A House NOT In Order

A little over two years ago, APD's then chief Ray Schultz held his usual Tuesday "Chief's Staff" meeting with all of the department's top brass. Included in this meeting were the department's current deputy chiefs, commanders, and lieutenants. This meeting was just a few days after the US Department of Justice announced they would be investigating APD for unlawful patterns and practices involving use of force and Constitutional rights violations. Below is a copy of part of a memo issued to all by Ray Schultz

Yet as we saw in DOJ's "trick or treat" present last Friday, APD does not exactly have its house in order. In fact it's pretty clear from DOJ's report that APD is the equivalent of a house wreck that's days away from being foreclosed upon.

From the dissolution of units to over 120 hours of mandated training per office per year, APD is going to managed in a way that defies belief. Our many Eyes are telling us there's a weird calm within the department as not only does it feel adrift but the brass can't provide any answers to anything. While Berry likes to say the process will only take an extra $4-6 Million per year he's concealing the fact that the work officers will be doing will be reduced by as much as 50% because of all the additional time required of them to abide by all of the new procedural and training requirements. So in essence we'll be getting half the service for the same cost. That's called inefficiency and thanks to Berry and his team he just double the cost of this department.

But in a true spirit of make believe, RJ Berry is trying to  position the department's failure as a marketing effort to show that when it comes to mismanaged departments nobody does it like the team of Berry and Eden. Really? A year ago we were told how the department's management has led it to be one of the best department's in the country. Now because of its utter disgrace we now can be models for disgrace. Maybe it's the whole "Nature at Play" thing that still rings in our ears. But isn't it time for some accountability? Where is the chief who predicted DOJ would find APD's house is in order? Where are the former deputy chiefs that stood by and let this happen? Where are the city attorney's that assisted in the failures of this department?

Berry talks a good game about accountability. To us it seems that's one thing that's missing in this department and in this city: there has been NO accountability for the situation where we in. And until there is, nothing will change.

Meanwhile in Sandoval County...

WHERE THERE IS SMOKE, THERE IS FIRE!

Periodically your loveable Eye receives rather interesting information that reminds us that the corruption that runs rampant in Albuquerque is not some special to Albuquerque. Take for instance, our friendly sheriff of Sandoval County, Mr. Doug Wood.  Below is a letter we received a few days ago. Thanks to some help we've verified the info. So as folks in Sandoval head to the polls, they might want to think again when it comes to voting for the incumbent sherrif...

Incumbent Sheriff Doug Wood, arrested....

The Eye on Albuquerque has been responsible for exposing corruption and malfeasance

extensively in the city of Albuquerque over the years. We have dealt mainly with issues in "Our

House." Some people see this site as a way to get the truth out about the unfairness,

discrimination, vindictiveness, retaliation, lies, harassment, nature at play, civil rights violations,

and outright criminal acts involving corruption. Some see it as a way to vent their anger in rowdy

lewd tirades that cut directly to the bone. And those who perpetrate the above acts thinking no

one is watching realize that they are wrong. These are the people that detest and despise this

forum. They hate it for what it does. Right, wrong or indifferent, you have to agree that attention

needs to be paid to things, or what you get is what we have here, a city out of control. Because

of the word getting out of the exposure we here at the Eye can provide to those seeking to put

out information, we have been receiving correspondence from people all over the state. Below

is one that we think relates to things close to the city and may show that the dirt runs deep.

Eye on Albuquerque,

I would like to commend you on your efforts to expose corruption and fight for what is right in

your city. It is obvious that it is making an impact due to the many followups on articles in the

media that stem from some of your blog entries and obvious inside contacts.

I know you have your own battles going on, but I ask of you to please print this if you see fit.

Back in August of this year, the 21st to be exact, the Sheriff of Sandoval county had an

altercation with the family members of a Deputy from the Sandoval county sheriff's office who is

running for sheriff in the election against him. The incident happened inside the Range Cafe in

Bernalillo. An elderly gentleman and woman voiced their displeasure to the Sandoval County

sheriff Doug Wood over his petty antics involving the up coming election. The woman was the

mother of the Democratic candidate Jesse Casaus. The elderly gentleman was her brother. The

argument was verbal, until this Sheriff showed his true colors and grabbed the man by the back

of the neck. This was totally uncalled for.

I have family and friends all over the county. I also have friends in Albuquerque and I follow

current events on the situation there too. Many of them have city jobs and hear things.

I am concerned. I am very concerned that if this Sheriff is not kept in check, we will have here

exactly what you have going on there; officials who think they can do whatever they want to

whoever they want by breaking the law any time they wish.

Over the last six months I have seen Doug Wood parking his Hummer in the County lot with his

posters and election signs all over it. I have seen him, his under sheriff, and a heavy set captain

with glasses campaigning while on duty and wearing uniforms. Sheriff wood goes around

digging post holes and putting huge signs on people's private property without their consent or

permission. Many of these residents are elderly and feel intimidated. They do not want the signs

there, but they are afraid if retaliation if they say something about it.

After hearing about this, I dug a little deeper and found out that Wood was arrested for felony

vin fraud and several other charges. This man was also accused of domestic violence and had

a restraining order put out on him. I do not understand how this person was elected to sheriff

with all of this in his past. I have friends who work in the labs and just one of these issues would

disqualify them from having a security clearance. If you listen to Wood everyone else is the

problem but him. This is disturbing to say the least. What I found more disturbing was the fact

that Albuquerque's chief administrative officer Robert Perry was Doug Wood's lawyer. This was apparently when he was a private attorney. If this is the same person I see on the news all of the time

bullying people, there is no doubt in my mind that we have a huge problem here in New Mexico,

and the corruption runs deep. If in any way this information can prevent the type of situation

going on in Albuquerque, please put it out there. Also, please take a look at the information I

sent with this e-mail.

Sincerely,

(Name withheld due to fear of retaliation)

The Eye would like to commend the above citizen for their concern and for doing the right thing.

This is not the first time we are hearing about this. A few weeks ago one of our eyes reported to

us that Sheriff Wood likes to threaten the smaller police departments within his jurisdiction with

the revocation of their Sandoval County commission cards for not doing his bidding. We here at

the Eye wonder if this is the reason that Bernalillo PD has not charged Wood with the above

mentioned incident. Just last week one of our LE eyes reported to us that the huge pot grow

bust up in the Jemez mountains that Doug Wood is taking credit for had nothing to do with him.

As a matter of fact we were told his office blew off several complaints on the issue. It was the

DEA who had to step in, and take the initiative to locate and process the grow. And finally, we

are hearing that Wood has destroyed morale so much so that several Deputies are

contemplating leaving the agency if Wood wins the election. So yea, where there is a lot of

smoke one has to say there is fire somewhere. There sure looks to be a lot if smoke up there in

Sandoval county. There seems to be a like minded narcissism and bully mentality within the

upper ranks of law enforcement. One thing is for sure It is spreading like wild fire and it’s out of control This sounds all too familiar folks.

Meanwhile....Over at AFD....

You remember a few weeks ago how it came to our attention that the brains running AFD had required personnel to deploy on their engines in below minimum staffing requirements. And then how one of the chiefs in charge of that order told his troops to remain silent or otherwise face certain retaliation even though he knew that it was his own department's failures that was the cause of putting his firefighters needlessly into harms way.  Well it seems things are getting worse for the beleaguared AFD deputy chief currently known as Victor Padilla.

One of our followers informed us of a few more items AFD Deputy Chief Vic Padilla would prefer the media not to know. It has come to our attention that in 2003-2004 Deputy Chief Padilla practiced as an AFD paramedic for approximately seven months without a license. AFD Deputy Chief Padilla broke the law and practiced medicine without a medical license! From our view point, AFD's administration is looking more and more like APD's administration everyday! How many patients were treated by Mr. Padilla and were injured as a results of his malpractice or were needlessly not treated.....

In addition to practicing medicine without a license Deputy Chief Padilla is now facing multiple Federal EEOC complaints. We understand that these EEOC complaints have teeth and because of that Chief Padilla is now looking to jump ship. Our eyes tell us Chief Padilla is attempting to purchase time to be able to retire. We here at the Eye wish Chief Padilla all the luck in the world with that endeavor. AFD will be a better organization after his departure.,,,,

Watching the Watchers Watchers Part II

The Eye received the following from retired APD Captain David Gilmore. It seems Kent Walz has now put the k'bash on Mr. Gilmore as well. So much for freedom of the press when your largest account is with the administration paying you right Ken and Jerry?

"APD's usage of the lapel cameras for the often stated purpose of transparency is simply out of control. According to the Journal's story(8-27-14) the officers are spending up to 20% of each shift ,uploading and logging footage they record.  An officer working an eight hour shift or 480 minutes minus 30 minutes for lunch is now down to 450 minutes to handle calls for service.  Of those 450 minutes we can subtract the 20% or 90 minutes and find the officer is now working only 360 minutes or 6 hours of an 8 hours shift. This means he/she is spending one and a half hours of not doing what he/she is on the streets to do, protect you and me.  For argument sake let us say that 380 officers work the  streets and the minimum pay for a Patrolman 1/C is $26.00 per hour.  An officer is now tspending 7 1/2 hours a week or 375 hours a year at the cost of $195 per week or $9,750 per year to care for his videos.  Applying the hours and costs to the 380 officers on a yearly basis we end up with APD mandating the officers to spend 142,000 hours a year and $3,705,000 on "transparency tapes".  To make matters worse these figures do not include the roughly 600 other sworn officers/supervisors/command personnel that are required to utilizes the video system nor the time and cost to retrieve them for the news media and attorneys.

Unless these cameras are run from the start of the shift until the end, officers will forget to turn them on or not have time to engage them during spontaneous/threatening incidents.  We need to merely recall how Chief Schultz and Deputy Chief Banks failed to turn theirs on during their use of force at a State Fair parade.  Should APD insist on using the cameras they should fall under the same guidelines as the tape recorders of the past did.  That being they would be used for a short list of calls that were enumerated in the SOP, and the officers should be held to accountable for the recordings.

Personally I do not want to be video taped by anyone to include law enforcement.   I am sure this holds true for many citizens, witnesses and victims of crimes.  Nor do people want the inside of their homes video taped.  There are even some discussions with the criminal element better left not being taped.  The  issue of anonymity in reporting a crime has now  become a problem.   I am being told that Metro Court judges are now dismissing cases with no video, if that is the case shame on them as they should not need a video to decide guilt or innocence.   For those who insist on running these tapes from the beginning to the end of the shift consider the following.  Would you take a position that required the taping of your entire workday for 25 years?  The officers have a certain right to privacy, to be able to have personal and frank discussions between themselves, to blow off steam.   I had often wondered if APD's overly aggressive taping was the result of supervision issues? 

As for the Ferguson, Mo. shooting I am sure that the other investigative tools that have been used for decades will resolve the issue.  Let us not forget the video is only a tool and cannot relate an officers state of mind during a critical incident. Between the lapel camera issue and the "historic legislation" pertaining to the new police oversight agency that some members of the city council are so proud of is it no wonder the morale and work ethic of many APD officers continue on a downward spiral"

--David M. Gilmore (APD Captain, Retired)

Officer? What Officer? and PIO? What PIO?

Well aside from there being a massive departure of officers and city lawyers (Tourek and Wardlaw), now our Eyes tell us the illustrious Janet Blair has "resigned" as well. Hmm, but as usual, nothing is simple with our braintrust running the city. Below are the two statements concerning Ms. Blair's departure:

Hmmmm, something tells us there's a problem. One of our other Eyes seems to have cracked the case. You see, below on the left is Ms. Blair at a recent interview with Chris Ramirez. But on the left, is a person who suspiciously looks very similar to Ms. Blair. Could it be, Ms. Blair is a cast member of the Blair Witch Project 5: Return to Albuquerque?

It's Saturday morning, do you know where your APD command staff is? Heck, with 200 officers headed out the door, do you know where any cops are?

The cultural problems, along with all other problems, at APD begin and end with its leaders.  Our commanders, past and present, have acted more like caretakers than policy makers.  Certainly a city the size of Albuquerque has at least one command staff officer on the clock 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Not on call, but actually working.  If you make this assumption you would be wrong.  At APD, when you get promoted to Lieutenant you get weekends off.  APD has almost 1,000 officers, and we have had horrible incidents that beg for a command staff officer to lead, but by design, Schultz, Banks, Eden do not require any command staff officers to work weekends.  Imagine if our military didn't have officers working on weekends, it makes no sense.

Do you want examples where we needed command staff officers as incident commanders?  Let's provide two. 

October 28, 2013, Chris Chase goes on a shooting spree throughout Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.  Wounding several law enforcement officers and almost killing one Bernalillo County Sheriff deputy.  This incident lasted almost 30 minutes and went from the South Broadway area, through the North Valley, into Los Ranchos, finally ending at 4th and Montano.  This incident only came to an end because Chris Chase wrecked his car.  APD had no plan to stop him.  Why?  Because at APD when you become a Lieutenant you no longer work on weekends.  For all of you DoJ attorneys and outside media folks that read this blog, read this a second time.  The Albuquerque Police Department by design does not have any command staff officers working on Saturday's and Sunday's.  It's a perk for becoming part of the command staff.  During the Chris Chase incident all we had was a young sergeant, who was part of the pursuit, as the highest ranking officer.  We had a lot of first responders, APD officers, BCSO, APS Police, etc respond but read this again, the person in command was the APD sergeant who was also in the pursuit.  If an incident screamed for a Command Staff officer to step up and run it, Chris Chase is that incident.  You cannot expect a first line supervisor (sergeant) to coordinate a response that includes several different area commands and at least three different agencies.  No sergeant is prepared for, or trained for, something like this.  Coordinating this type of response is belongs to the command staff, but they were all at home.

Move forward to March 21, 2014, the James Boyd shooting.  During this seven hour incident the highest ranking officers were again, sergeants.  From the reports released by APD we had a field services sergeant and a SWAT sergeant.  Yet when you read through the huge APD investigation it becomes clear that no one was actually in charge.  We had FSB, SWAT, K9, ROP, NMSP and Open Space at this scene, yet not one command staff officer was there.  The command staff officer who would have been the "incident commander"; who would have be accountable for making a plan and it's implementation; was at home enjoying his weekends off.  The Boyd scene, just like the Chase incident, had no leader, no one in charge.

You can point a finger at the officers at the James Boyd incident but the actual fault is found in the organization of the Albuquerque Police Department.  By not requiring a Command Staff officer to be on the clock, working, every day of the week, 24 hours a day, we set ourselves up for failure.  A command staff officer should have been present and in command at the Boyd incident.  That way everyone would know who was making the plan, what the plan was, and who would be accountable.  But at APD is any command staff officer ever held accountable?  When was the last time a command staff officer was ever given a day off for an IA issue?  It doesn't happen at APD.  This lack of command staff officers being assigned to work weekends is done by design.  If they are not present they can't be held accountable. 

APD command staff officers are more like caretakers than leaders.  This is because of the twenty year pension and the culture at the top of APD.  Most command staff officers make their move into command in the later part of their career.  They realize that if all they do is keep quiet and support the status quo, they will get their three high years for pension and get out.  Don't believe me?  Just look at 2005, only nine years ago?  Are any of those command officers (remember this is lieutenant and above) still around?  No.  We can only hope that the change to PERA, making a 25 year pension for new hires and allowing current workers to work almost 30 years for 90%, will help APD to keep command staff officers around longer than just getting their high three.  But until APD command staff officers decide to bravely step up and dissent with the status quo, nothing will change.  Until APD command staff officers step forward and put their reputations / careers on the line by working to change the system at APD, nothing will change.  APD command staff officers do not want to rock the boat.  They want to get their 20 years, with their large pensions, and get out. 

APD Command staff officers (lieutenant, captain / commander, major, deputy chief and chief) are still not scheduled to work weekends, I guess Berry/Eden are waiting for the DoJ to tell them crime occurs on Saturday and Sunday. 

Final note to Chief Eden.  We know you have an abundance of experience running a large police department, sic, but if you swallow your pride and take our advice start having command staff officers working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Make them accountable.  Furthermore, you must set up a training system that prepares all APD officers to handle critical incidents.  This training must be incorporated into the MOE training and be held yearly / continually for all APD officers.  This is not the type of training that Joe Wolfe could do.  Wolfe was never a police officer.  This training should involve all APD officers, from top to bottom, everyone is critiqued on the job they are doing.  This will show you where APD is doing it right and where APD is doing it wrong.  It will show you who, in command, is an actual leader and prepared to handle critical incidents and who will need additional training to get up to speed.  Do it now, don't wait for the DoJ.  Your Eye fears for all officers and citizens that another Chris Chase or James Boyd incident is on the horizon, do something now to prepare your officers to handle it.  Chief Eden you can fix this, or you can do nothing and history will hold you accountable.  The choice is yours, Chief Eden, are you a caretaker or are you brave enough to take responsibility and make the changes now?

--Desert Hawk

Who is Watching the Watchers Watchers?

***Breaking News..Our Eyes tell us certain command personnel are saying FBI agrees with APD's investigation that Boyd shooting was justified....

Just like every other great idea coming out of the 5th Floor braintrust, our Eyes tell us that any day now, our sheltered mayor will be presenting the $50,000 report authored by a UNM professor about how APD should be using it's office mounted cameras. You see, this being the city of Albuquerque, Rob and Rich (that's Perry/Berry) have no problem robbing money from the general fund to make others rich. Especially when there are plenty of other example SOPs already in successful operation throughout the country.

But in the spirit of promoting Rob and Rich's transparency, we thought your loveable Eye should weigh in on the matter. Because an SOP that covers how officers "shall" use body cameras really isn't complete unless it truly is a comprehensive SOP. And with so much talk about officers, isn't it time that the leaders of APD step up to the plate and be required to model appropriate behavior? We mean, with so much questionable behavior by those wearing stars-n-bars, shouldn't they be required to have their own special set of SOPs as well?

Such additions we recommend to the Command Staff Body Camera Policy, free of charge we might add, are:

1. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras at all Chief's staff meetings.

2. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when meeting with subordinates.

3. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when sending text messages.

4. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when in presence of TJ Wilham.

5. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when in presence of Rob Perry.

6. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when in the presence of cadets.

7. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when in the presence of APD Academy director Joe Wolf.

8. All officers SHALL operate their body cameras when in the presence of city legal personnel.

You see the reasoning for these policies for command staff and above is simple. If these SOPs had been in place we wouldn't have had the department exposed to lies about crime rates & staffing issues, sexual harassment upon female officers, the sending of text messages with images of male genitals by lieutenants, the general embarrassment of TJ Wilham, the drunken rages of the city's highest paid employee, the hazing and sexual harassment of cadets, the endless misconduct of the city's academy director, and of course the gross lies of the city's legal office.

In short, and as we've been told by our friends on patrol, it's not the officers out taking calls that have caused the mess APD is in......it's its leaders.

So, here's some advice Rich-n-Rob....be the transparency model you advertise yourself to be, video it ALL!

If there are any subsections of this SOP we missed, please loyal readers, let us know!

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....