Albuquerque Police Officers are undergoing training at hard military tactics provided by the Department of Energy? Who knew? What good does it do to clean up APD's training program so that it will turn out public servant/officers when the DOE is giving them a 'kill em all' type of training?
Well, thank you Congresswoman Michele Grisham Lujan for asking DOE to cease such training for APD and local law enforcement. As she points out, 28 fatal police shootings since 2010, might be indicative of too much macho regimens.
Well, thank you Congresswoman Michele Grisham Lujan for asking DOE to cease such training for APD and local law enforcement. As she points out, 28 fatal police shootings since 2010, might be indicative of too much macho regimens.
5 comments:
Jeff Proctor of KRQE reported on this a few months back: http://krqe.com/2014/10/07/boyd-shooter-welcome-to-rop-mistakes-now-cease-to-exist/
I am surprised by your comment "Who knew?" It has been reported on a couple of times, but not given much attention by the public. This type of aggressive training has been going on for some time and also includes highly aggressive training from Homeland Security. It all started after police officers King and Smith were killed along with 3 civilians in 2005 by John Hyde. Six months latter, Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff Mc Grain was shot in the face and killed by Astoraga. The McGrain Institute was also started emphasizing officer safety. In 2005, after the killings, officer safety became the number one priority. Ray Schultz wanted more aggressive cops and authorized the aggressive training and got away from community based policing. Preference was given to former military to be hired. It took five years of training and hires from 2005 to 2010 before it all came to fruition in 2010 when all the shooting began.
this kind of training would not have prevented any of those police from being shot.
It all started long before 2005. Back in 1990 APD started a relation with the DoE and DoD. Many of the APD SWAT team went to work for DOE and DOD, sometimes while they were still working at APD. DCOP Huntsman worked for many years under contract with DOE, DOD, Wackenhut, Lockheed etc,,,,,, all the time he was the APD SWAT commander. Double dipping? A violation of the law? The reason why we have officers being trained to "ambush convoys"? This is the militarization of the police. Grisham needs to hold public hearings regarding APD's cozy, too cozy, relationship with these federal agencies. When I call 911 I want a cop, not a storm trooper. I know the media likes to instill fear, but the truth is crime is way down in the USA and the odds of being the victim of a terrorist attack in the USA are about as good as the odds of winning powerball.
Interesting discussion. The context keeps broadening. Not invalidating previous contexts but putting them into bigger ones. Pretty soon it will include "society." The American people, Capitalism, whatever you want to make it.
If you expand context enough it includes yourself, when and if you admit these are your perceptions and when and if you admit you share responsibility for the state of affairs. Then what? One person can't change society. We have to change the society though because it's producing killer cops and uneducated people and wealth inequality that will eventually sink us.
Each person brought up a thing that needs attention. Grisham Lujan takes a stab at it once in awhile then goes back to Washington and votes for conservative policies that further fragment society. At least she takes a stab, but she and none of them ever say anything that would prevent them being invited to talk at the Chamber of Commerce, who ideologically are "there is no society, only individuals" Thatcherite/Reaganites, knee kerk agin' anything that benefits their employees.
Most of your readers realize on some level of consciousness where the most bang for the buck can be had -- the Washington, Santa Fe, Chamber complex -- but they aren't sure what it will cost them.
Get off your butts and into the street, but you have to do that mentally, first of all.
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