On Monday July 13, New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon said his office was ordering a special audit of APD’s overtime payment policies to APD Police Officers. Colón also asked New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas to join him with the probe and Attorney General Balderas assigned special agents to work with State on the Albuquerque Police Department audit examination.

With State Auditor Brian Colon and State Attorney General Hector Balderas probing the Albuquerque Police Department’s overtime practices and with an outside accounting firm ordered to the same, the Albuquerque Police Department says its own related Internal Affairs investigation has been going on for the past six weeks.

APD ANNOUNCES INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATION OF ONLY ONE

On Monday, July 13, APD officials said it notified the Office of State Auditor Brian Colón about “suspected fraud” involving wages paid to former APD spokesman Simon Drobik and said that APD has its own Internal Affairs investigation Drobik as it relates to his alleged overtime abuse and “suspected fraud”. The letter to the State Auditor says:

“The dollar amount of the suspected fraud is not known at this time, however, the [Internal Affairs] investigation is ongoing. ”

Attorney General Chief Counsel Matt Baca had this to say on Thursday, July 16:

“[The AG’s office’] has been actively reviewing this matter and received communications from both APD and the Auditor’s office this week related to APD’s internal investigation of Simon Drobik.”

For a number of years, Drobik has been the highest paid city employee. Drobik has a base pay rate of $31.50 per hour, which translates into a yearly pay of $65,529 (40 hour work week X 52 weeks X $31.50 = $65, 520). In 2018, Drobik was paid $192,973. In 2019 he was paid $166, 485. Thus far in 2020, Drobik has already collected $106,607, as a result of overtime pay. Over a year ago, the Civilian Police Oversight Agency demanded the city to fire Drobik for overtime abuses.

Confidential sources are saying that on Friday, July 10, Internal Affairs (IA) investigators interviewed Drobik and confronted him with pay records that showed time card fraud and that contradicted his defense that he was not being paid for both outside work and city work done at the same time. Confidential sources say Drobik stormed out of the IA interview and he tendered his retirement letter the same day.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1476681/internal-probe-finds-suspected-fraud-at-apd.html

EXTENT OF OVERTIME SCANDAL NOT JUST ONE

APD Internal Affairs ostensibly is only investigating former APD Spokesman Simon Drobik for overtime pay abuse. It is likely that upwards of 160 police officers listed in the 250 top paid city hall employees will also be subject to review.

Police officers earning excessive overtime is nothing new. It has been going on for years and is very common knowledge amongst city hall employees and city hall watchers.

On July 15, the online news ABQReports published an article investigated and written by editor Dennis Domrzalski and Charles Arasim entitled “APD overtime madness; exceeds OT budget by $39 million in last 13 years”.

Quoting the most relevant portions of the article:

“In the past 13 years APD has exceeded its overtime budget by a total of $39 million, according to the City Council staff. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, APD overspent its OT budget by an astounding $7.1 million. And the year before, the department broke its OT budget by $8.4 million.

Here’s another way to look at it. Since 2008, APD has spent a total of $152.2 million on overtime. In FY 2020, which just ended, APD spent $17.1 million, or 8 percent of its $210 million operating budget, on overtime.”

…

This isn’t the first time that APD has been under fire for sloppy overtime practices. In 2014 an audit by the city’s Internal Auditor found that APD had no system to control its court overtime costs.

The link to the May 8, 2014 audit is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInqDoXBB1TZwS5tPG0MFnQPZHwRynz7/view

And in 2017, another city audit found that APD exceeded it FY2016 overtime budget by $3.9 million.

The link to the March 17, 2017 audit is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInqDoXBB1TZwS5tPG0MFnQPZHwRynz7/view

The link to the full ABQReport article is here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2020/07/15/APD-overtime-madness-exceeds-OT-budget-by-39-million-in-last-13-years

EXTENT OF APD POLICE OVERTIME PAID

APD has an alarming increase in “classified” positions that are being paid 6 figures pay based on hourly wages. The City maintains a list of the 250 top city hall wages earners and what they are paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. The City of Albuquerque recently updated the list for the year 2019. The list starting with the most paid at $193,666.40 to the least paid at $107,885.47, with many being paid 2 and 3 times their base pay.

There were 32 APD Lieutenants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,031 to $164,722. Hourly pay rate for APD Lieutenants is $40.00 an hour or $83,200 yearly. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

There were 32 APD Sergeants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $109,292 to $193,666. Hourly pay rate for APD Sergeants is $35 an hour, or $72,800 a year. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

There were 70 APD patrol officers first class, master, senior in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,167 to $188,844. Hourly pay rate for Patrol Officers is $29.00 an hour to $31.50 an hour depending upon years of experience. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and are paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

The increase pay requires you to assume that all are doing a good, great or an exceptional job which is very difficult to justify when it turns out that is not the case or abuse is found. The 6 figure salaries being paid to sworn Patrol Officers can be attributed to “overtime” worked which is very problematic.

DANGERS OF POLICE OVERTIME TO PUBLIC SAFETY

From a personnel management standpoint, when you have a select few that are taking home the lion’s share of overtime, it causes moral problems with the rest. Consecutive shifts or excessive overtime for any police officer can lead to extreme fatigue, emotional burnout and reduce an officer’s alertness and response times and reflexes that can endanger lives and public safety.

Excessive overtime paid is also a red flag for abuse of the system, mismanagement of police resources or the lack of personnel. APD has added approximately 100 police officers last year as a result of increases in pay and an aggressive recruitment program. APD is projected to have upwards of 980 sworn police. The ultimate goal of the Keller Administration is to have 1,200 full time sworn police. Overtime paid by APD should have come down as more police officers were added to the ranks, but that did not happen.

When APD exceeds its overtime budget, it is to the detriment of other city departments and other city employees in that the additional funding must be found somewhere else, either by taking it from other departments and programs, budget cuts or cost saving measurements.

OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS PAY STRUCTURE

With the action of the State Auditor and the initiation of special audit, the City should use it as an opportunity to evaluate alternatives to hourly pay and paying time and a half. The City should do away with APD hourly wage and time and a half for overtime for sworn police and implement a salary structure based strictly on steps and years of service. A complete restructuring of the existing APD 40-hour work week and hourly wage system needs to be implemented, otherwise the problem of excessive overtime paid will not go away, especially when you have a Mayor or a Chief of Police looking the other way.

A base pay salary system should be implemented for all APD sworn personnel. A base salary system with step increases for length of service should be implemented. The longevity bonus pay would be eliminated and built into the salary structure. Mandatory shift time to work would remain the same, but if more time is needed to complete a work load or assignments for the day, the salaried employee works it for the same salary with no overtime paid and a modification of shift times for court appearances.

APD Patrol Officers First Class who handle DWI during nighttime shifts should be required to change their shift times to daytime shifts when the arraignments and trials occur to prevent overtime pay. As an alternative to DWI arraignment, the City Attorney’s Office should explore the possibility of expanding or modifying the Metro Traffic Arraignment Program with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office assisting to include not just traffic citations but DWI arraignments to eliminate the need for APD officers to appear at such arraignments.

Until the APD salary structure is changed, APD will always have patrol officers first class making two to four times their base salary and emotional burnout will be the norm, not the exception endangering public safety. The trend of having more classified APD employees earning such high hourly wage pay does not bode well from an executive personnel management standpoint.

Once the special audit is completed, State Auditor Brian Colon will be able to smoothly transfer the full audit to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Once the audit is transmitted to Attorney General Balderas, a special grand jury needs to be convened to determine what criminal charges, if any, should be filed.

CONCLUSION

The special audit of APD’s overtime payment policies to APD Police Officers is in fact far reaching and likely involves upwards of 160 police officers identified in the 250 top paid city hall employees. Once the special audit is completed, State Auditor Brian Colon will no doubt give the full audit to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Once the audit is transmitted to Attorney General Balderas, a special grand jury will likely be convened to determine what criminal charges, if any, should be filed.

No Mayor wants to be face with the prospect that criminal activity is found within a Police Department they are supposed to oversee and manage. No doubt Mayor Tim Keller realizes if APD is hit with indictments of waste, fraud and abuse for overtime time fraud, it will likely add another obstacle to his re-election chances along with the skyrocketing violent crime rates Keller promised to bring down when he ran in 2017.

NM State Auditor Colon Calls In NM Attorney General Balderas To Help With Probe Of APD Overtime Abuse; The Irony Of The 3 Amigos Of Colon, Balderas And Keller Having Served As State Auditor Not Lost On Anyone; Stakes Are Very High For Keller Seeking Re-Election

APD Spokeman Simon Drobik Retires from APD As Internal Affairs Investigates Time Card Fraud; State Auditor Brian Colon Orders Audit; Drobik Not The Only One Paid Excessive Overtime

In 2019 There Were 160 Of 250 Top Paid City Hall Employees That Were Police Paid Between $107,885.47 to $193,666.40 and 49 Were Firefighters That Were Paid $107,885.47 To 148,128.08; Abolish APD Overtime, Longevity Pay; Implement Set Salary Structure; Remove APD Sergeants And Lieutenants From Police Union

On Monday July 13, New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon said his office was ordering a special audit of APD’s overtime payment policies to APD Police Officers. On July 13, APD announced that on Friday, July 11, longtime APD spokesman Sgt. Simon Drobik abruptly retired from the department and that APD’s Internal Affairs was in the process of completing an investigation into the large amounts of overtime Drobik had claimed so far this year. In 2018, Drobik was paid $192,973 as a result of massive amounts of overtime claimed and he was continuing his pace of overtime pay in 2020.

Auditor Colon ordered a special audit of all APD overtime policies after he said his office found enough red flags related to overtime practices and internal controls at the department. According to the June 24, 2020 letter to Mayor Tim Keller, the Office of the State Auditor is designating the City for a special audit “in order to examine the City’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.” It is an audit that must be paid for by the city with a selection of a firm from a list of firms authorized to do financial audits under a state contract. In announcing the audit, Auditor Colon had this to say:

Colon had this to say:

“For anybody in leadership in any law enforcement agency to say that the overtime process is confusing, that is a problem. That is a clear indication that we have lack of clarity from the top. … We are not investigating just one transaction or just one individual. In fact, we are going to be evaluating the process, procedures, protocols and oversight to ensure there is not any abuse in the system.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-officer-retires-as-authorities-investigate-potential-time-card-fraud/

NM AUDITOR ASKS NM ATTORNEY GENERAL TO JOIN PROBE OF APD OVERTIME ABUSE

On July 15, the following Associated Press story was reported in the “Washington Times”:

“New Mexico’s state auditor is seeking an investigation into what he calls potential criminal activity around overtime abuse within Albuquerque police.

State Auditor Brian Colón said Wednesday he asked New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas to join him with a probe into the state’s largest police department amid accusations of abuse.

Without giving details, Colón also said he has designated the city of Albuquerque for a special audit to examine the allegations.

“Together, we intend to determine what is really happening at the Albuquerque Police Department,” Colón said. “We will collaborate, bringing our respective strengths and skills to this investigation, to ensure no stone is left unturned.”

Colón said the city has [not] acted swiftly and transparently, despite calls from its own Civilian Police Oversight Agency to take action.

“The city of Albuquerque has continually failed to hold APD accountable,” Colón said.

A spokesman for Albuquerque police did not immediately return an email.

Records show that some Albuquerque officers who collect overtime pay are among the highest-paid city employees. Critics have charged that these officers abuse the overtime system and take the hours from others.”

The link to the Washington Times article is here:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/15/auditor-seeks-probe-of-albuquerque-police-overtime/

Colón asked the attorney general to assign special agents to work with his office’s auditors on its Albuquerque Police Department examination. Balderas for his part had this to say in a written statement:

“We have received the Auditor’s request and have assigned law enforcement to assist in this matter,” Balderas said in a written statement.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1476402/ags-office-joins-investigation-into-apds-overtime-practices-ex-apd-says-its-conducting-an-internal-affairs-inquiry.html

CITY’S RESPONSE

Matt Ross, a spokesman for Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement:

“COVID-19 created a huge need for extra officer hours and exacerbated long-standing overtime problems at APD.”

Ross added that the city appreciates the auditors and welcomes help with changes already underway to fix APD’s “broken system.”

At the same time, APD says it is also running its own Internal Affairs investigation into overtime-related issues.

HISTORY OF APD OVERTIME PAY ABUSE

Police officers earning excessive overtime is nothing new. It has been going on for years and is very common knowledge amongst city hall employees and city hall watchers.

On July 15, the online news ABQReports published an article investigated and written by editor Dennis Domrzalski and Charles Arasim entitled “APD overtime madness; exceeds OT budget by $39 million in last 13 years”.

According to the article:

“In the past 13 years APD has exceeded its overtime budget by a total of $39 million, according to the City Council staff. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, APD overspent its OT budget by an astounding $7.1 million. And the year before, the department broke its OT budget by $8.4 million.

Here’s another way to look at it. Since 2008, APD has spent a total of $152.2 million on overtime. In FY 2020, which just ended, APD spent $17.1 million, or 8 percent of its $210 million operating budget, on overtime.”
…

This isn’t the first time that APD has been under fire for sloppy overtime practices. In 2014 an audit by the city’s Internal Auditor found that APD had no system to control its court overtime costs.”

The link to the May 8, 2014 audit is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInqDoXBB1TZwS5tPG0MFnQPZHwRynz7/view

And in 2017, another city audit found that APD exceeded it FY2016 overtime budget by $3.9 million.

The link to the March 17, 2017 audit is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BInqDoXBB1TZwS5tPG0MFnQPZHwRynz7/view

Last year, the Civilian Police Oversight Agency recommended that … Simon Drobik be fired for violating APD policies 51 times in a year in which he made $192,000 as a basic cop. APD Chief Mike Geier rejected the CPOA’s recommendations and refused to even discipline Drobik for violating department policies 51 times in a single year.”

EXCESSIVE OVERTIME PERVASIVE WITHIN APD

During the last 9 years, the Albuquerque Police Department has consistently gone over its overtime budget by millions. In fiscal year 2016, APD was funded for $9 million for over time but APD actually spent $13 million. The March 17, 2017 city internal audit of APD’s overtime spending found police officers taking advantage of a system that allows them to accumulate excessive overtime at the expense of other city departments.

The City maintains a list of the 250 top city hall wages earners and what they are paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. The City of Albuquerque recently updated the list for the year 2019. The list starting with the most paid at $193,666.40 to the least paid at $107,885.47, with many being paid 2 and 3 times their base pay.

There were 32 APD Lieutenants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,031 to $164,722. Hourly pay rate for APD Lieutenants is $40.00 an hour or $83,200 yearly. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

There were 32 APD Sergeants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $109,292 to $193,666. Hourly pay rate for APD Sergeants is $35 an hour, or $72,800 a year. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

There were 70 APD patrol officers first class, master, senior in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,167 to $188,844. Hourly pay rate for Patrol Officers is $29.00 an hour to $31.50 an hour depending upon years of experience. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and are paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

What is so very damn pathetic is when Mayor Tim Keller’s spokesman tries to blame what happened on the COVID-19 virus crisis and says:

“COVID-19 created a huge need for extra officer hours and exacerbated long-standing overtime problems at APD.”

The truth is the City and State did not get hit hard with the COVID-19 virus until mid February of this year. Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Michael Geier knew full well what was going on with the overtime abuse well over a year ago and they simply did not give a damn. The top paid 250 city hall employees for all of 2019, when COVID was Europ’s problem, had 160 police officers earning $107,000 to $198,000 a year.

There were news stories after news stories about APD Spokesman Simon Drobik being the number one paid city hall employee at $200,000 a year, yet Mayor Keller and Chief Geier looked the other way. Mayor Tim Keller for his part deflected repeatedly saying APD was working on the problem and was committed to reforming the overtime programs, but never said anything about Drobik. Chief Geier for his part dragged his feet on implementing a “25 hour” a week on overtime, and the abuse still went on and on and on.

APD’S SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

You would think that APD and its management over the years, would have learned its lesson after all the prior audits, but they did not and greed once again got the better part of Albuquerque’s finest. The fact that APD management did not learn anything from prior audits is a reflection of “self-entitlement” that seems to be ingrained in APD’s DNA at all levels, management and rank and file.

A historical and prevailing philosophy by police is that in order to be able to do their jobs, they need total autonomy from civilian oversight and free from any and all interference by civilians. Police departments want to be an “island unto themselves” and act that way too many times when it comes to their budgets and overtime and demands made upon the public for more and more compensation and benefits.

Overtime pay abuse is just one example of the attitude of self-entitlement by APD, its command staff and rank and file. When APD exceeds its overtime budget, it is always to the detriment of other city departments and other city employees, many who work just as hard as a police officer, but that does not matter to police. Their attitude is that they are the one’s that take their life’s into their hands every day and for that reason alone are entitled to be paid overtime as they see fit and anytime they want it. The additional funding must be found somewhere else, either by taking it from other departments and programs, budget cuts or cost saving measurements in other city departments.

Another pervasive attitude expressed by sworn police is that it’s all “the politician’s fault”. It has been said that “police can no longer move without a politician telling them how to do their jobs”. The APD Union are always making demands for more personnel, more equipment, more training and increases in salary and longevity pay, and always demands for more overtime in the department budget.

Another line of attack made by police when any elected official, such as Auditor Brian Colon or Attorney General Hector Balderas, call for oversight and accountability is that it’s just another politician trying to score points as they run for office. Actions and even criticism by “politicians” and the media are often problematic and resented by police. What law enforcement seem to fail to understand is that is what is called civilian oversight. It is the elected officials, the politicians, who are ultimately held accountable for what cops do and what the police budgets are.

The philosophy of management of police departments and their budgets must be that “uniforms report to suits” similar to the United States Military where the President as a civilian is the Commander In Chief who also appoints a Secretary of Defense. It also the voters who must hold and demand accountability from both the police and the elected official in that it is the taxpayer that ultimately pays for police misconduct which would include overtime abuse by police.

IRONY OF THE 3 AMIGOS CROSSING PATHS

It’s ironic that the Mayor Tim Keller, the former New Mexico State Auditor who made a name for himself as a crusader against waste fraud and abuse of taxpayer money, and used that reputation to become Mayor, chose to ignore the prior audits of APD overtime abuse. What is even more ironic is that Keller will now have to pay attention now that Auditor Colon has brought in Attorney General Hector Balderas, with the threesome of Keller, Balderas and Colon having all served as State Auditor. The fact that Keller and Colon ran against each other for Mayor is also not lost on anyone in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon has shown that he understands and appreciates the limitations of his office by asking Attorney General Hector Balderas to assist with the probe of APD for any and all overtime abuse by APD. Auditor Colon is commended for making the decision. The authority of the State Auditor is that of performing audits for waste, fraud and abuse involving taxpayer money. However, the State Auditor does not have any authority to prosecute for criminal acts uncovered by the audits and the Auditor’s office needs to rely on the Attorney General of the District Attorneys to bring criminal prosecutions for fraud discovered.

UNDERSTANDING THE LIMITATIONS OF OFFICE

A choice State Auditor did have was to transmit the audit to Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez because if the audit uncovers criminal activity by APD, it means it occurred in Bernalillo County. It is more likely than not giving the case to Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez would be a waste of time because he would decline prosecution of any APD Police Officer declaring a conflict because his office works so closely with APD.

Once the special audit is completed, State Auditor Brian Colon will be able to smoothly transfer the full audit to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Once the audit is transmitted to Attorney General Balderas, a special grand jury needs to be convened to determine what criminal charges, if any, should be filed.

CONCLUSION

No Mayor wants to be face with the prospect that criminal activity is found within a Police Department they are supposed to oversee and manage. No doubt Mayor Tim Keller realizes if APD is hit with indictments of waste, fraud and abuse for overtime time fraud, it will likely add another obstacle to his re-election chances along with the skyrocketing violent crime rates Keller promised to bring down when he ran in 2017.

A LINK TO A RELATED BLOG ARTICLE ON CITY’S SKYROCKETING CRIME STATISTICS IS HERE:

City’s 2019 Crime Stats Released; After 3 Years, 4 New Programs, And Millions Spent, Violent Crime Still “Absolutely Out Of Control”; Keller’s Promises Made And Not Kept

“It’s unfortunate, but crime is absolutely out of control. It’s the mayor’s job to actually address crime in Albuquerque, and that’s what I want to do as the next mayor.”

– New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller, candidate for Albuquerque Mayor, August, 2017

The crime statistics released for 2018 and 2019 make it clear that despite all of Mayor Tim Keller’s promises to bring down skyrocketing violent crime, implementation of new programs, increasing APD personnel and millions spent, violent crime is still “absolutely out of control”. Regretably , Mayor Tim Keller has failed to do his “job to actually address crime in Albuquerque.” Keller has already made it known he is seeking a second 4-year term in 2021 and his record on the crime reduction front will be difficult to defend.

ABQ’S CRIME STATISTICS IN A NUTSHELL UNDER MAYOR KELLER

On Thursday, July 2, 2020 APD officials held a press conference to release the Albuquerque crime statistics for 2019. Given Mayor Keller’s words as to whose job it is to address crime, a synopsis of the statics during Mayor Tim Keller’s tenure is in order before the disclosure of the 2019 statistics by APD. The synopsis is required in order to focus on the statistics because statistics were falsely reported by the Keller administration for his first 18 months in office and the categories were then changed to comply with FBI crime reporting.

HOMICIDES

In 2018, during Mayor Keller’s first full year in office, there were 69 homicides.

In 2019, during Mayor Keller’s second full year in office, there were 82 homicides. Albuquerque had more homicides in 2019 than in any other year in the city’s history. The previous high was 72, in 2017 under Mayor RJ Berry. Another high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1405615/apd-reports-record-82-homicides-for-2019.html#:~:text=Gilbert%20Gallegos%2C%20a%20police%20spokesman,high%20was%2072%2C%20in%202017.

As of August 3, there have been 32 homicides reported in Albuquerque for 2020.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/apd-taking-a-data-driven-approach-to-tackling-gun-crimes/5816639/?cat=500

HOMICIDE CLEARANCE RATES

For the past two years during Mayor Keller’s tenure, the homicide clearance percentage rate has been in the 50%-60% range. According to the proposed 2018-2019 APD City Budget, in 2016 the APD homicide clearance rate was 80%. In 2017, under Mayor Berry the clearance rate was 70%. In 2018, the first year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 56%. In 2019, the second year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 52.5%, the lowest clearance rate in the last decade.

VIOLENT CRIMES

In 2017, during Mayor RJ Berry’s last full year in office, there were 7,686 VIOLENT CRIMES. There were 4,213 Aggravated Assaults and 470 Non-Fatal Shootings:

In 2018 during Mayor Keller’ first full year in office, there were 6,789 violent crimes There were 3,885 Aggravated Assaults and 491 Non-Fatal Shootings.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2019/11/21/city-matches-homicide-record-high-of-72-murders-mayor-keller-forced-to-defend-policies-makes-more-promises-asks-for-more-money/

In 2019, the category of “Violent Crimes” was replaced with the category of “Crimes Against Persons” and the category includes homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping and assault.

In 2019 during Keller’s second full year in office, Crimes Against Persons increased from 14,845 to 14,971, or a 1% increase. The Crimes Against Person category had the biggest rises in Aggravated Assaults increasing from 5,179 to 5,397.

DRUG OFFENSES

“Crimes Against Society” include drug offenses, prostitution and animal cruelty.

In 2018 During Keller’s first full year in office, total Crimes Against Society were 3,365

In 2019 during Keller’s second full year in office, total Crimes Against Society increased to 3,711 for a total increase of 346 more crimes or a 9% increase.

AUTO THEFTS

On June 26, 2019 the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released its annual list of cities with the most stolen vehicles reported. Despite a 28% reduction in auto thefts over a two-year period, Albuquerque ranked No. 1 in the nation for vehicle thefts per capita for the third year in a row.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2019/06/27/these-are-the-cities-with-the-highest-car-theft-rates/#7c42e7d35146

911 EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES

In 2009, under Mayor Martin Chavez, the average 911 emergency response time to calls, whether it was a life or death emergency or a minor traffic crash,was 8 minutes 50 seconds.

In 2011, under Mayor RJ Berry the average response times to 911 emergency calls was 25 minutes.

In 2018 and 2019, under Mayor Tim Keller, the average response times to 911 emergency calls spiked to 48 minutes.

MAYOR KELLER’S STRUGGLES TO “DO GOOD” AND FULFILL CAMPAIGN PROMISES

Candidate Tim Keller campaigned to get elected Mayor on the platform of implementing the Department of Justice mandated reforms, increasing the size of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), returning to community-based policing and a promise to bring down skyrocketing crime rates. On December 1, 2017 Tim Keller was sworn into office.

Since Mayor Tim Keller took office, APD has added 116 sworn police officers to the force. Keller is spending $88 million dollars over a four-year period, with $32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 sworn officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers.

The massive investment is being done to full fill Mayor Keller’s 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates.

Last year’s 2018-2019 fiscal year budget provided for increasing APD funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040. This year’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget has funding for 1,040 sworn police, a far cry from the 1,200 sworn officers Keller promised.

BREAKING A PROMISE NOT TO RAISE TAXES

In 2017 when running for Mayor, State Auditor Tim Keller promised he would never raise taxes unless there was a public vote even if it was for public safety. Candidate Keller said he would draw from various agencies, departments and programs where large, misappropriated budgets existed to deal with any city deficit. Within 4 months after assuming Office, Mayor Keller agreed to and signed a city council-initiated $55 million dollar a year tax increase without voter approval, thereby breaking his campaign promise not to raise gross receipts taxes without a public vote. 80% of the new tax revenues were supposedly dedicated to public safety, yet $40 million went towards a projected deficit that never fully materialized.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/03/02/breaking-a-promise-on-public-vote-for-tax-increase/

TAKING CREDIT FOR CRIME REDUCTIONS THAT DID NOT HAPPEN

Every quarter when the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) released the city’s crime statistics, Mayor Keller would do a press conference to release the FBI crime statistics. For the first year and a half of Mayor Tim Keller’s 4 year term, he released crime statistics every quarter, sometimes even a few of days before the quarter ended. Keller’s briefings were misleading in that he overstated reductions since the department was comparing quarterly data before all the reports had been turned in. He did so on July 1, 2019 to report the statistics for the 2019 second quarter and to compare them to the 2018 midterm year numbers.

The statistics released by Mayor Keller on July 1, 2019 reported that in the first 6 months of 2019, the property crimes of home burglaries were down and auto burglaries were down. Robberies, sexual assaults and murders were reported as down from the first 6 months of the previous year. Double-digit drops were reported in violent offenses included robberies, aggravated assaults, and rapes. The problem was the statistics were totally wrong.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1335502/crime-declining-in-albuquerque-new-numbers-show.html

On Sunday, December 1, 2018 is was reported that all the crime rate reductions Mayor Keller reported in his July 1, 2019 press conference were in fact not at all accurate and seriously flawed and misleading to the public. The 2019 mid-year statistics and the statistics released at the end of 2018 were dramatically revised to include hundreds, and in some cases thousands, more incidents than were reported by Keller. The final numbers for all of 2018 showed violent crime actually increased, and in many categories the crime rates only dropped in single digits and not the double digits Mayor Keller was taking credit for during his press conferences.

WHAT WENT WRONG

On December 13, 2019 APD officials held a news conference to explain what went wrong with the crime statistic reporting. The officials said that Mayor Keller had been “unintentionally” releasing incomplete data for the last two years. APD Deputy Chief Armijo blamed the inaccurate statistics on different software programs that were antiquated and that were not fully integrated. At one point, Armijo said that when APD converted its data system in 2018 from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to the National Incident-Based Reporting System(NIBRS), APD’s crime statistic “numbers went into a black hole”. When APD discovered the glitch, the system had to be re-calibrated and the numbers were downloaded onto the new system. Mayor Keller, despite the embarrassment and loss of credibility, has never held anyone accountable for the fiasco and has never apologize to the public for misleading us.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1401152/apd-explains-incomplete-crime-data.html

EXPLAINING SUMMARY REPORTING SYSTEM (SRS) VS. NATIONAL INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM (NIBRS)

“In 2018, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) began reporting its annual crime statistics using the Federal Bureau Of Investigation’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NIBRS is the most current national framework for reporting crime and replaces the FBI’s Uniform Crimes Reports (UCR). This change is important because, compared to UCR, NIBRS provides more comprehensive and detailed information about crimes against person, crimes against property and crimes against society occurring in law enforcement jurisdictions across the county.”

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/crimestats2018_19_apd.pdf

SRS SYSTEM

Prior to 2018, APD reported data using the Summary Reporting System (SRS), which included 8 crime categories and counted only the most serious offense during an incident. The 8 offenses were chosen because they are serious crimes, they occur with regularity in all areas of the country, and they are likely to be reported to police. In the traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS), the eight crimes, or Part I offenses are:

1. Murder and Nonnegligent Manslaughter
2. Forcible Rape
3. Robbery
4. Aggravated Assault
5. Burglary
6. Larceny-theft
7. Motor Vehicle Theft
8. Arson

A link providing a complete definition of each category under the SRS system is here:

https://www.bjs.gov/ucrdata/offenses.cfm

NIBRS SYSTEM

Starting in January 2021, the FBI will no longer accept data in the SRS format. The FBI is requiring crimes to be counted through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). In NIBRS, there are 3 major reporting broad categories:

Crimes against persons
Crimes against property and
Crimes against society.

The 3 major categories are then broken down into 52 sub-categories. NIBRS counts virtually all crimes committed during an incident and for that reason alone NIMRS is far more sophisticated than the “most serious incident-based” reporting SRS reporting system.

“In the National Incident-Based Reporting System” (NIBRS), each offense reported is either a Group A or Group B offense type. There are 23 Group A offense categories, comprised of 52 Group A offenses and 10 Group B offense categories. Law enforcement agencies report Group A offenses as part of a NIBRS incident report, but they report only arrest data for Group B offenses.

Each offense collected in NIBRS belongs to one of three categories: Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Property, or Crimes Against Society.

Crimes Against Persons include murder, rape, and assault, and are those in which the victims are always individuals.

Crimes Against Property include robbery, bribery, and burglary, or to obtain money, property, or some other benefit.

Crimes Against Society include gambling, prostitution, and drug violations, and represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity and are typically victimless crimes.

https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/2018/resource-pages/crimes_against_persons_property_and_society-2018.pdf

“In NIBRS, law enforcement agencies collect detailed data regarding individual crime incidents and arrests and submit them in separate reports using prescribed data elements and data values to describe each incident and arrest. Therefore, NIBRS involves incident-based reporting. … There are 52 data elements used in NIBRS to describe the victims, offenders, arrestees, and circumstances of crimes.”

A link to a complete guide to the NIBRS crime reporting system is here:

https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/nibrs_dcguide.pdf

CORRECTED STATISTICS FOR 2018

In February, 2019 APD reported very different numbers to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program. The data reported showed violent crime had actually increased 3.7% between 2017 and 2018 during Keller’s first full year in office driven by aggravated assaults.

The adjusted statistics released for the year 2018 reflected the following:

Aggravated assault increased 21%, rather than decreasing 8% as announced during Keller’s July, 2019 news conference.

Rape increased by 3%, rather than decreasing 3% reported by Keller.

Auto theft decreased 14%, not the 31% reported by Keller.

Homicides remained basically the same decreasing by a single murder.

Robbery decreased 32% and Keller reported it decreasing by 36%.

The final numbers for all of 2018 showed violent crime actually increased, and in many categories the crime rates only dropped in single digits and not the double digits reported by Mayor Keller. At an October meeting of the City Council, APD provided the revised statistics but failed to report that the numbers had changed drastically. Mayor Keller also did not hold any kind of a press conference to correct nor announce the corrected statistics.

The corrected statistics reported in October, 2019 for 2018 were as follow:

Auto burglaries decreased 16%, not the 38% as previously announced
Auto theft decreased 22%, not 39% as Keller reported
Commercial burglary decreased 3%, not the 27% Keller reported
Residential burglary decreased 16%, not 39% as Keller reported
Homicide decreased 2.5%, not 18%, but homicides have since increased substantially and the city has tied the all-time record of 71.
Rape decreased 3%, not the 29% Keller reported
Robbery decreased 30%, not 47% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault decreased 7.5%, not 33% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault increased 21%, rather than decreasing 8% as announced during Keller’s July news conference
Rape increased by 3%, rather than decreasing 3%
Auto theft decreased 14%, not the 31% reported by Keller
Homicides remained basically the same decreasing by a single murder
Robbery decreased 32% and Keller reported it decreasing by 36%

https://www.abqjournal.com/1335502/crime-declining-in-albuquerque-new-numbers-show.html

https://www.petedinelli.com/2019/11/25/kellers-3rd-plan-in-9-months-to-reduce-violent-crime-hollow-effort-aggressive-sustained-law-enforcement-tactical-plans-needed-reorganize-apd-dismiss-casa/

ONE YEAR LATER

A full year has elapsed since Mayor Keller has held a press conference to announce the City’s crime statistics. On Thursday, July 2, 2020 APD Deputy Chief Harold Medina, Records Division Manager Katherine Roybal-Nuñez and APD Real Time Crime Center Commander Leonard Nerbetski released the crime statistics APD submitted to the FBI for 2019 using the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS. The July 2 briefing did not include data from years prior to 2018.

The link to the full APD crime stats report is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/crimestats2018_19_apd.pdf

Prior to 2018, APD was reporting crime statistics using the SRS program. In 2018, APD fully switched from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) to National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBERS), the current national framework. According to APD Deputy Chief Medina it is “too difficult” to be accurate to compare data between the two systems and to years before 2018. As explained above, the old system SRS had 8 major specific types of crimes only counting the most serious crime in one incident involving numerous crimes at once, while NIBRS has 3 categories with 52 sub categories with all crimes reported in one incident. The problem is you cannot compare accurately the crimes to the previous years before Keller took office, but the trajectory none the less is that violent crime is still trending upwards when it comes looking at the raw data that is easily gleaned from the statistics.

The 2019 crime statistics released during the July 2 press conference revealed the following:

OVERALL CRIME

Overall Crime decreased IN 2019. The reduction was driven by “Crimes Against Property” which include burglary, fraud, robbery and motor vehicle theft. Between 2018 and 2019, there was a single digit 7% drop, not a double digit drop as reported by Keller, in overall crime, from 75,538 incidents to 70,223.

CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS

Crimes against persons include homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping and assault, remained constant.

Crimes Against Persons increased from 14,845 to 14,971, or a 1% increase.

The Crimes Against Person category had the biggest rises of the 3 categories as follows:

Aggravated Assaults increased from 5,179 to 5,397.
In Homicide Offenses, justifiable homicides decreased from 16 to 6
There was a rise in “Negligent Manslaughter” from 3 to 8.
Statutory rape jumped from 1 incident to 10 incidents.

There were 80 murders reported in 2019, compared to 69 to 2018, both years Keller has been in office.

CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY

Crimes Against Society include drug offenses, prostitution and animal cruelty.

In 2018 During Keller’s first full year in office, total Crimes Against Society were 3,365 and increased 2019 during his second year to 3,711 for a total increase of 346 more crimes or a 9% increase.

Crimes Against Society had the biggest jumps in drug offenses, from 2,515 to 2,796, Animal Cruelty Offenses went from 11 to 32. There was a decrease in prostitution offenses from 130 to 70.

CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

Total Crimes Against Property in 2018 were 57,328 and in 2019 51, 541 for a total reduction of 5,787 or a 10% reduction.

The largest drops in property crime were in Auto Theft, Burglary and Fraud offenses aside from identity theft, which skyrocketed from 7 to a whopping 437.

During the July 2 press conference, Deputy Chief Harold Medina noted that some of the new units and “proactive measures” APD has implemented has generated more arrests and therefor increases in crime statistics.

The best example given by Medina is the Gun Violence Reduction Unit’s which found more “weapon law violations” and rose from 596 to 709.

Medina also noted the “double-digit” reductions in auto theft, something Albuquerque in recent years has been found to be number one in auto thefts in the country per capita. On June 26, 2019 it was announced in its annual report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) that Albuquerque metropolitan statistical area for the 3rd year in the row ranked number #1 in auto thefts in the country. The #1 ranking was despite the decrease in auto thefts.

APD Deputy Chief Medina acknowledged the city “still have a lot of work to do” in tackling violent crime and said:

“We still have crime that’s way too high, but at least we continue to move in the right direction.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1472154/property-crime-decreased-in-2019-other-categories-increased.html

HOMICIDE CLEARANCE RATES OUT OF CONTROL

For the past two years during Keller’s tenure as mayor, the homicide clearance percentage rate has been in the 50%-60% range, a dramatic decline from previous years. According to the proposed 2018-2019 APD City Budget, in 2016 the APD homicide clearance rate was 80%. In 2017 the clearance rate was 70% and the clearance rate for 2018 was 56%. The clearance rate for 2019 is 52.5%, the lowest clearance rate in the last decade.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1405615/apd-reports-record-82-homicides-for-2019.html

RESPONSE TIMES OUT OF CONTROL

The time it takes for APD to respond to priority 1 calls has a major impact on increasing physical injury to victims or callers. On February 20th KOAT TV Target 7 reported on an investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD’s) response times. In 2011, the average response time to all calls, whether it was a life or death emergency or a minor traffic crash was 25 minutes. In 2019, that time period spiked to 48 minutes in the average response time. Since 2011, there has been a 93% increase in 911 response times with 48 minutes now being the average time of arrival.

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-response-times-continue-to-climb/31028667

2019 BANNER YEAR FOR VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION PROGRAMS

On November 20, 2019, it was reported the homicide count in Albuquerque for the year was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017. By December 31, the final count would be 80 homicides. In 2019, Mayor Tim Keller reacting to the spiking crime rates announced 4 plans in 9 months to deal with and bring down the city’s high violent crime rates . Those APD programs were:

THE SHIELD UNIT

In February 2018 the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) created the “Shield Unit”. The Shield Unit assists APD Police Officers to prepare cases for trial and prosecution by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office. The unit originally consisted of 3 para legals. It was announced that it is was expanded to 12 under the 2019-2020 city budget that took effect July 1, 2019.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1325167/apd-expands-unit-that-preps-cases-for-prosecution.html

DECLARING VIOLENT CRIME “PUBLIC HEALTH” ISSUE

On April 8, 2019, Mayor Keller and APD announced efforts that will deal with “violent crime” in the context of it being a “public health issue” and dealing with crimes involving guns in an effort to bring down violent crime in Albuquerque. Mayor Keller and APD argue that gun violence is a “public health issue” because gun violence incidents have lasting adverse effects on children and others in the community that leads to further problems.

APD is tracking violent crime relying on the same methods used to track auto thefts, weekly reports summarizing shootings, refining policies, and learning from best practices used by other law enforcement agencies. One goal is for APD to examine how guns are driving other crimes, such as domestic violence and drug addiction.

“VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PLAN” (VIP Program)

On November 22, Mayor Tim Keller announced what he called a “new initiative” to target violent offenders called “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP). The VIP initiative was in response to the city’s recent murders resulting in the city tying the all-time record of homicides at 72 in one year. Mayor Keller proclaimed the VIP is a “partnership system” that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and social service and community provides to reduce violent crime.

There are 4 major components of the VIP program are:

LAW ENFORCEMENT: APD was “restructured” to create a first-of-its-kind “Violence Intervention Division” with its own Commander. The division is designed to make cross-functional partnership as productive as possible.

PROSECUTION PARTNERS: Prosecutors from all systems including the Attorney General, District Attorney, US Attorney and Office of Superintendent of Insurance will collaborate to share information and make sure cases are going to the appropriate teams and courts.

SOCIAL SERVICES: The City has always funded social services aimed at violence reduction. However, for the first time Family and Community Services is specifically working with the community to identify the most effective evidence-based violence reduction strategies, and requiring providers to work together in the Violence Intervention Program.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS: The City will reach out to community partners, including the Bernalillo County Community Health Council, that are dealing with the causes and effects of violent crime to work together on this program.

METRO 15 OPERATION

On Tuesday, November 26, Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference to announce a 4th program within 9 months to deal with the city’s violent crime and murder rates. At the time of the press conference, the city’s homicide count was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017. Before 2017, the last time the City had the highest number of homicides in one year was in 1996 with 70 murders that year.

Keller dubbed the new program “Metro 15 Operation” and is part of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) program Keller announced the week before. According to Keller and Geier the new program will target the top 15 most violent offenders in Albuquerque. In other words, it’s the city’s version of the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. According to Keller, the top 15 will be identified by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. Once a violent offender is caught, another violent offender will be added to the list.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1394576/city-launches-violence-intervention-program.html

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/mayor-keller-touts-new-plan-to-tackle-violent-crime/5561150/?cat=500

APD PERSONNEL SHORTFALL

Tim Keller campaigned to be elected mayor on the platform of increasing the size of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), returning to community-based policing and promising to bring down skyrocketing crime rates. To that end, the Keller Administration began implementing an $88 million-dollar APD police expansion program increasing the number of sworn police officers from 898 positions filled to 1,200, or by 302 sworn police officers, over a four-year period. The massive investment was ordered by Mayor Tim Keller to full fill his 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates.

Candidate for Mayor Keller promised to increase the size of APD sworn police ranks to 1,200. As of July, APD has less than 1,000 sworn police and not the 1,200 promised, despite the $88 million dollar expansion plan. According to January pay stubs, APD has 950 sworn police and graduated another 50 cadets in mid-March. After adding the new graduating class, and subtracting retirements, APD will still short by at least 200 of what was promised by candidate Tim Keller. With anticipated retirements the total number of sworn officers will be less than 1,000 by January 1, 2021 in that the corona virus has resulted in the cancellation of the Spring APD cadet class.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Three years ago when Tim Keller said “It’s unfortunate, but crime is absolutely out of control. It’s the mayor’s job to actually address crime in Albuquerque, and that’s what I want to do as the next mayor”. In 2017, Candidate Tim Keller campaigned to get elected Mayor on the platform of implementing the Department of Justice (DOJ) mandated reforms, increasing the size of APD, returning to community-based policing and a promise to bring down skyrocketing crime rates.

Mayor Keller no doubt sincerely thought he could do a better job than his predecessor and he could actually make a difference. The truth is, he has not and crime in the city has only become worse since Tim Keller has taken office, especially in terms of violent crime. For the first 18 months of his term Mayor Tim Keller tried repeatedly to take credit for crime rates being on the decline in all categories other than violent crime offenses, but the statistics he released were seriously flawed and mislead the public.

In 2019, in response to the continuing increase in violent crime rates, Mayor Keller scrambled to implement 4 major crime fighting programs that based upon the statistics being released have had very little effect on reducing violent crime.

Although progress has been made with implementation of the DOJ reforms, APD still falls short in completing the reforms within 4 years as agreed to and reforms are still being implemented after a full 6 years. Increasing and growing APD to 1,200 has been somewhat anemic, with the number of sworn police by the end of the year projected to be 1,000.

Mayor Tim Keller can take some limited comfort that the statistics show Crimes Against Property have dropped by a little more than 10%. Property crime may be down, but it is still higher than when Keller was sworn into office.

The far more serious Crimes Against Persons increased by 1% to 14,971, with both aggravated assault and statutory rape showing significant increases. There were 80 murders in the City last year which was the highest number of murders in the city’s history, up from 69 the year before. There were also 2,796 drug offenses and 709 weapons violations.

Tim Keller has already made it known he is running for a second term in 2021. Despite all of his new programs, increases in budgets and millions spent, violent crime is still very much out of control. Simply put people do not feel safe in their own homes. Voters are very fickle and unforgiving when politicians make promises they do not or cannot keep. Sooner rather than later people demand and want results. No amount of data collection, public relations or nuance programs are going to satisfy those demands or make people feel any safe.

When Tim Keller was asked in 2017 why he was running fro Mayor he said “I think it would be really neat to be Mayor of my home town and I have done good job at all the jobs I have ever had.” A re election campaign based on “Give me more time and another chance to do good” is not a winning strategy, especially after what Tim Keller promised when he was running the first time and what is still happening with violent crime being “absolutely out of control”.

On July 13, the on line news publication ABQReport published the following news item update followed by the original news story:

July 13, News Update, 5:30 p.m.
BY: Dennis Domrzalski and Dan Klein

“The Albuquerque Police Department’s overtime king, officer Simon Drobik, abruptly retired from the department on Friday, July 10. Drobik retired before APD’s Internal Affairs unit could complete an investigation into the large amounts of overtime he had claimed so far this year, APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told ABQReport.

Gallegos also said that APD has notified the State Auditor’s Office of potential time card fraud found during its IA investigation.

Here is the statement Gallegos emailed ABQReport … [on July 13]:

“Simon Drobik submitted his paperwork on July 10 to retire from APD prior to the completion of an ongoing Internal Affairs investigation. The department has been scrutinizing the significant amount of officer overtime, especially during the COVID pandemic, to determine whether it is justified. We are notifying the State Auditor’s Office of potential time card fraud discovered during our investigation.”

Below is our original story on the State Auditor ordering a special audit of APD’s overtime practices:

HEADLINE: Simon Drobik retires from APD before Internal Affairs investigation complete. APD finds potential time card fraud; Notifies State Auditor!; Drobick Not The Only One Needing Investigation

JULY 13, 2020

BY: Dennis Domrzalski and Dan Klein

— The order for a special audit means that the State Auditor’s initial inquiry found big problems at APD.

— We hear that officer Simon Drobik abruptly retired last week. The city has yet to confirm that.

The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has ordered the city of Albuquerque to initiate a special audit of overtime practices and payments at the Albuquerque Police Department.

The order for the special audit came after Auditor Brian Colón’s office had launched a fact-finding probe earlier this year into APD’s overtime practices. The demand for the special audit—which the city must pay for—means that the auditor’s initial inquiry found major problems at APD in regards to it’s overtime practices.

And the man whose actions might have helped launch the probe, officer Simon Drobik, abruptly retired from APD last week, sources told ABQReport. We emailed Mayor Tim Keller’s and APD’s spokespeople this morning and asked if Drobik had indeed retired. As of publication time they had not responded.

The city was ordered to perform the special audit in a June 24 letter from Colón to Keller.

The link to State Auditor Brian Colon’s letter to Mayor Tim Keller is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ljrCSMdpDxyCV-1iPPYFoZwLVdohfw0L/view

“The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) received allegations raising concerns regarding the practices of the City of Albuquerque (“City”) related to police overtime processes and payments, as well as internal controls,” Colón’s letter said. “With respect to these concerns, the OSA hereby designates the City for a special audit in order to examine the City’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.”

APD has had problems with overtime pay for years. In the past several years two internal city audits have highlighted the ongoing problems and called for reforms. But those reforms apparently never came.

Last year, ABQReport wrote that Drobik, whom we dubbed The Human Robot, was paid $192,973 in 2018. That included massive amounts of overtime. On at least two occasions, Drobik billed the city for more hours than there are in a day.

And last year the Civilian Police Oversight Agency investigated Drobik’s overtime pay and found that he had violated APD policy an astounding 51 times. The CPOA recommended that Drobik be fired, but APD Chief Mike Geier rejected the recommendation and imposed no discipline on Drobik.

In May, ABQReport wrote that Drobik was back on the overtime train and had been paid $82,371 for the first four months of the year. That’s on a base salary of $31.50 an hour.

Here’s an excerpt from that story:

“For the first four months of this year, Drobik, whose base pay is $31.50 an hour ($65,520 yearly) has made $82,371, according to the city’s website. If he continues on this pace, Drobik will make a jaw-dropping $247,113 for the year. That will shatter the record of $192,973 that Drobik made in 2018, the year that we first reported on his apparent super-human capacity for work.

“What is even more astonishing about this is Drobik’s brazenness and the city’s and APD’s apparent unwillingness to stop him from working/claiming so much overtime, even in the face of massive criticism about the issue. Last April the Civilian Police Oversight Agency and the Police Oversight Board found that Drobik violated APD policy 51 times in claiming massive amounts of OT in 2018. There were a couple of days when Robot Drobik billed the city—meaning you, the taxpayers—for more than 24 hours of work in a day. Both agencies recommended that APD Chief Mike Geier fire Drobik. But Geier ignored the recommendations and imposed no discipline against Drobik.

Here’s how the Albuquerque Journal described the CPOA’s report on Drobik’s astounding amounts of overtime:

“While the report emphasizes that there was no evidence of criminal activity, it did find that throughout 2018 Drobik violated policies more than 50 times by getting paid simultaneously for being on call as a spokesman and working the “chief’s overtime” at local businesses.

In one case he left Target, where he was stationed for “chief’s overtime” – a practice in which private companies can pay the city to have an officer stationed outside their business. Officers who take part in the program are paid time and a half.

“This is in direct violation of SOP (Standard Operating Procedures),” the investigation’s recommendation memo says. “Yet Officer D. knowingly and repeatedly violated this policy to enrich himself. Despite the lack of supervision from the department, an officer’s moral code of ethics does not allow an officer to continually violate policy, especially for their own gains.”

This past June, Geier finally moved to cap overtime at the department. But that was after we had reported that Colon’s office had started its preliminary probe into APD’s overtime practices.”

The link to ABQReports is here

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2020/07/13/Update-Simon-Drobik-retires-from-APD-before-Internal-Affairs-investigation-complete-APD-finds-potential-time-card-fraud-notifies-State-Auditor

NOT THE FIRST TIME DROBIK INVESTIGATED

Last year, after the Civilian Police Oversight Agency found that Drobik violated APD’s overtime policies more than 50 times by getting paid both as an APD spokesperson and working the chief’s overtime and getting paid more than $192,000 APD Police Chief Michael Geier went to the defense of Drobick. Geier said there was confusion about overtime practices and disagreed with demands that Drobik be fired. The police union also went to Drobik’s defense saying how hard he worked. Mayor Tim Keller for his part deflected and deflected saying APD was committed to revamping overtime practices but kept his mouth shut and did not say anything about Drobik being removed as spokesman or terminated.

On July 13, in announcing the special audit of overtime abuse, State Auditor Brian Colon said his office launched an investigation after receiving numerous tips last year. Colon is now designating a special audit for the case after he said his office found enough red flags related to overtime practices and internal controls at the department. Colon had this to say:

“For anybody in leadership in any law enforcement agency to say that the overtime process is confusing, that is a problem. That is a clear indication that we have lack of clarity from the top. … We are not investigating just one transaction or just one individual. In fact, we are going to be evaluating the process, procedures, protocols and oversight to ensure there is not any abuse in the system.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-officer-retires-as-authorities-investigate-potential-time-card-fraud/

DROBICK NOT THE ONLY ONE

Pervasive abuse of overtime paid by APD to rank and file is “red flagged” when you review the list of the 250 top city hall wages earners. A total of 160 of the top 250 wage earners at city hall last year were employed by APD, with the majority being APD lieutenants, sergeants, police officers first class, master and senior.

The list of 250 top city hall wages earners is what is paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. The City of Albuquerque recently updated the list for the year 2019. The list starts with the most paid at $193,666.40 to the least paid at $107,885.47, with many being paid 2 and 3 times their base pay. A link to a related blog article containing the list of top 250 follows this article.

The 6-figure compensation being paid to sworn police can be attributed mainly to “overtime” paid. There are nearly a dozen different types of overtime programs within the APD. The categories where APD Officers can earn overtime include holiday work, tac-plan initiatives, training, call outs, calls for service, special events, administrative work, investigations, and court appearances. DWI check points and special events like the Balloon Fiesta and security detail for high profile dignitary visits are all events that require an extensive amount of overtime.

APD Lieutenants, Sergeants, Police Officers First Class, Master, Senior are all part of the police union. The police union contract entitles a police officer to be paid “time and a half” when overtime is worked on any given day or week. Following is a breakdown of pay from last year:

APD LIEUTENANTS

There were 32 APD Lieutenants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,031 to $164,722. Hourly pay rate for APD Lieutenants is $40.00 an hour or $83,200 yearly. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract. The 32 Lieutenants and their pay was:

Languit, Luke C Lieutenant 164,722.80
Patterson, Christopher Lieutenant 138,606.30
Jones, Aaron M. PD-Police Lieutenant 136,824.53
Bell Garcia, Jennifer L Lieutenant 134,492.33
Bassett, Jeremy D Lieutenant 132,599.17
Anaya, Adam Lieutenant 130,357.92
Frick, Sean M Lieutenant 128,819.03
McElroy, Matthew Lieutenant 128,802.41
Altman, Steve A Lieutenant 128,026.22
Price, Bryan H Lieutenant 127,649.99
Johnston, Kenneth L Lieutenant 127,131.74
Woodard, Timothy C Para Lieutenant 126,448.18
Barraza, Rene Lieutenant 125,395.24
Puariea, Karla P Para Lieutenant 125,148.94
Norris, Scott T Lieutenant 125,108.42
Napoleone, Kevin J Lieutenant 124,720.27
Parsons, Scott W Lieutenant 122,828.34
Saladin, David R Lieutenant 122,580.22
Tafoya, Dennis Lieutenant 122,480.98
Esquibel, Timothy Lieutenant 121,050
Barker, Cecily A Lieutenant 119,355.26
Deyapp, Lena T Lieutenant 115,430.07
Brown, Joshua M Lieutenant 119,782.52
Brodbeck, Michael K Lieutenant 115,436.50
Martinez, Melvin J Para Lieutenant – 40 HR 115,208.12
Cottrell, Zakary F Lieutenant 114,736.04
Wallace, Sean P Lieutenant 113,973.16
Chacon, Jennifer M Lieutenant 110,584.76
Tapia, Amanda C Lieutenant 109,649.60
Bowie, Terysa Lieutenant 108,528.26
Baca, David R Lieutenant 108,165.90
Weber, Gregory E Lieutenant 108,031.08

APD SERGEANTS

There were 32 APD Sergeants in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $109,292 to $193,666. Hourly pay rate for APD Sergeants is $35 an hour, or $72,800 a year. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and as such are entitled to be paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract. The 32 Sergeants and their pay was:

Hernandez, Michael F Police Sergeant 193,666.40
Pholphiboun, Phetamphone B Police Sergeant 166,813.86
Lopez, Daniel J Sergeant 154,969.57
Martinez, Dominic P Sergeant 149,152.48
Hunt, Justin R Sergeant 140,961.94
Economidy III, Byron G Sergeant 138,305.75
Stockton, Robert M Sergeant 134,315.52
Kenny, Sean P Sergeant 126,987.12
Cancilla, Zachary A Sergeant 126,163.99
Anderson, Hollie L Sergeant 125,887.78
Schmidt, Matthew J Sergeant 123,878.97
Pitzer, Brian D Sergeant 123,666.89
Brown, Eric Sergeant 118,229.24
Knipprath, Brock M. Sergeant 120,086.01
Chavez, Matthew M Sergeant 119,850.43
Chavez, Dennis Sergeant 122,182.17
Nelson, Ryan H Sergeant 118,249.02
Paige, Brian AV-Aviation Sergeant 115,896.04
Sandoval, Albert Sergeant 114,699.80
Wild, Amanda Sergeant 114,376.03
Richards, Joshua R. Sergeant 114,061.11
Sedler, Amy J Sergeant 113,008.40
Haugh, Paul Sergeant 113,517.31
Hernandez, Armando F. Sergeant 112,835.56
Armijo, Louis J Sergeant 112,287.92
Monte, Lawrence E Sergeant 111,833.05
Rojas, Ernesto AV-Aviation Sergeant 111,453.67
Ingram, Richard S Sergeant 110,663.50
Martin, Paul A. Sergeant 110,472.28
Gomez, Gustavo A. Sergeant 110,138.01
Barnard, Jeffery R. Sergeant 109,459.56
Ortiz, James Sergeant 109,292.95

POLICE OFFICERS FIRST CLASS, MASTER, SENIOR

There were 70 APD patrol officers first class, master, senior in the list of 250 top paid employees in 2019 earning pay ranging from $108,167 to $188,844. Hourly pay rate for Patrol Officers is $29.00 an hour to $31.50 an hour depending upon years of experience. These positions are classified employee and are permitted to be part of the police union and are paid time and a half for overtime worked under the union contract.

Johnson, Brian, Senior Police Officer 1C 188,884.04
Drobik, Simon Master Police Officer 1C 166,484.67
Pearson, Nicholas R Master Police Officer 1C 149,157.79
McCarson, Timothy W Senior Police Officer 1C 147,207.30
Hollier, Jeremy B Senior Police Officer 1C 143,229.86
Martinez, Yvonne Master Police Officer 1C 140,522.20
Lehocky, Andrew J Master Police Officer 1C 140,107.90
Garza, Ramiro J Senior Police Officer 1C 136,815.26
Solis, Brenda M Senior Police Officer 1C 136,522.25
Canales, Ladio Senior Police Officer 1C 135,591.41
Rico, Michael K Senior Police Officer 1C 133,020.75
Hernandez, Francisco F Senior Police Officer 1C 132,288.88
Hernandez Jr, Jimmy S Senior Police Officer 1C 132,093.96
Burchell, Edward Master Police Officer 1C 131,582.84
Carter, Jessie W. Senior Police Officer 1C 131,530.98
Swessel, Robert A Master Police Officer 1C 131,402.46
Shook, Michael B. Senior Police Officer 1C 130,875.25
O’Neil, Craig P Master Police Officer 1C 129,424.58
Champine, Daniel J Master Police Officer 1C 128,915.79
Montano, Joshua Senior Police Officer 1C 124,635.53
Brown, Jason Senior Police Officer 1C 124,396.46
Solis, Emmanuel Senior Police Officer 1C 124,356.64
Burley, John V. Senior Police Officer 1C 123,201.06
Kaskalla, Duran G, Senior Police Officer 1C 122,293.95
Breeden, Charles F Senior Police Officer 1C 121,813.68
Maes, Kelly R Senior Police Officer 1C 121,460.96
Rogillio, Justin L Senior Police Officer 1C 120,907.69
Hooee, Alonzo Senior Police Officer 1C 120,848.24
Frazier, Jared L Senior Police Officer 1C 119,790.19
Lujan, Damian M Senior Police Officer 1C 119,752.79
Fox, James Master Police Officer 1C 119,648.21
Novicki, Thomas D Master Police Officer 1C 119,512.95
Franklin, Daniel J Master Police Officer 1C 119,445.19
Barela, Victor D Senior Police Officer 1C 119,403.34
Ruiz, Luis A Police Officer 1C 119,180.60
Miller, Charles W Senior Police Officer 1C 118,863.48
Jojola, Eric J AV-Aviation Senior Police Officer 1C 117,527.64
Luna, Michael A Master Police Officer 1C 116,607.28
Torgrimson, Daniel A Master Police Officer 1C 116,593.63
Juarez, Terra K Master Police Officer 1C 116,369.80
St. John, Phoy R Senior Police Officer 1C 116,158.36
Romero, Arnold C Aviation Master Police Officer 1C 116,001.11
Walsh, Stephen T Master Police Officer 1C 115,270.93
Yurcisin, Daniel E Senior Police Officer 1C 115,181.80
Martinez, Herman G Master Police Officer 1C /115,084.94
Armijo, Leonard R Police Officer 1C 114,088.46
Hotle, Timothy Senior Police Officer 1C 113,678.72
Ortiz, Nelson S Police Officer 1C 113,571.44
Meyer, Jesse M PD-Police Master Police Officer 1C 113,439.19
Oates, Michael A Senior Police Officer 1C 113,406.92
Martinez, Marisa J Senior Police Officer 1C 113,114.85
Zambrano, Anthony Master Police Officer 1C 113,009.31
Correia, Donald R Senior Police Officer 1C 112,990.10
Duran, Fred O Senior Police Officer 1C 112,826.26
Higgins, Kiel V Master Police Officer 1C 111,618.07
Williamson, James L Master Police Officer 1C 111,365.45
Groff, Matthew S Senior Police Officer 1C 111,291.87
La, Quan T Police Officer 1C 111,180.38
Rahimi, Alexander A Police Officer 1C 110,548.33
Porlas, Dwight Master Police Officer 1C 110,014.59
Abbatantuono, Guy D Senior Police Officer 1C 109,757.33
Avila, Michael A Senior Police Officer 1C 109,703.46
Perez, Lucas F Police Officer 1C 109,560.26
Lovato, Angelo J Senior Police Officer 1C 109,506.05
Redhouse, Leighton Senior Police Officer 1C 109,438.25
Gomez, Geno Virgil E Master Police Officer 1C 109,314.87
Montano, David B Senior Police Officer 1C 108,943.69
Roach, Gerald L Master Police Officer 1C 108,225.72
Wolffbrandt, Timothy E Senior Police Officer 1C 108,176.61
Herbst, Zachary C Police Officer 1C 108,167.35

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

According to the June 24, 2020 letter to Mayor Tim Keller, the Office of the State Auditor is designating the City for a special audit “in order to examine the City’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.” It is an audit that must be paid for by the city with a selection of a firm from a list of firms authorized to do financial audits under a state contract. The APD Internal Affairs Investigation of Simon Drobik should be expanded to include all sworn police who were paid upwards of 25% more of their base pay to determine if there was overtime pay abuse.

Police officers earning excessive overtime is nothing new. It has been going on for years and is very common knowledge. During the last 9 years, the Albuquerque Police Department has consistently gone over its overtime budget by millions. In fiscal year 2016, APD was funded for $9 million for over time but APD actually spent $13 million. A March, 2017 city internal audit of APD’s overtime spending found police officers taking advantage of a system that allows them to accumulate excessive overtime at the expense of other city departments. A city internal audit report released in March, 2017 revealed that the Albuquerque Police Department spent over $3.9 million over its $9 million “overtime” budget.

OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS PAY STRUCTURE

With the action of the State Auditor and the initiation of special audit, the City should use it as an opportunity to evaluate alternatives to hourly pay and paying time and a half. The City should do away with APD hourly wage and time and a half for overtime for sworn police and implement a salary structure based strictly on steps and years of service. A complete restructuring of the existing APD 40-hour work week and hourly wage system needs to be implemented, otherwise the problem of excessive overtime paid will not go away, especially when you have a Mayor or a Chief of Police looking the other way.

A base pay salary system should be implemented for all APD sworn personnel. A base salary system with step increases for length of service should be implemented. The longevity bonus pay would be eliminated and built into the salary structure. Mandatory shift time to work would remain the same, but if more time is needed to complete a work load or assignments for the day, the salaried employee works it for the same salary with no overtime paid and a modification of shift times for court appearances.

APD Patrol Officers First Class who handle DWI during nighttime shifts should be required to change their shift times to daytime shifts when the arraignments and trials occur to prevent overtime pay. As an alternative to DWI arraignment, the City Attorney’s Office should explore the possibility of expanding or modifying the Metro Traffic Arraignment Program with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office assisting to include not just traffic citations but DWI arraignments to eliminate the need for APD officers to appear at such arraignments.

Until the APD salary structure is changed, APD will always have patrol officers first class making two to four times their base salary and emotional burnout will be the norm, not the exception endangering public safety. The trend of having more classified APD employees earning such high hourly wage pay does not bode well from an executive personnel management standpoint.

CONCLUSION

You would think APD had learned its lesson after all the prior audits, but they did not and greed once again got the better part of Albuquerque’s finest. Mayor Tim Keller and APD Chief Michael Geier essentially defending Drobik and looking the other way when the problem was first brought to their attention did not help much either. Once the special audit is completed, State Auditor Brian Colon should forward the audit to the New Mexico Attorney General and a special grand jury needs to be convened to determine what criminal charges, if any, should be filed.

In 2019 There Were 160 Of 250 Top Paid City Hall Employees That Were Police Paid Between $107,885.47 to $193,666.40 and 49 Were Firefighters That Were Paid $107,885.47 To 148,128.08; Abolish APD Overtime, Longevity Pay; Implement Set Salary Structure; Remove APD Sergeants And Lieutenants From Police Union

APD Spokesman Drobik’s $192,973 Overtime Pay Tip Of Iceberg; “Denied Access” Reason Media Reluctant To Report; Where Is Our Champion To Combat “Waste, Fraud and Abuse” Mayor Tim Keller?

Max Mitnik: “I’m going to suffer a lot if I don’t kill myself, will you please kill me, sir. Kill me.”

Wanda Mitnik: “Did you really? Did you really? … Why did you do that?”

Michael Mitnik: “We asked for help. … Where did you shoot him? … back of head? … Why did you do that? … He asked you to kill him.”

The June 4 words of Max Mitnik and his parents Wanda Mitnik and Michael Mitnik are about as haunting as it can get when they told the above to APD Police Officer Jose Ruiz in their home.

This blog article is an in-depth discussion of the shooting, APD’s use of force policies under the Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), and what needs to happen going forward.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Max Mitnik is 26 years old. On June 4 he was living with his parents Wanda and Michael Mitnik in their home in the Tanoan gated community. Max Mitnik is suffering from mental illness, he has been under psychiatric medical care for some time and was on medication. He has a history of mental health care at the University of New Mexico Mental Health Hospital. On June 4, Mitnik had not been taking his medication and told his parents he was worried he would hurt them. Max Mitnik does not have a criminal history, has no prior contacts with APD’s Crisis Intervention Unit or mental health reports in police databases.

Around 2 p.m. on June 4, Max Mitnik’s mother and father called 911 to ask APD officers to take him to the hospital because of his comments about being afraid he was going to hurt them. APD Officers Jose Ruiz and Officer Elycio were dispatched to the seen. Upon arrival, Officer Jose Ruiz turned on his lapel camera and a 26 minute 38 second video was recorded.

LAPEL CAMERA VIDEO

On Friday, July 10, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) released the entire lapel camera video to the news media. A YOUTUBE link to the lapel camera recording can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=a0mTXSwtafs&feature=emb_title

EDITOR’S CAUTION: THE VIDEO IS VERY GRAPHIC, DIFFICULT TO WATCH AND UPSETTING IN THAT IT RECORDS AN ACTUAL SHOOTING. FOR THESE REASONS THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IS OFFERED:

The first few minutes of the lapel camera video shows two APD police officers talking first with Michael Mitnik, the father, over a fence gate. Soon Max Mitnik walks out to talk with the two police officers. Michael Mitnik opens the gate and female Police Officer Elycio talks with Max Mitnik. She reasons with Max to allow her to put handcuffs on him to follow APD procedures to take him to the hospital.

The officers explain to Max he will have to wait at least an hour in the car before he can be admitted because of a backlog at the hospital. The mother Wanda Mitnik soon joins her husband outside talking with the officers. The officers emphasize to Max he was not under arrest nor in custody. Soon Max becomes upset wants the handcuff off and they are taken off. After the handcuffs are taken off, Max Mitnik, begins to pace in front of the house, down the street and then back appearing and acting agitated.

The video reflects that the father and the officers continually talked with Max Mitnik as he tried to decide whether he wanted to go with them or be taken to the hospital by his parents. The officers again emphasize to Max that he is an adult, not accused of any crime, and they cannot force him to go with them to the hospital and he could go with his parents.

Max Mitnik finally agrees for a second time to go to the hospital with APD, is again handcuffed but with his hands in front of him. The officers begin to walk Max to marked SUV unit. Max Mitnik changes his mind as he is being escorted to the APD unit, he turns suddenly and starts to walk towards his parents and the officers ask him what’s wrong.

At this point, Michael Mitnik and Officer Jose Ruiz again try to reason with Max to go to the hospital. Michael Mitnik offers to ride with Max in the police car while Wanda Mitnik follows in the family car. The father tells Max if he does not go, they will only wind up calling APD again. Max says “What happens if I get violent there?… at the hospital.” Officer Ruiz then tells Max that the hospital has its own security. Max tells them he does not want to go the hospital and asks that the handcuffs be removed and the cuffs are removed.

Once the handcuffs are removed, Max Mitnik walks back to the house, goes inside the home. He is not followed by the APD Officers who lose sight of him. The officers requested a Mobile Crisis Team (CIT), a unit be dispatched. CIT Units are made up of a behavioral health clinician and an police officer who responds to mental health calls.

Before the Mobile Crisis Team has a chance to be dispatched and arrive, Wanda Mitnik is heard screaming inside the house. Officer Ruiz runs inside, guided by Max Mitnik’s father to a bathroom where Max Mitnik has locked himself inside. Wanda Mitnik shows up with a key to open the bathroom, said her son was inside the bathroom and was stabbing himself in the neck.

The shooting occurs at 15 minutes and 1 second into the lapel camera video when Officer Ruiz has Wanda Mitnik unlock the bathroom door, the door slowly opens to the dark bathroom and seconds later, Max Mitnik emerges from the bathroom, he is bleeding from the neck starts to walk slowly towards Officer Ruiz and says calmly, but as if begging, in a low tone of voice:

“I’m going to suffer a lot if I don’t kill myself, will you please kill me, sir. Kill me.”

The video shows Max Mitnik approaching the Officer Ruiz with something in his hand, which is later identified as a paring knife. Two shots are fired by Officer Ruiz. One shot hits Max Mitnik in the hip and the other shot hits him in the head and Max Mitnik falls to the floor unconscious.

Both Wanda and Michael Mitnik reacted in shock to the shooting of their son they had just witnessed.

On the lapel camera video Wanda Mitnik says to Officer Ruiz before going to her son to try to revive him and stop the bleeding:

“Did you really? Did you really? … Why did you do that?”

The video reflects that Officer Ruiz bends down appearing to pick up something later identified as a paring knife. As soon as Wanda Mitnik goes into the bedroom to help her son, you can hear officer Ruiz call in “shots fired” and he begins to heavily pant as if emotionally upset, start walking down a hallway panting and turning back around after regaining his composure.

Michael Mitnik, sitting down in obvious grief watching his wife and a female police officer giving Max aide had the following exchange with Officer Ruiz:

Michael Mitnik: “We asked for help. … Where did you shoot him? … back of head?

Officer Ruiz: “… No, he was coming toward me, so I don’t think in back of the head.”

Michaele Mitnik: “Why did you do that? … He asked you to kill him.”

Paramedics arrived and Max Mitnik was taken to the emergency room. Remarkably Max Mitnik survived the close range shooting.

Media reports reflect that Max Mitnik was critically injured and spent a month at the hospital before returning home. He is expected to undergo another neurosurgery, and physical and occupational therapy to re-learn how to do such basic tasks as walking and dressing himself.

The Mitnik shooting was the 4th APD Police Offer involved shooting with 2 of the shootings resulting in death.

Links to news coverage are here:

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/apd-releases-video-of-police-shooting-in-tanoan/5788708/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1474759/video-shows-tanoan-shooting-during-mental-health-call.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/police-involved-in-shooting-in-northeast-albuquerque/

APD INITIAL REACTION

Lt. Scott Norris is with APD’s Violent Crime Section. Norris responded to media inquiries about the Tanoan shooting. When asked why APD Officer Ruiz did not use less lethal force, Lt. Norris said the use of force response was still under review by APD Internal Affairs. He also said Ruiz was carrying a Taser at the time of the shooting and that Officer Ruiz told investigators he was afraid he was going to be cut and “furthermore, he thought he was going to be killed.”

Norris responded to media questioning this way:

“What we do know right now is the subject was closing distance on the officer with a knife raised to his hip. … We know this occurred within close quarters. The officer’s decisions are still being investigated and, after the investigation is completed, our Force Investigation Division will forward their findings to our Force Review Board [which will review] the officer’s tactics of drawing and exhibiting a weapon, and [if] the use of deadly force in this instance met the standards expected of all of our officers.”

Lt. Norris said the internal investigation will also look at whether Ruiz should have picked up the knife after the shooting as it said he did in the search warrant. Lt. Norris had this to say:

“Those are the types of things we look at and, as I said earlier, if there is a deficiency in the policy, if the officer violated a policy, that will be addressed administratively. … All these investigations have a concurrent administrative investigation and criminal investigation. That is something that will obviously be something of note in the investigation and, if it’s out of policy, it will be addressed accordingly and, if it’s within policy, we can take a look at the policy and see if we can make that policy better.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1474759/video-shows-tanoan-shooting-during-mental-health-call.html

A Multi-Agency Task Force, made up of detectives from APD, New Mexico State Police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, is still investigating the incident.

REVISITING THE DOJ USE OF FORCE AND DEADLY FORCE INVESTIGATION

On April 10, 2014, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, submitted a scathing 46-page investigation report on an 18-month civil rights investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). The investigation was conducted jointly by the DOJ’s Washington Office Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

You can read the entire report here.

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2014/04/10/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf

The DOJ investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems of APD. The DOJ investigation “determined that structural and systemic deficiencies — including insufficient oversight, inadequate training, and ineffective policies — contribute to the use of unreasonable force.” Based on the investigation and the review of excessive use of force and deadly force cases, the DOJ found “reasonable cause to believe that APD engage[d] in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment … . and [the] investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems.”

What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from the other federal investigations of police departments and consent decrees is that the other consent decrees involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. The DOJ’s finding of a “culture of aggression” within APD dealt with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that were mentally ill and that were having psychotic episodes.

A significant number of the use of force cases reviewed involved persons suffering from acute mental illness and who were in crisis. The investigation found APD’s policies, training, and supervision were insufficient to ensure that officers encountering people with mental illness or in distress do so in a manner that respected their rights and in a manner that was safe for all involved

The investigative report found a pattern or practice of use of “deadly force” or “excessive use of force”. The DOJ reviewed all fatal shootings by officers between 2009 and 2012 and found that officers were not justified under federal law in using deadly force in the majority of those incidents. Albuquerque police officers too often used deadly force in an unconstitutional manner in their use of firearms. Officers used deadly force against people who posed a minimal threat, including individuals who posed a threat only to themselves or who were unarmed. Officers also used deadly force in situations where the conduct of the officers heightened the danger and contributed to the need to use force.

USE-OF-FORCE CONTINUUM

According to the National Institute of Justice, the “use of force continuum” is a well established and recognized law enforcement policy concept adopted by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, including APD. Under the use of force continuum, law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to mitigate an incident, make an arrest, or protect themselves or others from harm. The levels, or continuum, of force police use include basic verbal and physical restraint, less-lethal force, and lethal force.

The level of force an officer uses varies based on the situation. Because of this variation, guidelines for the use of force are based on many factors, including the officer’s level of training or experience. An officer’s goal is to regain control of a situation as soon as possible while protecting the community. Use of force is an officer’s last option and considered a necessary course of action to restore safety in a community when other practices are ineffective. The use of force by law enforcement officers becomes necessary and is permitted under specific circumstances, such as in self-defense or in defense of another individual or group.

Links to more about the use of force continuum are here:

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/overview-police-use-force

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/use-force-continuum

APD USE OF FORCE AND DEADLY FORCE POLICIES

The DOJ Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) was negotiated over a 6-month period after the DOJ released its investigation report finding that APD engaged in a “pattern and practice” of unconstitutional “use of force” and “deadly force.” The 106-page negotiated CASA agreement was filed on November 10, 2014.

It took the city upwards of 2 years to revise and rewrite APD’s “use-of-force” and “deadly use of force” policies in a manner consistent with the court-approved settlement agreement. As a backdrop to what happened on June 4, APD’s use of force and deadly force policies need to be highlighted to understand the levels of use of force APD officers are trained to use. A link to the entire use of force policy is here:

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/2-52-use-of-force.pdf

The APD use of force policy is SOP 2-52 and became Effective January 11, 2020. APD’s use of force and deadly force policies are 8 pages long and essentially defines and elaborates for training purposes the “use of force” policies. APD’s 8 pages of use of force and deadly force policies is and elaboration and refinement of the “use-of-force continuum.”

The policies that apply to APD interacting with the mentally ill can be easily gleaned from all the policies.

Following are APD’s use of force and deadly force policies:

2-52-2 Policy

Officers shall make every effort to preserve the sanctity of human life in all situations. …

Officers who use force shall use the minimum amount of force that is reasonable, necessary, and proportional based on the totality of the circumstances confronting the officers in order to bring about a lawful objective.

Once force is used, officers shall reduce the level of force or stop using force as the resistance or threat decreases. …

Under this policy and the Supreme Court’s decision in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 286 (1989), use of force by officers is considered from the perspective of a reasonable officer on scene and other requirements consistent with this policy. (See SOP – Use of Force Review and Investigation by Department Personnel for discussion of the use of force standard of review.)
… .
2-52-4 Use of Force Requirements

A. General Requirements

1. Officers shall first use de-escalation techniques when feasible to gain the voluntary compliance of an individual to reduce or eliminate the need to use force.
a. Among these techniques are the use of advisements, warnings, and verbal persuasion as discussed in SOP – Use of Force – De-escalation.
2. When feasible, officers shall allow an individual a reasonable amount of time to submit to arrest or a lawful order before using force.
3. Officers shall continually assess whether the use of force is necessary and when continued force applications are no longer necessary to accomplish a lawful objective. Officers shall reduce the level of force applied as the nature of the threat diminishes to include stopping the use of force.

B. Reasonable Force

1. Force is reasonable when it is the minimum amount of force necessary to effect an arrest or protect an officer or other individual under the circumstances.

C. Necessary Force

1. Force is necessary when no reasonable alternative to the use of force exists. When force is necessary, officers shall use the minimum amount of force required that is reasonable.

D. Proportional Force

1. Force is proportional when it includes consideration of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the situation, including the presence of articulable imminent danger to the officer or others.
2. The use of proportional force by an officer does not require the use of the same type or amount of force as that used by the individual.

E. Totality of the Circumstances

1. When force is used, the decision to use force and the level of force must be reasonable, necessary, and proportional given the totality of the circumstances.

F. Lawful Objectives

1. Officers shall only use force to achieve a lawful objective. Officers are authorized to use force:

a. To effect a lawful arrest or detention of a person;
b. To prevent and/or terminate the commission of a crime;
c. To intervene in a suicide or self-inflicted injury;
d. To enforce a valid Certificate of Evaluation;
e. To defend an officer or person from the physical acts of another; or
f. To conduct a lawful search.

2-52-6 Use of Force Procedures

A. General Procedures … .
B. Response to High Threat Situations … .

C. Deadly Force

1. All provisions of this policy, which govern use of force, including the officers’ duty to preserve human life, the requirement to use de-escalation techniques and tactics, the requirements officers use only the minimum amount of force reasonable, necessary, and proportional under the circumstances governing force, also govern lethal force.
2. An officer shall not use deadly force against an individual unless the officer has probable cause to believe an individual poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or anyone else.
3. … .

D. Deadly Force is:

1. Discharging a firearm at an individual, whether intentional or accidental;
2. Any neck-hold as defined by Department policy;
3. Intentional strikes with a baton, flashlight, radio, weapon, stock/handle, or improvised impact weapon to vital areas of the body to include the head, neck, throat, torso, or groin;
4. Intentionally striking an individual’s head against a hard, fixed object such as a roadway, floor, wall, or steel/iron bars;
5. Intentionally targeting the head, neck, throat, chest, or groin of an individual with a beanbag shotgun;
6. Intentionally targeting the head, neck, throat, chest, or groin with a 40-millimeter impact munition launcher;
7. Intentionally targeting an individual’s head, neck, chest, or genitalia with an Electronic Control Weapon (ECW);
8. Intentionally kneeing or kicking an individual’s head or neck while the individual is in a prone or supine position; or
9. Deliberately striking an individual with a motor vehicle.

FEDERAL COURT RULING ON APD’s USE OF FORCE POLICY

Six years ago, the APD Union was not a named party to the original civil rights complaint for excessive use of force and deadly force filed against the city by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Soon after the DOJ initiated the federal lawsuit against APD and the City, the APOA police union intervened to become a party to the federal lawsuit in order to advocate for union interests in city policy and changes to the “use of force” and “deadly force policies.”

The Police Union, despite public comments of cooperation and comments made to the court, have never fully supported the agreed to reforms. The union contributed to the one-year delay in writing the policies objecting to many provisions of the policies. The police union repeatedly objected to the language of the use of force policy asserting the policy was unreasonable.

In January, APD implemented the new use-of-force policies. Late last year, the APD Police Union filed a motion relating to the use of force policy arguing it is unconstitutional. In the motion the police union argued the policy was too vague and undefined and it is difficult to determine what facts “a reasonable officer” would have known at the time they decide to use force or deadly force.

On June 25, Judge Browning, the federal judge assigned to the federal settlement case, denied the unions motion. Judge Browning ruled the language in the use-of-force policy is consistent with the “objective-reasonableness standard”. This is the legal standard articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Graham v. Connor , 490 U.S. 386 (1989). The US Supreme Court decided the case on May 15, 1989.

“Graham v. Connor determines the legality of every use-of-force decision any police officer makes. Using the Graham standard, an officer must apply constitutionally appropriate levels of force, based on the unique circumstances of each case. The officer’s force should be applied in the same basic way that an “objectively reasonable” officer would in the same circumstances. The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the most important factor to consider in applying force is the threat faced by the officer or others at the scene.”

https://www.policemag.com/341717/understanding-graham-v-connor

Judge James Browning wrote:

“the determination whether a reasonable officer would have known that the offender suffered from mental illness is not based on whether it surfaces after the situation that the offender suffered from mental illness. Instead, the determination is based on whether a reasonable officer at the crime scene would have known from the circumstances that a person suffered mental illness.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1469640/judge-overrules-police-union-objection-to-use-of-force-policy.html

COMPLETION OF MANDATED REFORMS UNDER THE CONSENT DECREE

APD has completed the following mandated reforms under the CASA as applied to dealing with the mentally ill:

1. After a full year of negotiations, the new “use of force” and “use of deadly force” policies have been written and implemented. All APD sworn officers have received training on the policies.
2. All sworn officers have received at least 40 hours crisis management intervention training to deal with the mentally ill and others.
3. Sweeping changes, ranging from APD’s SWAT team protocols, to a ban on chokeholds, to an audit of every Taser used by officers, to a re-write and implementation of new use-of-force and deadly force policies, have been completed. More training and controls over the use of Tasers by officers has been completed.
4. All other federal consent decrees in the country involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and the use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. APD’s consent decree deals with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that are mentally ill and having psychotic episodes. “Constitutional policing” practices and methods, and mandatory crisis intervention techniques and de-escalation tactics with the mentally ill have now been implemented, with all sworn officers having received the training.
5. APD has revised and updated its policies on the mandatory use of lapel cameras by all sworn police officers.
6. The Mental Health Advisory Committee has been implemented.

https://www.cabq.gov/mental-health-response-advisory-committee/documents/court-approved-settlement-agreement-final.pdf

PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT

On June 14, Mayor Tim Keller announced plans to create a new Public Safety Department that would send trained professionals to respond to certain calls for help in place of armed officers. The Albuquerque Community Safety Department would have social workers, housing and homelessness specialists and violence prevention and diversion program experts who would be dispatched to homelessness and “down-and-out” calls as well as behavioral health crises. The new department would connect people in need with services to help address any underlying issues. The department personnel would be dispatched through the city’s 911 emergency call system. The intent is to free up the first responders who typically have to deal with down-and-out and behavioral health calls.

Keller said “down and out” calls usually end with someone going to jail or to a hospital. According to Keller:

“And the determiner of [whether a person goes to jail or a hospital] is either firefighter or police [officer]. … Neither of them should be making that initial call, unless it’s a situation of violence. … We’re just expecting them to solve every individual’s problem, and I think that’s totally unfair to them and their training. … We should have trained professionals do this, instead of folks with a gun and a badge. But in general, that’s what we have to fix.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1466317/mayor-proposes-public-safety-department.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The lapel camera video shows the difficulty it is for trained police officers to implement use of force and deadly force written policy and apply those policies with real life events in police work. Much of police work when police are engaging with a criminal offender, especially when they are involved in the immediate commission of a crime or a fleeing suspect, is reactionary. Being reactionary during an incident, the time to make a decision to use force or deadly force, and to what extent, is literally one or two seconds. Such was the incident with Max Mitnik.

The lapel video of the Tanoan shooting of Max Mitnik will no doubt be reviewed over and over again and again by not only by APD Internal Affairs Unit, the Force Investigation Division, the Force Review Board but also the Federal Monitor overseeing the DOJ consent decree. It is likely the lapel camera video will also wind up being used at the APD academy for training purposes.

The Tanoan lapel camera video is a case study of the “heartbeat” decisions that police officers are required to make, especially when dealing with the mentally ill. When you review the video, no one can say with absolute certainty what was going through the mind of Officer Ruiz, what extent he felt his life was in danger and why he decided to fire his gun, except for Officer Ruiz himself.

Obviously, the “powers that be” must decide if city policy was violated, if the shooting was self defense or the defense of the another and if officer Ruiz truly felt his life was in danger when Max Mitnik approached him holding a paring knife. The most important factor to consider in deciding if the use of deadly force was legally justified is the extent of a threat faced by an officer using the force or the threat to others at the scene. That is the rub when deciding to discipline or prosecute any police officer for shooting anyone. Ultimately a decision will be made if APD Police officer Ruiz acted in a way that an “objectively reasonable” officer would have acted in the same circumstances.

COMPLICATING FACTORS

There were two police officers initially dispatched to the Mitnik residence on June 4 and who interacted with Max Mitnik. Each officer placed handcuffs on him on two separate times as they explained to him why the handcuffs were needed as they attempted to reason with him to allow them to take him to the hospital. No doubt both officers will be interviewed to give their own version of what happened and what they felt could, should or what was done.

What really complicates the Max Mitnik shooting case is the fact the call out to the Mitnik residence was not to make an arrest or to investigate a crime. The call out was a “welfare check” to assist a mother and father dealing with a son who was having a psychotic episode, who was threatening to get violent and who wanted to go to the hospital. The police could not force Max to go to the hospital, he had not committed any crime nor did they have probable cause to make an arrest for a crime. The only thing the officers could do was attempt to reason with him. Demanding that Max wear handcuffs was no doubt to conform with APD standard operating procedures, but was it necessary if Max was not being arrested but just be transported to the hospital? All the officers did do was attempt to reason with the Max and call for CIT. They also lost control of the scene when they allowed Max to go back into the home and allowing Max to escalate the interactions with the police.

The lapel camera video reflects that a few standard operating procedures may have been violated. What happened on June 4 reflects the “real world” of policing. It became “a no-win situation” for all involved, especially the police officers who were conducting a “welfare check call” to provide assistance. No crime was being reported nor investigated. The family was asking for help, and it escalated to a police officer shooting. The two Police Officers were clearly acting courteous at first, but once they allowed Max Mitnik out of their site and allowed him to go back into the home, they lost complete control of the scene and endangered themselves and the Mitniks as well.

The “no win situation” was that had the officers been far more aggressive with Max Mitnik and used force at any level where no arrest was being made they would have been condemned of escalating the situation contributing to the shooting.

GOOD START IS IMPLEMENTING CUBRA RECOMMENDATIONS

On June 22, the Albuquerque Journal published guest editorial column written by respected and well-known civil rights attorney Peter Cubra. He made two major recommendations that should be implemented immediately. Following are those recommendations:

“When a family member wants help getting mental health treatment for a loved one, the city sends APD officers to conduct “welfare checks” despite frequent, including recent, tragic results. On March 30, APD officers responded to Valente Acosta-Bustillos’ family’s request for a welfare check. Two police officers went to his home, ultimately shooting him to death. On June 4th, Max Mitnik’s family similarly called 911 requesting help getting Max mental health treatment. Reportedly, Max Mitnik had not threatened anyone when the call was made. Nonetheless only police responded, then shot him in the head. Mental health professionals, not police, should be in charge of “welfare checks.”

“APD has “Crisis Outreach and Support Team” (COAST), comprised of “civilian employees supervised by a department sergeant” who provide “crisis intervention, access to mental health services, and education” and “perform case follow up in order to connect individuals in need with service providers.” None of COAST’s functions are “policing,” but the city has refused to move those tasks from APD to another entity that serves people experiencing homelessness and/or mental disabilities. No study is necessary to know that tracking down people with mental disabilities to encourage them to participate in treatment is not “policing.” Transferring the resources of the COAST team out of APD is a no-brainer. But the city’s administration hasn’t done it.”

The link to the full Peter Cubra guest column is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1469237/two-obvious-fixes-for-apd-are-staring-us-in-the-face.html

The two recommends made by Cubra should be the immediate precursor to the creation of the Public Safety Department that would send trained professionals to respond to certain calls for help in place of armed officers. The Albuquerque Community Safety Department needs to make every effort have social workers, housing and homelessness specialists and violence prevention and diversion program experts who would be dispatched to homelessness and “down-and-out” calls as well as behavioral health crises.

APD REFORM NOT THE PANACEA MANY BELIEVE

One glaring problem identified by the shooting of Max Mitnik is that after 6 years of implementing the DOJ mandated reforms, rewriting of APD use of force and deadly force policies, millions spent in training on how to deal with the mentally ill, another shooting of a mentally ill person having a psychotic episode has occurred after a desperate family had reached out for help from APD. In a very real sense, the shooting Max Mitnik is a reflection that all the training mandated by the DOJ reforms in dealing with the mentally ill has failed.

The most common complaints regarding the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) are that there is too much oversight and that the mandates are tying the hands of police. Actions and even criticism by “politicians” and the media are often problematic and resented by police. What those law enforcement fail to understand is that is what is called civilian oversight. It is the elected officials, the politicians, who are ultimately held accountable for what cops do. It also the voters who must hold and demand accountability from both the police and the elected official in that it is the taxpayer that ultimately pays for police misconduct and excessive use of force and deadly force.

CITY MUST ACT NOW

Given the political climate in Albuquerque with the DOJ consent decree, the shooting of Max Mitnik will no doubt renew the debate as to what is the real role of APD officers. Police cannot do it all on their own when it comes to the mentally ill, the homeless and drug addiction. The debate must include demanding the Mayor and the City Council to get their acts together, stop the press conferences and posturing, stop blaming APD for all the ills it is dealing with and be far more aggressive in dealing with mental health issues and the homeless issues by expediting the creation of the Public Safety Department to deal with mental health issues facing the city. The city has failed to break ground on a “detox center”. Moving at a snail’s pace at this point is useless and will only compound the problems APD is facing.

COUNTY COMMISSION MUST ACT NOW

The debate must also include demanding the County Commission and the Bernalillo County Sheriff to get their acts together when it comes to mandating the use of lapel cameras. Sheriff Gonzales is looking foolish more and more each day when he says he will resist implementation of the use of lapel cameras now required by state law. Gonzales is looking like a relic of law enforcement arguing lapel cameras do not reduce crime. The Sheriff’s opposition to lapel cameras sure hell will not help him run for Mayor next year against Tim Keller as is expected. Police lapel camera footage is needed to determine if actions of police officers conform with constitutional policing practices.

On Feb. 26, 2015, the Bernalillo County Commission approved a 1/8 % gross receipts tax increase on a 3-2 vote to fund new behavioral and mental health services to improve access to mental and behavioral health care services in the county. The tax generates approximately $20 million annually. When enacted, the county commission announced the intent for the tax was to invest the funding “in proven ways to better manage the high cost of addiction, homelessness and mental health problems”. According to a county commission announcement, “these issues impact families throughout the community and drive up the cost of public services, especially at the Metropolitan Detention Center.” The gross receipts tax costs shoppers one cent on a $10 purchase of goods and services.

The problem is, the County Commission is still sitting on millions in tax revenues generated from the behavioral tax assessed. In 2015, when the Bernalillo County Commission approved the tax, it failed to develop a plan on how all the money would be used, including not identifying services to be provides, location of facilities and qualifiers to obtain the services offered. As a result of having no spending plan or identifying priorities, the tax has been collected but not spent. Approved programming should eventually cost the county $18.9 million annually, but more than $70 million in tax revenue has accumulated and the amount is growing.

Talk about a waste of valuable time. It was not until November, 2019, that the County Manager asked the Bernalillo County Commission to approve a resolution that permits “stakeholders, providers, community members, staff, commissioners, or other interested parties” to propose behavioral health service ideas through a website. Up until now, only county staff had been authorized to propose behavioral health service ideas. All program appropriations will require final approval of the County Commission.

CONCLUSION

What happened on June 4 is the real world that police officers deal with to “protect and serve.” The debate must include if police officer’s roles and responsibilities should include being a school teacher, a social worker, a psychologist, a guidance or drug counselor, an attorney or judge who carries a badge and a gun with a license to kill as the need arises to defend themselves or others. Until the debate ends, until the City and County governments get their acts together, and until the DOJ consent decree is finally dismissed, we can all expect more killings of people who are having psychotic episodes by law enforcement.

On July 9, it was reported that Albuquerque NAACP President Harold Bailey issued a statement and said that councilors Cynthia Borrego and Trudy Jones used “offensive, inflammatory and insensitive” language during a debate over a $1 million appropriation for the Black community. He said they should apologize or resign and went on to recommend “sensitivity and positive human engagement training.”

The link to the entire news article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1473925/naacp-criticizes-councilors-offensive-language.html

The $1 Million dollar appropriation was described as “an investment that creates positive impact for the African American community.” The legislation was sponsored by Councilor Klarissa Peña and the city council voted yes with an 8-1 vote. According to City Councilor Pena:

“I look at this as a way to focus on addressing what we started out addressing as a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, and that’s … systemic and institutional racism.”

The $1 million dollar appropriation was to Mayor Tim Keller’s “One Albuquerque Fund Foundation” created to raise money for city initiatives by collecting donations from the private sector and citizens who have wanted to donate to the city for city initiatives.

LINE OF QUESTIONING QUESTIONED

During the one-hour debate, Democrat City Councilor Cynthia Borrego and Republican Trudy Jones questioned Charles Ashley III, president of the One Albuquerque Fund for details about how the money would be used. Jones asked whether it would go toward loans or grants, asked who would administer the disbursements, and asked whether it would support businesses or housing and more. Borrego questioned what the city wanted as to “deliverables” for the $1 million, and how the expenditures and program progress would be reported back to the council. Ashley told the council the foundation had not developed a specific plan and said the board will first convene members of the Black community to determine how best to apply the money based on existing needs, he said.

The NAACP took strong exception to what City Councilor Trudy Jones said which was as follows:

“This is not good business, and if we’re trying to help people better themselves, one of the best things we can do is teach them how to do business before they are harmed by doing bad business. … I absolutely cannot support this, not because I don’t support the intent; I don’t support the fact we’re jumping into something with no information, not knowing who’s going to … administer it, what it’s going to be for, how people apply, what qualifies. … Every question out there that anyone would ask before they loan their child money isn’t there. … I’m not saying I’m older and wiser than the people who will get money from this program; I’m saying there should be a question asked: What are you going to do with it? … It could be my brother, it could be my neighbor; if I’m going to loan money to someone, I would like to have an overview … or at least an idea of what it’s going to be used for, or a report or accountability of what it was used for.”

City Councilor Cynthia Borrego came under fire by the NAACP when she said:

“And who is the African American community that is going to be receiving the funding? I would like to know a little bit more about the structure and how this money is going to be used” . … and later in a statement said “After some of my questions were addressed at council, I voted in favor of the proposed … appropriation for $1 million to Albuquerque’s African American community.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is clear how the NAACP and many others could take exception to the comments of Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones especially her comment “Every question out there that anyone would ask before they loan their child money isn’t there.” This comment by Jones was exceptionally insulting because what Jones was saying is African Americans business people are to be treated like children and they need to be taught how to use and invest their money.

The entire content of councilor Jones line of questioning, whether she realizes it or not, is a reflection of her own “institutional racism” beliefs that usually are not articulated in public. Without a doubt, the comments were out of line and reflect an element of “entitlement” on her part. The fact that Jones is Anglo, is in the real estate private sector industry and representing the most affluent district in the City, just compounds the appearance that she does not really understand systemic racism.

When it comes to Democrat City Councilor Borrego remarks, it is doubtful that they reflect anything more than legitimate questioning as to how taxpayer money will be spent. Given the fact that Borrego is a woman of color, a native of Albuquerque, and a retired city hall employee who for many years dealt with city finances, and ultimately voted for the appropriation, it is far more likely her comments were taken out of context.

Dr. Bailey and the NAACP are calling for a resignation or apology and “sensitivity and positive human engagement training”.

This is understandable when it comes to City Councilor Trudy Jones. Given the remarks made by Jones, an apology is the most one can expect. Do not hold your breath on resignation. It would be a complete waste of time for Councilor Trudy Jones to have “sensitivity and positive human engagement training” given her track record on the City Council. After all, Republican Jones is a Trump supporter, opposed sanctuary city legislation and she sponsored an ordinance to criminalize panhandling, an ordinance later struck down by the Federal Court as violating people’s first amendment rights.

When it comes to City councilor Cynthia Borrego, given her reputation for honesty and integrity and her past votes and past employment with the city, it is likely she learned a valuable lesson and is already very sensitive to systemic racism.

NAACP SHOULD BE DEMANDING PAT DAVIS TO RESIGN FROM CITY COUNCIL FOR HIS CONDUCT

Dr. Harold Baily and the Albuquerque Chapter of the NAACP has not said anything about Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis resigning after a June 25 news report where ProgressNow, the very progressive organization that Davis was head of at one time, demanded Davis resign from the City Council.

NOT A REFORMED COP

In its news release ProgressNow accused Pat Davis of a pattern of upholding racist institutions and said in part:

“Unfortunately, Davis’ shooting of a Black man isn’t the only example of his troubling actions. A pattern has unearthed that continues into the present. After Davis moved to Albuquerque he had multiple civil rights complaints lodged against him while serving as a cop at the University of New Mexico. …

Later, as he ran for elected office, Davis reflected on his experience as a cop, utilizing a “tough on crime” narrative, referencing his time as “zero-tolerance cop– the kind you wouldn’t want to pull you over”. As he ran for Bernalillo County Sheriff, his website highlighted his targeting of community members for low-level offenses, like marijuana possession. …

We want to make it clear: Davis’ case is not an issue of a “reformed cop”. In fact, Davis has continued to uphold racist institutions ….

Surely, our community does not need someone who routinely targets and criminalizes Black and Brown people to be serving on committees that select judges, decide the future of marijuana legalization in our state, or pass policies and make financial decisions for the City of Albuquerque.”

TROUBLING HISTORY

Pat Davis has never been held accountable for a shooting African American Moses Bell in 2005. Albuquerque City Councilor President Pat Davis is a former Washington DC Police officer who on August 31, 2004 shot Moses M. Bell, age 37 at the time, and who was a Washington, DC resident. Moses M. Bell on August 31, 2004, was driving his car and giving his male African American friend a ride to his girlfriend’s house.

According to court filings, while sitting in his idling parked vehicle to allow his passenger to exit his vehicle, Moses M. Bell was shot twice in the left shoulder by Washington D.C. Police Officer Pat Davis when Davis approached the driver’s side of the car and opened fire without provocation. At the time of the shooting, D.C. Police Officer Patrick Davis was allegedly investigating Moses M. Bell for failure to make a left turn signal and his passenger’s failure to wear a seat belt. Davis claims he saw Bell trying to hide a gun and so he opened fire. Bell was first charged with “Assaulting, Resisting or Interfering With A Police Officer With A Dangerous Weapon”, those charges were dropped and Bell was then charge with carrying a gun without a license, plead guilty, and sentence to 18 months in jail.

Approximately 3 months after the shooting, Pat Davis left the Washington DC Police Department and came to Albuquerque and worked for the UNM Campus Police as a supervisor and Lieutenant. In 2007 and 2008, Pat Davis as a UNM Campus Police Officer, was involved in at least 3 incidents that resulted in civil lawsuits and judgements in the thousands paid for violations of people’s civil rights.

One case involved the execution of a “sealed search warrant” for marijuana by 21 law enforcement personnel, including Pat Davis as a UNM Police officer, who stormed a home, broke in and caused $20,000 in property damaged searching the home. The next case involves the unauthorized search of 2 homes without search warrants where the homes located in Corrales were occupied by single women. UNM Police officer Pat Davis along with two other UNM Police officers essentially coerced both woman to allow searches of their homes without court approved search warrants.

All 4 cases, which include the shooting of Moses Bell, combined reveal an alarming pattern of violating people’s civil rights and unconstitutional policing practices by Pat Davis as a police officer. As City Council President, Pat Davis is calling for major changes and reforms to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Davis is questioning and challenging police practices, policies, procedures, training and funding of APD.

PAT DAVIS DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHEN JONES SHOT OFF HER MOUTH

Davis is proclaiming that because of his experiences as a police officer, he is essentially a reformed cop and has changed and he has an understanding of institutional racism in police work. Pat Davis has actually said recently he “made arrests and instigated some encounters I wouldn’t be proud of today” yet there is no apology for his actions to any he brutalized.

Pat Davis now proclaims that because he was a former cop and did things in the past he was not too proud of, he has changed and for that reason he is the guy to lead the charge in reforming APD. What is so damn pathetic is that Pat Davis probably believes people are buying into his garbage, but his actions say otherwise. When City Councilor Trudy Jones shot off her mouth about the funding for African American businesses, Pat Davis as City Council President did not bother to gavel her out of order. Davis did not denounce Jones comments and neither did any other city councilor. Perhaps Davis did not gavel Jones out of order because Davis needed Trudy Jones’ vote to become City Council President.

If Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis is sincere and truly wants to make amends for his past conduct as a police officer, he needs to show some degree of honesty and integrity and step down.

The NAACP, and for that matter, the Black Lives Matter movement, need take a position on Pat Davis and if he should resign otherwise their silence speaks volumes more essentially saying their is no need to take Davis to task or hold him accountable for his past actions.

Links to related blog articles are here:

African American Moses M. Bell’s Version Revealed Of His 2004 Shooting By White Wash. D.C. Cop Pat Davis; Outcome Unknown Of Davis Internal Affairs Investigation And Why Davis Not Charged With Crime

City Councilor Pat Davis Needs To Step Down To Atone For His Own “Black Lives Matter” Moment And Violations Of Peoples Civil Rights As A Police Officer

Pat Davis Shooting A Black Man As DC Cop Only Part Of Story; Davis Engaged In Pattern Of Civil Rights Violations As A UNM Cop Costing Taxpayers Thousands

ProgressNow New Mexico Statement on Councilor Davis’ Shooting of a Black Man and Pattern of Upholding Racist Institutions; Calls For His Multiple Resignations

The “Spin Doctor Pat Davis” Is Not “Authentic And Honest” As He Proclaims; City Councilors Protecting One Of Their Own Looking The Other Way; Take Another Vote To Decide If Davis Should Remain As President

Pat Davis Booted From Judicial Selection Commission; Same Political Consultant Behind Pat Davis, DA Raul Torrez And Mayor Tim Keller; Davis Needs Step Down As City Council President Or Be Removed By City Council Vote