the rank and file officers who are doing the job.