The lead story on one of the so called TV newscasts last night was about a guy who has been regularly seen jogging naked in the Bosque. Of course it was the lead since it smacked of something sexual with a little deviancy. The Lead Story! Now we all know about it and of course our lives must be better.
Now I am going to reproduce in full an email I got from someone wondering why a certain cop, who I am sure would be called undercover, is allowed to appear like this in front of cameras representing the APD. And if he is no longer undercover because of this TV coverage then will he stop looking like the bad guys.
Now I am going to reproduce in full an email I got from someone wondering why a certain cop, who I am sure would be called undercover, is allowed to appear like this in front of cameras representing the APD. And if he is no longer undercover because of this TV coverage then will he stop looking like the bad guys.
A friend of mine sent me this picture of an APD officer escorting the suspected child molester that was arrested a week or so ago.
Is this the face of APD under Richard Berry? The guy looks more like a thug than a police officer. Is this what APD has turned into? Is this what the community wants from it's police department? Is this why the DOJ is in town? Schultz says no, but pictures speak a thousand words.
Also, who in their right mind does a perp walk anymore? Didn't we learn anything from Lee Harvey Oswald? Once in custody the suspect is to be protected by the police. Other than for media PR when does it make sense to walk a child molester through a downtown crowd to the prisoner transport center? APD was lucky an angry family member wasn't waiting.
The command staff at APD and the mayor's office is AWOL or they are just stupid. No one at city hall is thinking about anything more than getting re-elected. This place is a mess.
What do you think? When you were mayor would you have an detective wearing a death head t-shirt in front of the camera? At a time the DOJ is investigating? Would you want this APD Detective working with victims? Child victims at that!
Berry is showing no leadership at APD. This entire circus is a disgrace and disservice to the community and those who have proudly served APD.
7 comments:
The way the merit ordinance reads, it is not the Mayor who leads APD. His role is limited to appointing a chief. I am no fan of Berry or Schultz but that's the way the ordinance reads. However, Ray Schultz turned in his resignation letter and addressed it to Rob Perry.
Berry appointed Schultz when he took over. Berry owns the entire mess of cover ups, millions in lost lawsuit money, Department of Justice Investigation, bad cops, bad leadership, rising crime rate, rising response times to 911 calls, fewer and fewer cops on the street etc etc.
Schultz is not going anywhere if Berry is re-elected. His retirement letter is a sham. Berry doesn't have the spine to fire him. Berry didn't have the spine to fire Darren White. Berry has no spine.
I don't want a mayor who is considered a nice guy. This nice guy mayor has kept Albuquerque in the ecomonic toilet. I want a mayor like Jim Baca. No nonsense people who wanted the best for Albuquerque and demanded accountability from their employees. Under Baca, Schultz would have been fired. Under Berry he is hugged. Four more years of Berry and this city will collasp.
Schultz has not resigned. He wrote a letter saying he intends to retire some time this year before the election without giving any date. I was a ruse to get City Councilors off his back. Prediction: Ray will say Mayor has asked him to stay on until the election and if Berry is re-elected, Schultz will stay.
I've been thinking about this and the questions raised by that email. Is there a problem with how Albuquerque government is organized? Will the DOJ investigation result in some reforms? Will it get a few headlines and be put on the shelf?
Public outcry is an impetus for government reform, but on the Albuquerque TV web sites, when there's a story about the police doing something questionable, there are just as many and probably more comments cheering the police on.
It can help mold public opinion when people like you keep the issue before the public eye and ask the questions that need to be asked, especially considering that your readership includes people who think more deeply about things than the average TV web site reader and have more influence on public attitudes.
But on that, I found Joe Monahan's comments a couple of post ago on the issue of problems in the APD to be a little troubling.
In the same paragraph in which he talks about the wave of shootings, he warns about some kind of new type of criminal the APD faces. He knows there's a new type of criminal because an ex cop told him. But is there? We don't know. If there is, is the solution for police to kill everyone, including guys with butter knives and pliers in holders on their belt, which APD has been been doing, and which he seems to justify?
And then there's this mixed message:
"Meanwhile, because of a public made myopic by a fear of crime (and not unjustifiably) outside forces have had to come in to make the needed corrections."
So which is it? Are the actions of the APD justified or do they need to be corrected?
He realizes that an irrationality born of fear impacts peoples' thinking, but can't quite seem to account for the impact of his own fear on his own thinking.
If the APD is ever going to be reformed it will require clear thinking by people of influence first.
Can anyone tell me just how the new changes to hiring at APD are going to fix anything? Berry said he will only hire an officer who has 60 hours of college or 2 years active duty military.
Now think about this..... 2 years of college or 2 years of military are two very different people. Just what is he looking for? A 2 year college person has not shown the ability to get a 4 year degree and probably only knows the location of bars in downtown Albuquerque. A current military veteran has probably gone to war.
These two standards are so different that when Berry has been asked why he implemented this change he couldn't answer (thank you Jeff Proctor).
So it goes in Berryworld, he makes a change that he thinks the public will like with no idea how it would help or if it would help. In the meantime APD does not hire the mature citizen who has worked, has no debt, owns a home etc. That person is not allowed to apply because Berry wants to hire 21 year old college students who don't even have a degree. How can the people in the town be so blind? Now APD is down to 900 officers. Four years ago we had over 1,100 officers. And the ones we are hiring (and entire 10 in the current academy for APD) are just college drop out kids with loads of student debt.
Berry owns it all, will the citizens hold him accountable at election time? I hope so.
I agree this is all on the shoulders of Mayor Berry for appointing Ray Schultz. I also believe that Rob Perry runs the Berry Fun Factory more than anyone likes to believe. Like Brandenberg who is told what to do by Mark Drebing and his helpers (looking at you Troy Davis), the long serving civil employees are the ones are make policy and decisions. Brandenburg and Berry have become figureheads (or shall we say bobbleheads). It is time for citizens to demand their city back and get a Mayor and a District Attorney who will cut down deep and get the Drebings, Davis, and Levy's out.
Ray Schultz and his police state mentality are costing taxpayers millions in lawsuits.
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