Not Over Yet

Friday, The 5th Floor continued its campaign to shift the blame. The David Young debacle has the brass worried that the apparent multiple civil rights violations and repeated fraud will spur another law enforcement agency to take a long hard look at the department.

We told you that Sergeant, uh... Chief Schultz would try to shift the blame to someone. We just didn't expect that he'd shift it to an entire program. Somehow in the Chief's mind the problem with the program is the program not the paid, sworn supervisors in charge of using the reserve officers.

[Sidebar]
The 5th Floor has never, ever provided anyone with proof that it has 1,200 officers on its rolls. Our Eyes have contended for some time that their "count" included reserve officers. Now would be a good time to get a full accounting of all full-time, state certified, sworn officers on the payroll. What do you bet that Marty's claim of 1,200 evaporates along with the reserve program?
[End Sidebar]

The Chief's attempt to shift the blame to a bunch of volunteer officers who donate their time to the department in order to make us all just a little bit safer is simply reprehensible.

Meanwhile, the Root Beer Float Queen has flopped and flipped over whether or not it would be appropriate for an outside agency to do some digging on The 5th Floor.

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Thursday she will look at the cases her office prosecuted. She also said she feels APD can investigate the allegations involving the reserves making arrests.

She previously said an independent investigation was warranted, but clarified that APD should do its own independent investigation.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

It's not exactly surprising that Brandenburg would throw Marty and the Chief a bone - after all, she's carried Ray's water before. (Can you say Ben Kirby?) Besides, she's not exactly known for her prosecutorial prowess.

The last thing Marty and his minions want is an independent investigation of APD. But we'll remind our readers on The 5th Floor and the City Attorney's office that there's plenty of reason to launch a criminal investigation and more than enough evidence to file a series of civil suits that will keep them busy for years to come.

Folks... It's not over yet. If for no other reason than attorney Mary Han isn't about to let it go. One of these days Marty's minions will go too far. Our Eyes tell us that they already have on more than one occasion. Stay tuned...

Taking Cover

The Wanna Be Cop scandal has claimed it's first victim... sort of. Tuesday in the dead of night, Lt. Rob Smith was quietly reassigned to the Valley Command. The move was intended to keep the "reassignment" quiet and was an effort not to embarrass the lieutenant.

Our Eyes tell us that Lieutenant Smith was one of the officers who signed off on Civilian David Young's overtime hours that were used to pay for Young's fondle, uh... police work. As of today, Lt. Smith's supervisor Commander Joe Hudson - who also signed of on Young's nocturnal O.T. activities - was still over at SID.

In looks to us as if The 5th Floor is trying to simultaneously protect itself and one of their favored officers. Reassigning Smith to uniformed duty in the Valley allows Sergeant... rather, Chief Schultz to look pro-active when his "investigation" comes back claiming that illegally using David Young to arrest and prosecute prostitutes and paying him to do it, is a result of poor training.

Meanwhile over at Metro Court one of the first of what is sure to be a long string of cases in which Young was the arresting officer, was dismissed. You can also be sure that "the accused" will shortly become "the plaintiff" in what's sure to be an equally long string of civil cases against APD and the city.

For some unknown reason, The 5th Floor is working hard to provide cover for Smith and Hudson. Our Eyes tell us that most officers would have at least the subject of an IA and more than likely be forced to muck out Marty's kennels while on admin leave.

The boys on The 5th Floor are certainly trying to sweep this one under the rug. But while they're taking cover, they're trying waaay too hard to cover the two officers who seem to be directly responsible. Why?

It's either friendship or the two know too much. If the former, expect The 5th Floor to burn them if things get bad and promote them if they survive the October election. If the latter, look for a Smith and possibly Hudson to be summarily thrown under the bus.

Sweet Deal

Tonight the Bernalillo County Commission will take up - as it does every two years - County Manager Thaddeus Lucero's employment contract. After a review of the contract, we have to admit that it's a swweeeet deal.

The county manager basically runs the day to day county administration with direction from the County Commission. For his service to the county, Mr. Lucero will receive $150,000 for the period of September 20, 2009 through September 19, 2010 at which time the manager's compensation jumps to $162,500. And it gets better...

Should the county commission approve a pay raise for "full-time regular unclassified employees," the county manager would receive the same percentage pay increase. No, we're not done yet...

Lucero in his role as county manager will have both employer and employee P.E.R.A contributions paid for by the county. In addition, his travel expenses, registration fees, private office, vehicle, expense account, administrative assistant, and professional societies memberships all picked up by the county. And there's more...

Under the terms of the county manager's contract, Lucero receives 6 hours of sick leave per pay period convertible to annual leave upon termination, 40 leave days per year, and 3 personal holidays a year all of which can be carried forward "from year to year without limitation." Don't worry, despite the apparent lack of leave (that's sarcasm) Lucero also gets paid for all county recognized holidays.

Did we mention healthcare? Well... it's in there too.

Like we said... It's a sweet deal that guarantees an 8% pay increase in the second year and pretty much picks up every other possible expense including retirement all at a time of high unemployment and increasing governmental revenue shortfalls.

In light of the current economic status, we wonder how the county commission can justify a guaranteed pay increase. Here's another little problem... county receipts are down and spending is up. Shouldn't the county manager be subject to a pay reduction if revenue shortfalls force the county to reduce compensation for its other employees through pay reductions or furloughs? We'd think so, but then again we're not getting $312,500 in guaranteed money with just about everything else in our lives paid for.

The county commission tends to fly under the radar. If this were the city, you can bet there'd be hell to pay.

----- Update -----
It didn't take but a few moments for our County Eyes to chime in with one very important factoid. County employees have not had a raise in two years, yet this new county manager contract includes a programed 8% raise in addition to a raise this year.

We understand that the county is suffering from a drop in revenues that require adjustments to spending. But shouldn't the county manager suffer from the same economic realities? We're just sayin'...

Target Kirby: The End?

We've long believed that former Officer Ben Kirby was APD's patsy in the Daskalos paddy wagon affair. Yesterday, the former officer plead no contest to interfering with a public official (krqe.com). [hat tip: Eye Reader] Kirby was initially charged with 3 felonies - assisting escape, tampering with public records and conspiracy tampering with public records.

We have long believed that Kirby's actions in the August 2006 Daskalos day trip (yeah we know it was night but we couldn't help it - the alliteration was too tempting) from the paddy wagon was initiated by a third party. One of the questions that neither APD nor the DA's office has ever answered is - if there's a conspiracy (even to tamper with public records - something the 5th Floor should know all about) - who are the conspirators (read it here)?

Kirby was drummed out of APD rather quickly following the incident (unlike probationary officer Levi Chavez who's a "person of interest" in his wife's death). However, the DA didn't charge Kirby for some 14 months after the DA had initially decided not to prosecute and after he had filed suit to get his job back (read it here).

A well connected developer - friend and major contributor to The Almighty Alcalde - gets special treatment after a DWI arrest (read it here), and APD would have you believe that Kirby acted alone even after initially charging him with conspiracy. Now Kirby pleads no contest to misdemeanor charges that will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for six months.

The only conspiracy we see here is the CYA conspiracy to cover-up yet another 5th Floor mess. We hope after six months Kirby files suit to get his job back and spills everything that happened that fateful night - August 25, 2006.

Incompetence or Corruption?

So which is it? Chief Schultz would have you believe that no one knew that reserve officer David Young was out there making illegal arrests, yet the Journal reported Monday that Lieutenant Rob Smith recommended him for the "Civilian of the Month" award back in June (ABQ Journal - Subscription). The nomination included the little tidbit about Young making misdemeanor and felony arrests.

Schultz on Friday said that he receives "letters all of the time" nominating people for the award and that, when he received the letter from Smith, he turned it over to a nominating committee.

Schultz said he didn't know Young was earning overtime to do police work.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

The first thing this reminded us of was the Chief's reaction two years ago to the news that Albuquerque was indeed a dangerous city where Schultz opined "I feel safe" (read it here). Our second thought was of the character in the classic sitcom "Hogan's Heroes," Sergeant Schultz. That's when we realized that the real Chief's reactions were not too different from the fictional Sergeant's - "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!"

Apparently, in addition to not reading state law regarding powers and authority of reserve officers, and time sheets, he also doesn't read his mail.

Meanwhile, David Young is out getting paid to fondle perps and make illegal arrests with the full knowledge of his supervisors. He was even put up for an award.

Our Eyes tell us that The 5th Floor actively tried to shall we say... loose the memo but it surfaced and a copy was given to the Journal's T.J. Wilham. Remember folks it's illegal to destroy public documents. More importantly, it's a violation of someone's civil rights to arrest them illegally. At best, detaining someone against their will without the proper authority to do so is a crime - a crime called kidnapping.

All of this potentially illegal activity is bound to draw the attention of outside investigators like the FBI or the Attorney General's office - perhaps both. Neither investigation would be particularly welcome to a mayor seeking re-election.

Last time The Almighty Alcalde faced an APD scandal before an election there was enough time for him to fire the Chief and effectively bury the story. This time around the timing couldn't be worse. Absentee ballots go out September 1 and our Eyes tell us that Young playing cop at the behest of his sworn superiors is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

But let's be clear... Chief Schultz and his cronies either knew about Young and are lying or like Sergeant Schultz knew nothing, heard nothing, and saw noooothing! You choose... incompetent or corrupt. In either case, Marty is responsible and there's no one else to share the blame.

Eye Poll: Cook

Last week's Eye Poll was rolling along when councilor Mayer shook up her race by leaving it. At the time the incumbent held a comfortable lead over both of her opponents - a lead that evaporated following her withdrawal. In the end, Michal Cook cooked up a solid lead over his opponent and his former opponent with 50% of Eye readers support, Mayer still garnered 32%, and write-in David Green 18% in our unscientific poll (view it here).

This week we swing our attention to the District 9 race between incumbent Don Harris and challenger David Barbour. Hopefully, no one else will fall out of the remaining races or we won't have anything to talk about. Don't forget to vote and you might want to hurry!

Quota - Good News, Bad News

First the good news... Fewer people are out on the streets driving drunk. According to our Eyes behind the badge, either because people are getting the message or because of the economic downturn it's getting increasingly difficult to find drivers who've loaded up and started up - which means we're all a little safer these days.

The bad news is that it's getting increasingly difficult to find drivers who've loaded up and started up. Bad news? Yep. When drunks were plentiful on the city's roads, catching them was like shooting fish in a barrel. Simply wait for an illegal lane change or a serving vehicle and odds are you've found a drunk. It seems that these days, the drunks are staying home or finding rides home.

The problem is that the men and women of the DWI unit are having to work a lot harder to keep us safe from the remaining people who just can't seem to get the message. Understand, it's not due to a lack of effort, it's simply because drunk drivers are harder to find these days. We doubt we'll ever see it but, the true measure of the DWI unit's success would be its obsolesence.

Since arrests are the measuring stick by which politicians and bureaucrats determine success, fewer arrests mean trouble for supervisors in the DWI unit. Never fear, Sergeant Josh McDonald has found a simple way to make sure that his unit maintains their arrest numbers... simply require officers to make a certain number of arrests per night.

Of course, quotas in law enforcement are highly illegal - they lead to officer desperation and law enforcement by any means necessary. It doesn't take a lawyer to figure out that quotas lead at the very least to questionable arrests and potential civil rights violations.

As of Friday night, officers in the DWI unit are required to bag 1.75 drivers per night who are allegedly already in the bag. We're really not sure what the hell the .75 thing is about. Does that mean 1 drunk and someone who's 3/4s drunk? Does that mean a BAC of .08 or above and a .06? In any case, it puts pressure on officers to arrest regardless of reasonable suspicion - perhaps even to manufacture arrests.

If an officer fails to meet their quota, they will receive a verbal reprimand. The second "offense" results in a written reprimand. The third quota failure results in removal from the unit. Our Eyes tell us that there is currently a DWI officer on a Personal Improvement Plan (PIP) for failing to meet Sergeant McDonald's quota.

Look, the officers of the DWI unit work hard. A reduction in the number of arrests because there simply aren't as many drunk drivers on the road is a good thing. The officers should receive a pat on the back not reprimands for failing to meet quotas.

This is just another example of poor management and arrogance of The 5th Floor. Just like over in SID, the DWI unit is playing fast and loose with the law. It's a state of affairs that is simply unacceptable. APD must be above reproach and the officers who lead the department must likewise be above reproach.

Certainly responsibility rests with Chief Schultz and his DCs, but ultimately the responsibility for the behavior of APD management rests with the mayor.

The good news is that we're all safer on the roads at night. The bad news is that - thanks to quotas - there's pressue on officers to make arrests regardless of merit.