Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell within hours after the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on September 19, vowed that President Donald Trump’s as-yet unnamed nominee to replace her will receive a full vote on the Senate floor “this year,” but he has been careful not to say exactly when that will happen. Democrats are accusing “Moscow Mitch” of blatant hypocrisy after McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a full eight months before the 2016 election.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor Monday to remind McConnell of his own words hours after the February 2016 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia when McConnell said: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

https://apnews.com/bb9932748b199f793cb2ccbefa713a5f

Moscow Mitch was not the only Republican to resist and oppose President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a full eight months before the 2016 election. Following are comments made by the GOP Senate Liar’s Club 4 years ago:

In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.”

In 2016, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.): “I don’t think we should be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term – I would say that if it was a Republican president.”

In 2016, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.): “The very balance of our nation’s highest court is in serious jeopardy. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will do everything in my power to encourage the president and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.”

In 2016, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): “A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.”

In 2016, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): “The campaign is already under way. It is essential to the institution of the Senate and to the very health of our republic to not launch our nation into a partisan, divisive confirmation battle during the very same time the American people are casting their ballots to elect our next president.”

In 2016, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.): “In this election year, the American people will have an opportunity to have their say in the future direction of our country. For this reason, I believe the vacancy left open by Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled until there is a new president.”

In 2016, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.): “The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president.”

2016, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.): “I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”

In 2016, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in on who should make a lifetime appointment that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations. This wouldn’t be unusual. It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.”

In 2016, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.): “I strongly agree that the American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate.”

BIGGEST LIAR OF THEM ALL

Then there is the biggest lair and hypocrite of them all, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham when he said in 2018:

“If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.”

On September 21, Senator Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, said that Republicans have the votes to confirm a nominee to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat before the election:

“We got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election. We are going to move forward in the committee. We’re going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election. That’s the constitutional process. … The nominee is going to be supported by every Republican in the Judiciary Committee. “We’ve got the votes to confirm the justice on the floor of the Senate before the election and that’s what’s coming.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/graham-says-we-got-the-votes-to-confirm-scotus-nominee-before-election/

FOUR REPUBLCIAN VOTES NEEDED

Republicans hold slime 53-47 majority in the Senate and can confirm a justice by a simple majority. At least four Republicans would have break with the party to prevent a vote from coming to the floor because in case of a tie, Republican Vice President Mike Pence would vote.

Republican Main Senator Susan Collins said the day after Ginsburg’s death, said she does not support a vote before the election and said:

“Given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election,” In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd.”

Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said on Friday, September 18, before Ginsburg’s death was announced:

“I would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. We are 50-some days away from an election.”

Murkowski followed up on Sunday, September 20 with a statement that she is opposed to voting and said:

“For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election. Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed. I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election — less than two months out — and I believe the same standard must apply.”

On Tuesday, September 22, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said he supports voting to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court. Romney issued the following statement saying he would support moving forward.

“If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”

Romney’s announcement all but ensures President Trump has the backing needed to push the nomination over any Democratic objections.

TRUMP’S CHOICE

Trump said he intends to announce his choice to replace the late Justice Ginsburg on Saturday, September 26. Trump met with conservative Judge Federal Amy Coney Barrett who he appointed to the bench. On Monday, September 2, Trump told reporters he would interview other candidates and said he might meet with Judge when he travels to Florida. Without winning Florida, its likely Trump will lose the election. Both Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa are considered reliable conservatives who would be likely to set aside Roe v. Wade and rule the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional.

Trump expressed a preference for holding a vote on the nominee before the election and told reporters at the White House on Monday, September 21, before leaving for events in Ohio:

“I’d much rather have a vote before the election because there’s a lot of work to be done, and I’d much rather have it. … And we have plenty of time to do it.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Virtually ever single Republican Senator who successfully succeeded in blocking and preventing any vote to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland in the 2016 election year has now reversed themselves. All of them are falling all over themselves proclaiming it is their “duty to fill the vacancy” as soon as possible and before the November election and even before the President is sworn in on January 8.

No doubt the Republican Senate wants to make sure they create a super majority of conservatives on the 9 member Supreme Court to make sure it can rule that the 2020 election was rigged if Trump is not reelected to allow him to stay in power and to set aside the affordable care act when a case is presented in October. With a far-right conservative Supreme Court its likely Rowe v. Wade will be reversed abolishing a woman’s “right to choose”, any hope of setting aside and reversing Citizens United allowing billions to be spent in dark, corporate money to influence elections is gone and the Republican party, the minority party, will dominate the national agenda for generations.

This is nothing a power grab, pure, plain and simple. The only way to stop it is to vote straight Democrat and remove Trump and the entire GOP Liars Club from office.

This blog article is disclosure and an in-depth commentary and analysis of a January 13, 2010 interview of then APD Lieutenant Harold Medina regarding the shooting of 25-year-old veteran Ken Ellis who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and who was shot and killed by APD. The Ellis family sued the city for wrongful death. A jury returned a verdict finding the City and the officer who shot him liable for Ellis’ death and awarded more than $10 million in damages.

This blog article also reports on false statements and denials made by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos for the Keller Administration to discredit an opinion column of a former member of the Police Oversight Board in order to avoid public scrutiny of Internal Affairs files or the scrutiny of the homicide investigation file related to the Ken Ellis shooting.

Mayor Tim Keller has announced after appointing Harold Medina Interim APD Chief that he intends to conduct a national search for a new APD Chief. Keller has not announced if he intends to submit the appointment of Medina as Interim Chief to the City Council for their approval as he did with APD Chief Geier before he was made permanent after a national search.

JIM LARSON GUEST OPINION COLUMN

EDITOR’S NOTE: The policy of this blog is to first report on the news with sources and research material or to publish opinion columns written by others and provide COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS. Links to the blog posts are separately emailed to anyone who is mentioned or who may be interested in the column to allow people to freely challenge and question the accuracy of the blog article or disagree with what is published.

On September 16, the blog posted the guest opinion column authored and submitted by Jim Larson entitled “JIM LARSON GUEST COLUMN: “Mayor Keller Makes Major Mistake Appointing Interim Chief Who Created The Problem”; Do Authentic National Search And Allow New Chief To Replace Any Poorly Functioning Command Staff”.
The link to the Larson guest opinion column is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/09/16/jim-larson-guest-column-mayor-keller-makes-major-mistake-appointing-interim-chief-who-created-the-problem-do-authentic-national-search-and-allow-new-chief-to-replace-any-poor/

Mr. Larson in his lengthy opinion column opined in part:

“Harold Medina is the wrong person at the wrong time for the job of Interim Chief and Chief. Medina has no business being in charge of a police department that is still under a federal court approved settlement after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” and a pattern of use of “deadly force”. Harold Medina was part of the problem then and with his negligent management he actually helped create, participated in, or at a minimum, did not stop the “culture of aggression”.

Mr. Larson’s opinion column went on to discuss Interim Chief’s Harold Medina’s past actions. It highlighted Medina’s involvement with the January 2010, killing of Kenneth Ellis, III. Underlying facts of the Ken Ellis officer involved shooting (OIS) include that APD suspected Ellis of vehicle theft and pulled him over in a parking lot. Ellis exited the vehicle holding a gun pointed to his head. Ellis continued to hold the gun to his head as he made several cell phone calls to others as police officers pleaded with him to put the gun down. After several minutes, an officer shot Ellis one time in the neck and killed him.

FIRST REPONSE FROM KELLER ADMINISTRATION

On September 16, at 2: 35 pm, the Larson guest column was published. The link to the Larson’s guest column was emailed to Mayor Tim Keller, Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair, Interim Chief Harold Medina and APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos. It was also sent to others in the Keller Administration as well as the Albuquerque City Council.

On September 16 , almost 3 hours later at 5:31 pm, the following email was sent by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos correcting the Larson guest opinion column as follows:

Gilbert

CORRECTIONS MADE TO LARSON OPINION COLUMN

During the evening of September 16, in response to the information provided by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos, the blog article was corrected by author Jim Larson containing the information regarding Interim Chief Harold Medina’s work history and time period as an APD Lieutenant and Commander. The blog article corrections were then published the morning of September 17 at 9:00 am with the Editor’s Note pointing out the corrections. The Keller Administration was notified of the blog article changes by another email.

REQUEST FOR MEDINA INTERNAL AFFAIRS FILE

On September 16, at 10:18 am, the following email memo was sent to APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos:

TO: APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos
From: Pete Dinelli, Attorney at Law
CC: Mayor Tim Keller, CAO Sarita Nair, Interim Chief Harold Medina

“Other instances of officer recklessness that led to unreasonable uses of deadly force involved officers from the department’s SWAT unit who acted without proper discipline or control. In force incidents the DOJ reviewed, they found instances in which the SWAT unit did not operate with the discipline and control that would be expected of them, and this lack of discipline contributed to unreasonable uses of deadly force.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The original Larson opinion paragraphs were removed and the new paragraphs inserted on the blog. The Larson article published with corrected paragraphs can now be reviewed on the blog with the changes. In addition, the following request was made in the email:

REQUEST FOR INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATION FILE

Pete Dinelli, Attorney at Law

SECOND RESPONSE FROM KELLER ADMINISTRATION

On September 17, at 5:19 pm, he following email was sent by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos:

In a message dated 9/17/2020 5:19:30 PM Mountain Standard Time, gilbertgallegos@cabq.gov writes:

Pete,

The opinion column you ran by Jim Larson is based on factually incorrect information. It’s pretty clear where he is getting that information, but that doesn’t make it accurate. The original and updated versions build a case primarily on one shooting. It’s appalling that Larson would assume Medina was a lieutenant with SWAT during that incident without attempting to verify the information. It wasn’t a mistake. He made that assumption because it fit the narrative Larson wants to convey. But it’s wrong. Even when I pointed out that it was wrong (you referred to it as a correction in the below email to me, but a clarification in your updated post), Larson attempts to lump Medina in with the “SWAT commanding officers” mentioned in the DOJ report. As I pointed out, Medina was not a SWAT commanding officer during that incident. So Larson’s answer to that factually incorrect information was to make a new assumption, when he says “Then Lieutenant Harold Medina was likely the ranking officer on the scene who should have been giving commands or approving the actions of the APD officers.” So, Larson replaces one assumption with another assumption, which allows him to continue with his narrative that Medina was somehow responsible. The fact is Medina was the lieutenant with Property Crimes. The operation that led to the traffic stop was a Field Services Bureau operation, not property crimes, and several officers and supervisors from FSB were already on scene. Then-Lt. Medina was not in charge of the scene. He was not in charge of FSB. He was not in charge of SWAT. He was not investigated, nor was he interviewed as part of the investigation into the shooting. I’m happy to ask Internal Affairs to track down a 10-year-old investigation. (Emphasis added with bold print.)

REQUEST FOR CONFIRMATION OF TRUTH FROM APD WITH NO REPONSE

On September 18, at 8:42 am, the following email was sent to APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos and copied to the Mayor and the CAO:

Date: 9/18/2020 8:41:52 AM Mountain Standard Time

Pete Dinelli, Attorney at Law

As of September 21, no response has been provided by the Keller Administration to the email requesting confirmation of the truthfulness of statements made by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos in the email sent.

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERIM APD CHIEF HAROLD MEDINA

A confidential source provided a copy of a 12-page transcribed interview taken on January 13, 2010 of then APD Lieutenant Harold Medina regarding his involvement in the officer involved shooting (OIS) and killing of Ken Ellis. The interview at the time was conducted by Homicide Detective Kevin Morant. Then APD Lieutenant Harold Medina was at the scene of the shooting, became in charge upon arrival and became “involved” with the attempted apprehension of the Kenneth Ellis. The APD Case number is AP 10 – 0041334.

The transcribed interview of Harold Median directly contradicts and establishes as false the statements made by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos that “… Then Lt. Medina was not in charge of the scene. … He was not investigated, nor was he interviewed as part of the investigation into the shooting. … ”

THE HAROLD MEDINA INTERVIEW

Following are the transcribed statements made by Harold Medina contained in his January 13, 2010 interview:

DETECTIVE MORANT: This is Detective Kevin Morant with the Albuquerque Homicide Unit. Today’s date [is] January 13th, 2010. The time is 1221 hours We are present at the intersection of Constitution and Westerfield. This is in reference to case number AP 10-0004134. This is an interview with — can you state your name for the record, please?

DETECTIVE MORANT: … This concludes the interview. The time is 12:31.

NOT THE FIRST TIME MEDINA HAS HAD TRAGIC INTERACTION WITH MENTALLY ILL

Interim Chief Harold Medina has the tragic distinction of shooting and killing a 14-year-old Cibola High School student in 2004 when Medina was an APD field officer. At the time of the shooting, Harold Medina was 30 years old and was a seven-and-a-half-year veteran of APD.

According to news accounts, 14-year-old Dominic Montoya went to Taylor Ranch Baptist Church looking to pray. Montoya was reported as saying he was possessed by demons and went to church for help. Some one noticed the teenager was concealing a weapon and APD was called.

It turned out it Dominic Montoya had a BB gun and when APD showed up, the 14-year-old was fatally shot by police after pointing the BB gun at the officers. It was APD Officer Harold Medina who fired 3 shots at the 14-year-old, Cibola High School Student, with two hitting the juvenile in the abdomen. It was reported that the BB gun was indistinguishable from a real gun. Officer Harold Medina said he was in fear for his life.

https://apnews.com/41e13a7f6393b3ea5b92ccfadae5ccd6″>https://apnews.com/41e13a7f6393b3ea5b92ccfadae5ccd6″>https://apnews.com/41e13a7f6393b3ea5b92ccfadae5ccd6

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 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.
The link to the DOJ investigation report is here.

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

The DOJ reviewed all fatal shootings by officers between 2009 and 2012, including the Ken Ellis case, and found that officers were not justified under federal law in using deadly force in the majority of those incidents. The DOJ found APD failed to use deescalating tactics when encountering the mentally ill. The DOJ found APD 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.

A significant number of the use of force cases reviewed involved persons suffering from acute mental illness and who were having a mental health crisis, such as Ken Ellis. 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.

What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from the 17 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.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The January 13, 2010 interview of Harold Medina occurred within hours and at the scene of the shooting on the day of the killing of Ken Ellis. The time of the interview substantially increases the accuracy of Medina’s recollection of what happened that tragic day for Ken Ellis.

Medina inserted himself into the Ken Ellis encounter by APD. At the beginning of the interview, Medina makes it clear he worked at the downtown headquarters, he left the station and was heading to a “tact” plan involving his “burglary unit and members of [his] auto theft unit and members of [his] burglary unit.” and his impact teams he supervised. However, he was not part of the personnel assigned to implement the “tact” plan but it was the units he supervised that were implementing the “tact” plan. When Medina heard the call over the police radio scanner, he was not being dispatched to the call. Medina took it upon himself to go to the scene and to provide a rifle and his assistance.

As a Lieutenant, his role should have been observation and command, not giving orders as he did to subordinates. Lieutenant Harold Medina on his way to the scene called out the SWAT unit when he communicated with the SWAT Lieutenant over the radio and asked that SWAT be sent to the scene. Medina did not wait for SWAT to arrive. Instead, he escalated the incident by participating and acting essentially as a sniper when he took a position on the ground armed with his rifle.

Harold Medina establishes in his interview that he took charge of the scene upon his arrival as the ranking office by giving commands to officers. Once Medina arrived on the scene, he became the highest-ranking officer and under APD standard operating procedure he had the authority to assume control and give orders which he did. Towards the end of the interview, Median says “I asked an officer to secure and remain with that until the scene was secure and we started dividing, trying to get witnesses secured and securing the scene.” This statement alone establishes that Medina assumed the role of being in charge of the scene.

Medina also had the authority to authorize the use of deadly force to the sworn officers’ present, which he admitted he did to at least one officer. According to Medina, tensions were high at the scene and he says he did not want to broadcast information or orders over the radio to those under his command. What is clear is that Lieutenant Harold Medina himself was willing and able to use deadly force by use of his rifle, taking a position on the ground and “covering the subject” in order to fire his rifle when he felt it was necessary. Medina authorized at least one officer to use deadly force. Medina also makes it clear he was prepared to use deadly force himself on Ken Ellis.

The most critical fact is that it was Medina who authorized the use of deadly force by the officers who were under his command resulting in the killing of Ken Ellis. Medina did not order the use of de-escalation tactics. Medina did not order that his officers stand down. Medina did not order the officers to take safe cover. Medina did not order that the officers back up and secure the area. Medina did not order the use of anything less than deadly force. Medina did not order those under his command interacting with Ken Ellis to wait for a crisis unit to arrive at the scene or the SWAT unit he had requested.

After Ken Ellis was shot dead, police officers at the scene approached Lieutenant Medina to tell him that they thought a specifically identified officer had fired the shot that killed Ellis. Further Medina noted the location of the shell. Both facts in part show that Medina believed he was the officer in charge of the scene.

As soon as the Acting Area Commander for the NE Heights Area Command arrived on the scene, and Ken Ellis was already dead, Medina quickly relinquished the scene to the arriving Area Commander which Medina was required to do under standard operating procedures. The Acting Area commander assumed Medina’s role of incident commander. Medina in his own words gave the excuse that he “had involvement” with the shooting and “at that point it was turned over to everybody else.” The actions by Medina at the scene of the shooting before the Acting Area Commander arrived was a failure of leadership.

Medina’s was clearly the highest ranking officer at the scene once he arrived and he was giving commands, which escalated the situation. His actions of deploying his rifle and “covering the subject” crossed the line making him into a player, or participant, while at the same time he was a supervisor. The fallacy is that there is a denial he was in charge of the scene as the incident was evolving and in the interview he admits he was in charge. Turning over command to another after the killing does not absolve Medina for his conduct and he needs to be held responsible for his actions or failure to act. Turning command over to another after the killing of Ken Ellis does not mean he can avoid being held responsible for the orders he gave, or did not give, that resulted in the shooting death of Ken Ellis.

A jury returned a verdict finding the City and the officer who shot and killed Ken Ellis was liable for Ellis’ death and awarded more than $10 million in damages. Negligent supervision of the officer and training was likely a contributing factor in the case for the jury to make such a large award.

It is unknown if any disciplinary action was taken against Lieutenant Harold Medina for his actions, or his failure to act, during the Kenneth Ellis Officer involved shooting case.

MEDINA PART OF THE PROBLEM

The Kenneth Ellis shooting was among several APD officer involved shooting cases that contributed to the launch of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) into whether APD had a pattern of violating people’s civil rights, specifically through the use of force and deadly force involving the mentally ill. APD SWAT was involved with many of the police shootings investigated by the DOJ. The City and APD entered into a Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) that mandated 270 reforms. Among those reforms included training in de escalation tactics when dealing with the mentally ill in crisis such as Ken Ellis.

Interim Chief Harold Medina is part of the very problem that brought the Department of Justice (DOJ) here in the first place. It was the past APD management practices that resulted in the “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice that lead to the federal consent decree after 18 police officer involved shootings and the findings of excessive use of force and deadly force by APD. The litany of cases includes 4 Cases where $21.7 Million was paid for APD’s excessive use of force and deadly force and $64 Million for 42 police officer shootings in 10 years. A link to a related blog is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2019/06/18/four-cases-21-7-million-paid-for-apds-excessive-use-of-force-and-deadly-force-64-million-for-42-police-officer-shootings-in-10-years-apd-evolves-with-casa-reforms-training-and-incre/

Any one in APD command staff who may have assisted, contributed or who did not stop the “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice and who have resisted the reform process has no business being APD Chief or Deputy for that matter. It is not at all likely, despite whatever public comments he makes, that Interim APD Chief Medina will ever get behind the Federal mandated reforms which should disqualify him from being the interim APD Chief and for that matter the new permanent Chief.

Recently it was reported that the number of policies violated at the Albuquerque Police Department skyrocketed by 275% and suspensions jumped more than 350%. Interim police chief Harold Medina said the Albuquerque Police Department is now holding officers accountable when they need to be held accountable. Harold Medina himself, now that he is Chief, is the very last one that should be holding people accountable for failed leadership given his involvement with the killing of Ken Ellis.

https://www.koat.com/article/five-times-more-apd-employees-have-been-fired-in-the-past-year/34064416

https://www.abqjournal.com/1497888/report-albuquerque-police-misconduct-cases-skyrocket.html

REMOVE GILBERT GALLEGOS AS APD SPOKESMAN

Another person who needs to be held accountable for his false and misleading statements is APD Spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos. When Gallegos said in his email “… Then Lt. Medina was not in charge of the scene. … He was not investigated, nor was he interviewed as part of the investigation into the shooting. … ” it fair to assume as APD Spokesman Gallegos cleared his response with either Interim Chief Harold Medina, CAO Sarita Nair, Mayor Tim Keller or all three. No one knows for sure who wrote the response other than them.

When APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos sent the email giving an analysis and position on Mr. Larson’s opinion column and ending it with the sarcastic comment “I’m happy to ask Internal Affairs to track down a 10-year-old investigation” it reflects that Gallegos is just plain lazy or failed to do his job by finding out the truth or was lying or he had already been told by Medina about what happened or read Medina’s interview and he already knew Medina’s involvement with the Ellis shooting.

The remark also confirms Mr. Gallego’s reputation for distraction, delay, and misleading the general public and just being an arrogant and disrespectful smart ass given the fact that the Internal Affairs investigation file had already been requested and he was only offering to find someone else to find it. The Keller Administration has failed to turn over Internal Affairs files regarding any recommended and imposed disciplinary action against Lt. Medina for his actions at the Ken Ellis shooting.

Least anyone forget, it was APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos who was at the center of the controversy in which APD deleted a TWEET from its official account that quoted Chief Geier calling the police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where and African American was shot in the back 7 times by a police officer, as “senseless.” Chief Geier later claimed he was not aware of the shooting and said he would not have issued the statement without knowing all the facts surrounding the shooting.

Department Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos later admitted he was the one who wrote and sent the TWEET without Geier’s approval. When a city councilor asked CAO Sarita Nair about the TWEET at a council meeting, Nair said that it was “uncommon” to quote officials without their permission. Nair said that APD Spokesman Gallegos had “stepped up to take accountability for that very human mistake.” Gallegos was never disciplined for his nefarious conduct. One thing is for certain, Gallegos lacks credibility and should be removed as a spokesperson for APD.

CLEAN SWEEP OF APD HIGH COMMAND REQUIRED

When candidate Keller was running for Mayor, he promised sweeping changes with APD, a national search for a new APD Chief and a return to Community based policing. During Mayor Tim Keller’s first 8 months in office, Keller did not make the dramatic management changes he promised. Keller appointed APD retired past management of the department and past practices. The appointed Chief and Deputy Chiefs are not outsiders at all but have been with APD for a number of years and are eligible for retirement.

APD leadership and management is crumbling around Mayor Tim Keller who is failing to keep his campaign promises of reducing high crime rates, returning to community-based policing, increasing the size of APD and implementing the DOJ reforms. The abrupt departure of Chief Geier no doubt will have an impact on implementing the DOJ mandated reforms as will the appointment of Harold Medina as interim Chief.

Mayor Keller is now faced with the very difficult task of finding and hiring a new APD Chief 14 months before the election for Mayor. That may not happen because of the possibility that person may also be out of a job if Keller is not reelected. APD needs a clean sweep in management and philosophy to remove anyone who may have assisted, contributed or who did not stop the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice and who have resisted the reform process during the last 3 years of the consent decree, including Harold Medina.

Keller’s “new” and installed APD Deputies are a reflection of APD’s past and all have been with APD for some time. APD’s current command staff are not a new generation of police officer fully committed and trained in constitutional policing practices and they should be removed. Mayor Keller also needs to remove APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos before he is caught again for lying or misleading the public. Then again, Keller’s leadership reaction time is as slow as watching paint dry seeing as he waited 2 years and 9 months into his 4-year term to replace Chief Geier.

Perhaps the time has come for voters to also change Mayor because his job performance with APD management is just not cutting it.

On August 28, U.S. Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson reported that in a little over a month since federal agents arrived in Albuquerque as part of Operation Legend, 19 violent felons have been arrested on federal charges. According to Anderson, it is just a small number of people driving the majority of violent crime in Albuquerque, and their goal is to get those people off the streets. The Department of Justice (DOJ), including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is targeting people with lengthy and violent criminal histories and convicted felons accused of crimes like carjacking, illegally shooting guns and drug dealing.

U.S. Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson had this to say:

“Operation Legend is about combating dangerous crime and gun crime in our cities. … It’s not about policing any kind of protest in our city. It’s not about immigration enforcement. … We are really looking at the people who are driving the violent crime epidemic in Albuquerque. … We are looking to remove the most violent folks from communities, not simply rack up arrest numbers of people who do not have serious criminal histories. … There are more cases on which prosecution has been initiated, but I can’t say more about them because they are under [court] seal. … More than anything, I hope to see reduction in violent crime and people feeling safer living and working in the city.”

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NEWS RELEASE

On September 4, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), issued a press release giving an update on the number of people charged since Operation Legend was deployed in Albuquerque in July.

The DOJ news release reports that between July 22 and August 31, at least 35 people have been charged predominantly largely on gun and drug-related offenses. U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson identified 16 of the 35 people arrested and had this to say in the DOJ press release:

“By coordinating federal resources with state and local law enforcement, we’ve been able to identify, apprehend and prosecute individuals driving dangerous crime in the city. We can see from the charges brought under Operation Legend that we have been effective in meeting our objectives and we intend to continue this trend.”

According to the DOJ press release, the number of suspects and charged include:

19 charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
16 charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
10 charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
9 charged with distribution of controlled substances.
8 charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
5 charged with Hobbs Act violations.
4 charged with being in possession of a stolen firearm.
3 charged with brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.
One each charged with carjacking, reentry of a removed alien; discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime; and maintaining a drug-involved premises.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1493124/feds-reveal-slew-of-charges-related-to-operation-legend.html

OPERATION LENGEND $9.7 MILLION GRANT IS REIMBURSEMENT GRANT

Included in Operation Legend is $9.7 million to the city to hire 40 police officers and pay entry level salaries for a 3-year period. The grant money is from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and was offered to the city after DOJ announced Operation Relentless Pursuit. The grant pays for entry-level salaries for 40 police officers for three years after which the city must find funding to continue paying for the entry level positions.

A big catch to the grant money is that it is not advanced in single lump sum to the city to pay for police officers’ salaries. In a September 8 presentation to the H. Vern Payne Inn of Court, United State Attorney John Anderson said the grant is a “reimbursement grant” meaning that the city will be “reimbursed” for money spent only after the entry level officers are hired. The downside to reimbursement is that the city first must recruit entry level police officers and only after those officers actually go to work will the federal grant money be advanced to reimburse the City.

The city is having difficulty recruiting police officers with money that is already in the city budget. 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 had funding for 1,040 sworn police and the same amount is being earmarked in the 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. Notwithstanding all the money spent, APD is struggling to grow to the department personnel levels promised by Mayor Tim Keller to 1,200 sworn police, crime is still spiking and APD is under the DOJ consent decree where 61 sworn police are assigned to the the compliance bureau deal with the DOJ mandated reforms. As of August 18, APD has 984 sworn police officers but only 532 of those officers are assigned to the field services, divided between 3 separate shifts, in the six Area Commands to patrol the entire city and take calls for service.

APD STILL UNDER DOJ CONSENT DECREE

Another matter that must be worked out is a memorandum of understanding as to what role and under what restraints will APD Officers assigned to Operation Legend be allowed to work. APD is one of 18 police departments in the country under a federal court consent degree that imposes restrictions on police officer practices and mandates constitutional policing practices. According to the enacted city council resolution, the grant will pay 100% of entry-level salaries and benefits of newly hired or re-hired full-time sworn career officers over a period of 3 years but more experienced officers would then join the Operation Legend Federal task force.

Law enforcement participants with Operation Legend in Albuquerque include the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) , and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and perhaps United States Customs. None of these law enforcement agencies are required to follow the DOJ consent decree when arrests are made as is APD. Any memorandum of understanding should include specific duties and responsibilities of assigned APD officers to avoid any confusion as to the DOJ Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA).

CITY APPLIES FOR GRANT

On September 3, it was reported that Albuquerque’s “immigrant-friendly” policies will not block the city’s application for $9.7 million in federal grant money to hire 40 new officers and pay their salaries for three years. Mayor Tim Keller said there is not an issue in the city applying for the grant money. APD city has 984 sworn officers on duty with 60 cadets in the APD academy that should graduate by the end of the year. Mayor Keller wants to meet a goal of 1,100 officers by the end of the year and that may not happen. The problem is that the number of APD Officers retiring at the end of the year will also have to be replaced by the APD Academy graduating cadet class. The APD Academy has a history of not graduating enough to keep up with retirements.

Initially, Mayor Keller said the city would reject the $9.7 million grant taking issue with a number of the provisions within the grant and the “memorandum of understanding” needed for the award of the grant money. Sections of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and the Department of Justice deal with immigration status.

The MOU the city is required to sign allows for an audit of city employee forms to determine whether the workers are legally in the United States. Another section requires the city to share immigration information collected by city departments, including APD, but the city does not collect immigration information. Further, there is no requirement in the grant application that APD officers inquire about a person’s immigration status during the normal course of their duties.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1492420/city-to-seek-federal-help-in-boosting-apd.html

COUNCIL VOTES TO ACCEPT GRANT MONEY, QUESTIONS REMAIN

On Wednesday, September 9, the Albuquerque City Council voted to accept the $9.7 grant money from Operation Legend. The Keller administration will now proceed with plans to finalize approval of the grant with a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

But Albuquerque still may not get the money any time soon due to its status as an immigrant-friendly city.

In February, the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, John Anderson, pointed out that one of the conditions of the grant funding is that the city complies with a provision in federal law that bars municipalities from prohibiting employees from sharing information about an individual’s immigration status with federal law enforcement. Anderson said at the time in order to receive the $9.7 million, the city has to certify that it complies with that law and if the city is a “Sanctuary City” it would not qualify for the grant money.

SANCTUARY CITY VERSUS SYMBOLIC IMMIGRANT FRIENDLY CITY

The award and acceptance of the $9.7 Million Federal grant has been politicized by those that falsely claim that Albuquerque is a “Sanctuary City”. The truth is, Albuquerque has never been a “Sanctuary City”. In 2001, the Albuquerque City Council enacted a resolution that declared Albuquerque an “immigrant friendly” city. The designation as an “immigrant friendly city” is largely symbolic.

A “sanctuary city” denies cooperation with federal immigration officials and does not use city law enforcement resources to identify or apprehend illegal immigrants and does not use city law enforcement resources to enforce immigration laws.

An “immigrant friendly” city is one that implements “welcoming city” policies and does not provide for city enforcement of federal immigration laws and addresses only city services including licensing and housing and the focus is to create inclusive, immigrant friendly and welcoming policies. and is largely symbolic.

In February, 2017, the City Council enacted a symbolic memorial that reaffirmed that Albuquerque’s “immigrant friendly” status, but it did not make Albuquerque a “sanctuary city”. Many who are in the United States without legal immigration status and who do not engage in criminal conduct are often preyed upon by others and do not report they have been victimized to avoid deportation. As a memorial, the legislation is not law, but an expression of support to extend city services to those who are afraid to ask for help out of fear of being reported to immigration authorities for deportation.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/money-offered-to-albuquerque-for-operation-legend-in-limbo/5843251/

COURT ACTIONS AND RULINGS

The city has not signed the grant funding agreement. The city attorney’s office takes the position that Albuquerque is not a “sanctuary city” as defined under the federal law, and that the city’s immigrant-friendly resolution does not violate the law in question. The city is prepared to go to court if it becomes an issue with the DOJ.

Recent Federal court rulings support that the city is on solid ground and would likely prevail once it accepts the grant money and if the DOJ challenges the award and demands reimbursement. A Federal District Judge in a recent court ruling in California sided with the city of San Francisco against U.S. Attorney General William Barr on the same issue, as well as other court rulings and legal interpretations of the federal law and the city’s resolution.

Albuquerque Assistant City Attorney had this to say:

“When you look at 8 U.S.C. § 1373, it says, notwithstanding any provision of law, the local government entity or official may not prohibit or restrict any government entity or official from sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual. … It’s solely those two things: citizenship or immigration status. … The court said California’s policy did not prohibit sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service citizenship or immigration status. It prohibited other things, like place of birth, or national origin. That is consistent with how our ordinance is written.”

The City also is taking the position that because the city does not ask for or collect individuals’ immigration or citizenship status, it has nothing to share with the federal government.

In 2019, a Federal Judge in Illinois ruled against U.S. Attorney General Barr, finding he cannot require compliance with statutes related to immigration law as a condition of a different federal grant. That case was filed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, of which Albuquerque is part, and the city has received money from a grant in relation to that ruling.

In 2018, the Albuquerque was awarded a federal grant of $452,108 for a Crime Gun Intelligence center to improve its ability to investigate shootings. The City has not received the grant money due to the same conditions attached to the $9.7 million COPS office grant. In April, the city filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Barr asking a judge to declare the immigration conditions attached to the Gun Intelligence Center grant unlawful and to give the city the money and the case is still pending.

A link to news coverage is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495632/council-signs-off-on-cops-grant-but-questions-remain.html

DOJ POSITION

In March, U.S. Attorney John Anderson wrote then APD Chief Michael Geir and said his office could not include a provision the city wanted to insert in a memorandum of understanding that stated its policies comply with the federal immigration law. Anderson wrote:

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is not in a position to offer [APD] or the City an advisory legal opinion with respect to the scope and meaning of City policies and resolutions, or their compliance with federal law. ”

When asked directly whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) believes the city’s immigrant-friendly ordinance clashes with the grant’s conditions, Anderson had this to say:

“The City’s April 24, 2018, resolution provides that nothing in the ‘resolution shall be construed or implemented to conflict with any valid and enforceable duty or obligation imposed by … any federal … law.’ Title 8 U.S.C. § 1373 is a valid federal law and the DOJ obviously views it as such.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495632/council-signs-off-on-cops-grant-but-questions-remain.html

ALBUQUERQUE, WE HAVE A METH PROBLEM

According to United State Attorney John Anderson, the 35 federal agents assigned to Albuquerque under Operation Legend will remain until at least the end of September. At that point, the DOJ will re-evaluate violent crime rates and stay longer if needed.

Anderson is saying the drug battle on the border is shifting and New Mexico’s growing meth problem is being fueled by criminal operations in Mexico. Anderson credits the rise in cheap and available meth for driving Albuquerque’s crime crisis and had this to say:

“For many areas [in] our country including New Mexico, I see meth as being the number one public safety threat in that respect as a driver of violent crime. … This is not a soft drug. … It’s a drug that’s associated with violence both in the use of it and the trafficking. I think it’s the cost and it’s also a function that the fact that tremendously greater amounts of it are being produced in what we call the super labs in Mexico. I think for many years our meth was made locally, was made in much smaller quantities. That has largely been eclipsed by the mass production and cheap production that we’re seeing coming from Mexico.”

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) , New Mexico’s meth problem is getting worse with federal authorities seizing larger amounts of drugs in the state. In New Mexico, 2020 is on track to surpass 2019 and 2018 for total meth seizures coming from Mexico. Anderson said his office is working closely with the DEA to intercept drugs being funneled into the country. They’re also working with Mexican authorities to shut down super labs.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/us-attorney-general-blames-mexican-lsquosuperlabsrsquo-for-new-mexicorsquos-growing-violent-crime/5846804/?cat=500

CITY’S CRIME RATES

Operation Legend is a major crackdown aimed at driving down violent crime in 7 of the nation’s most violent cities in the country. Not at all surprising, Albuquerque is one of those cities. The other 6 cities are Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, Kansas City, Memphis and Milwaukee. All 7 cities have violent crime rates significantly higher and above the national average. FBI statistics reveal that Albuquerque has the dubious distinction of having a crime rate about 194% higher than the national average. The fact that Albuquerque is one of the 7 cities involved with Operation Legend merits a review of the city’s spiking crime rates.

On Thursday, July 2, 2020, APD officials held a press conference to release the Albuquerque crime statistics for 2019. A report on the city’s crime statistics had not occurred for over a year because it was discovered that Mayor Keller during his first 18 months in office had disseminated false statistics as a result of a change in computer software categories to comply with FBI crime reporting.

ABQ’S CRIME STATISTICS UNDER MAYOR KELLER

A synopsis of the statics during Mayor Tim Keller’s tenure is in order. It must be noted the categories were changed in 2018 to comply with new FBI crime reporting categories.

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. On September 3, it was reported that the city had its 53 homicide in 2020

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.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1491404/state-city-leaders-play-politics-with-public-safety.html

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

On July 30, 2020, as reported above, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reports that Albuquerque is now ranked #2 in the nation for auto theft.

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. As of August 18, there have been 55 homicides in Albquerque with the city on tract to break the all time record once again.

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.

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

VIOLENT CRIME RATES

The city’s violent crime rates continue to increase during Keller’s term. In 2017, during Mayor RJ Berry’s last full year in office, there were 7,686. 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.

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.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

For the past 6 years, APD has been struggling to implement 276 police department reforms mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) agreed to after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” within APD. The city of Albuquerque is spending $88 million dollars over 4 years to grow and expand the APD from 850 sworn officers to 1,200. The city is also spending an additional $35 million for non-recurring expenses for expansion, recruitment and training.

Even with the initial success of Operation Legend, it is very doubtful that the 35 sworn law enforcement brought to the city for Operation Legend as well as the 40 new sworn police paid for by the Operation Legend grant, are going to make that much of difference anytime soon given the city and counties existing law enforcement personnel resources. APD has 984 sworn police and the BCSO has 300 sworn police, for a total of 1,284 sworn police, with city’s crime rates being some of the highest in the country for the last 10 years.

Eight of those high crime years were under Republican Mayor RJ Berry and for 2 years the crime rates haven gotten even worse under Democrat Mayor Keller. Keller himself is saying APD alone needs at least 200 more cops and have a full force of 1,200. United State Attorney John Anderson says that the 35 sworn police already here may be gone at the end of September. It is likely the hiring of the 40 new sworn will take upwards of six months to a year.

United States Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson is now saying that “meth [is] … the number one public safety threat in that respect as a driver of violent crime. … This is not a soft drug. … It’s a drug that’s associated with violence both in the use of it and the trafficking. … .”

If United State Attorney for New Mexico John Anderson is truly committed to bringing down the city’s crime rates, he should seek to expand Operation Legend for a full year and concentrate on arresting and prosecuting those involved with the meth trade. A short-term tactical plan such as Operation Legend in a Presidential election year is not going to accomplish very much long term. The again, come November 3 election day, the priorities of the US Department of Justice are likely to come to a screeching halt if Joe Biden is elected President.

POSTCRIPT NEWS UPDATE

Following is a September 19 KOB, TV news report:

DEA Says Meth Is To Blame For Albuquerque’s Crime Crisis

Officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration claim meth from Mexico is to blame for Albuquerque’s violent crime and homicide rate.

By KOB’s count, there’s been at least 56 murders in 2020.

“Drugs do play a big part in driving violent crime,” said Kyle Williamson, the DEA’s special agent in charge of the El Paso division which oversees New Mexico and parts of west Texas.
Williamson told KOB 4 the DEA has brought in additional agents from El Paso to help combat drug trafficking and reduce violence.

“It’s cartel on cartel violence, it’s gang on gang violence and it leads to people who abuse it who get high and go on a rage and kill somebody,” he said.
Recently, Dakota Briscoe was arrested for allegedly shooting two people in the head then burning their bodies.

According to court documents, both victims and Briscoe had a history of selling methamphetamine.

Police also interviewed a person that claimed Briscoe had smoked meth hours before shooting and killing two people.

Williamson said meth is the biggest drug problem facing New Mexico.

“So six months ago we launched Operation Crystal Shield with the purpose of targeting methamphetamine importation and distribution,” said Williamson.

“As of last week, we have arrested 176 people and seized close to 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine along with seizing $1.1 million in drug proceeds,” he added.

Albuquerque’s violent crime rate is more than three times the national average, according to the FBI.

Williamson said the additional agents from El Paso are part of Operation Legend.

In addition to prosecuting drug traffickers, Williamson said he wants to increase the DEA’s education outreach in the Albuquerque area.

The link to the KOB story is here:

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/dea-says-meth-is-to-blame-for-albuquerquersquos-crime-crisis/5868145/?cat=500

Jim Larson has been a long-term resident of Albuquerque. Mr. Larson has an extensive and diversified career in law-enforcement both on the Federal and State levels. His law enforcement career includes being a former United States Secret Service Agent, a Dallas Texas Police Officer, and Investigator with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and working at Sandia National Laboratories. After retiring from Sandia National Laboratories, Mr. Larson served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children. He has been involved with APD civilian police reform including serving a short period of time on the Civilian Police Oversight Board.

The following guest column was submitted by Mr. Larson for publication on this blog:

“On Thursday morning, September 10, Mayor Tim Keller along with APD Chief Michael Geier, held a press conference to announce that Chief Geier was retiring after 2 years and 9 months as APD Chief. Mayor Keller also announced that First Deputy Chief Harold Medina would be taking over as interim Chief starting Monday, September 14.

The length of time to do another “national search”, which many in the community and APD believe a charade, is likely very long given the circumstances and timing of the next mayoral election, so this interim Chief decision has incalculable importance for moving forward. The APD officers and personnel and citizens of Albuquerque deserve a more thoughtful and considered decision for the interim Chief than the default again to re-tread, Deputy Chief Harold Medina, especially given his known history and DOJ findings in the SWAT unit he commanded.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pursuant to a clarification provided by APD Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos on September 17, the above blog article has been modified by author Jim Larson to clarify the information regarding Interim Chief Harold Medina’s work history and time period as an APD Lieutenant and Commander. The opinions expressed in the above article are those of Jim Larson and do not necessarily reflect those of the political blog www.petedinelli.com. Mr. Larson was not compensated for the column.

DINELLI COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Interim APD Chief Harold Medina was hired by APD in 1995 and retired from APD after 20 years of service. He served with APD until 2014, when he retired and became Chief of the Pueblo of Laguna for three years. Medina returned to APD as a Deputy Chief when Keller took over as Mayor in December, 2017. APD First Deputy Chief Harold Medina went from being paid $136,040.20 in 2019 to being paid $145,017.60 within a few months after repeatedly complaining to Chief Geier and CAO Nair he was paid less than the other Deputy Chiefs. Former APD Chief Michael Geier was paid $183,378.60 a year and it is likely Medina will be paid the same or near that amount as Interim Chief.

Interim APD Chief Harold Medina has the tragic distinction of shooting and killing a 14-year-old Cibola High School student in 2004 when he was an APD field officer. At the time of the shooting, Harold Medina was 30 years old and was a seven-and-a-half-year veteran of APD. According to news accounts, 14-year-old boy Dominic Montoya went to Taylor Ranch Baptist Church looking for prayer. Montoya was reported as saying he was possessed by demons and went to church for help. Some one noticed the teenager was concealing a weapon and APD was called. It turned out it was a BB gun and when APD showed up, the 14-year-old was fatally shot by police after pointing the BB gun at the officers. It was the APD Officer Harold Medina who fired 3 shots at the 14 year old, Cibola High School Student with two hitting the juvenile in the abdomen. It was reported that the BB gun was indistinguishable from a real gun and Medina said he was in fear for his life.

Links to news coverage is here:

https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Police-Kill-Teen-Gunman-in-Church-10499991.php

https://apnews.com/41e13a7f6393b3ea5b92ccfadae5ccd6

APD leadership and management is crumbling around Mayor Tim Keller who is failing to keep his campaign promises of reducing high crime rates, returning to community-based policing, increasing the size of APD and implementing the DOJ reforms. The abrupt departure of Chief Geier no doubt will have a major impact on implementing the DOJ mandated reforms.

Keller appointed Geier after a “national search” and after Geier retired for a 3rd time from law enforcement. The national search was a sham. Appointing First Deputy Chief Harold Medina as Interim Chief confirms insider information that APD is in total disarray and its management in shambles as result of infighting, with much of the infighting created by Harold Medina. Keller has announced that another national search will be conducted to find a new Chief, and if its anything like the search he conducted that resulted in Chief Geier being appointed Chief, it will be sham. The link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/14/national-search-for-new-apd-chief-a-sham/

It is no secret at city hall that Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair is very much involved with the day to day management of APD and that Deputy Chief Harold Medina have developed a strong working relationship with CAO Nair. According to sources, Harold Medina will do whatever he is told to do by CAO Nair and Mayor Tim Keller. Confidential APD command staff have been reporting that Harold Medina was making it known to them that he intended to be the next Chief of APD.

CLEAN SWEEP IS NEEDED

When candidate Keller was running for Mayor, he promised sweeping changes with APD, a national search for a new APD Chief and a return to Community based policing. During Mayor Tim Keller’s first 8 months in office, Keller did not make the dramatic management changes he promised, but a relied on past management of the department and past practices. The current Deputy Chiefs are not outsiders at all but have been with APD for years.

APD needs a clean sweep in management and philosophy to remove anyone who may have assisted, contributed or who did not stop the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice and who have resisted the reform process during the last 3 years of the consent decree, including Harold Medina. Keller’s “new” and present Deputies are a reflection of APD’s past and all have been with APD for some time. APD’s current command staff are not a new generation of police officer fully committed and trained in constitutional policing practices.

Mayor Tim Keller needs to conduct a national search to find a new Chief and Deputy Chiefs who are not already with APD and allow whoever is chosen to run APD free of his interference or the interference of CAO Nair. Interim APD Chief Harold Medina is part of the very problem that brought the Department of Justice here in the first place. It is not at all likely, despite whatever public comments he makes, that Medina will ever get behind the Federal mandated reforms which should disqualify him from being Chief. Harold Medina should also be thanked for his service and move on giving him a good letter of recommendation as he seeks employment elsewhere.

On September 10, a blog article was published entitled “Mayor Keller Abruptly Terminates APD Chief Geier; Appoints First Deputy Chief Harold Medina Interim Chief; Keller Should Replace All Deputies; Freshman City Councilor Brook Bassan Shows Entire City Council How To Do Their Jobs”. The link to the blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/09/10/mayor-keller-abruptly-terminates-apd-chief-geier-appoints-first-deputy-chief-harold-medina-interim-chief-keller-should-replace-all-deputies-freshman-city-councilor-brook-bassan-shows-entire-city-co/

The approach taken by the blog is to first report on the news with sources and research material and then provide political COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS. Blog articles posted on the political blog www.PeteDinelli.com are separately emailed to anyone who is mentioned as a matter of common courtesy. Links to blog articles are emailed to allow people to freely challenge and question the accuracy of the blog article.

Within hours of the September 10 blog article being published, APD Chief Michael Geier sent an email objecting to the characterization that he was “terminated” saying he in fact “retired.” Subsequent to the publication of the blog article, information was provided to the blog by confidential sources as to the circumstances surrounding Chief Geier’s departure from APD.

NEWSWORTHY EMAIL EXCHANGE

Below are 3 emails relating to a blog article posted September 10. The contents of the emails below are being published because they involve what is essentially a communication from the top APD law enforcement official to a political blogger. Normally, such communications are totally ignored, not responded to and blocked. The fact that the hostile email was sent by the APD Chief to a private citizen makes it news worthy.

The first email is from Pete Dinelli to APD Chief Michael Geier containing the link to the blog article and is as follows:

Date: 9/10/2020 12:53:47 PM Mountain Standard Time
To: Michael Geier
From: Pete Dinelli

Subject: Link to Dinelli blog article “Mayor Keller Abruptly Terminates APD Chief Geier; Appoints First Deputy Chief Harold Medina Interim Chief; Keller Should Replace All Deputies; Freshman City Councilor Brook Bassan Shows Entire City Council How To Do Their Jobs”

(EDITOR’S NOTE: THE EMAIL CONTENT WAS ONLY THE FOLLOWING LINK TO THE BLOG ARTICLE)

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/09/10/mayor-keller-abruptly-terminates-apd-chief-geier-appoints-first-deputy-chief-harold-medina-interim-chief-keller-should-replace-all-deputies-freshman-city-councilor-brook-bassan-shows-entire-city-co/

The second email is a reply from APD Chief Michael Geier to Pete Dinelli sent a little over and hour after the first email sent to Geier. Follow is the email:

Date: 9/10/2020 2:14:30 PM Mountain Standard Time
To: Pete Dinelli
From: Michael Geier

Subject: Link to Dinelli blog article: “Mayor Keller Abruptly Terminates APD Chief Geier; Appoints First Deputy Chief Harold Medina Interim Chief; Keller Should Replace All Deputies; Freshman City Councilor Brook Bassan Shows Entire City Council How To Do Their Jobs”

In a message dated 9/10/2020 2:14:30 PM Mountain Standard Time, mgeier writes:

[EMAIL CONTENT;]

“Hey Pete. Now that I’m retiring I can tell you that it would be nice if you got your facts right before you spew your crap. SO for the record, I did NOT get terminated. Which reminds of when you ran the safe city strike force. How did that work out for you? Or your failed attempts at running for mayor or your very short stint as our public safety director. Hmmm, that didn’t end well either. I also plan to write a blog now that I will have some free time and I plan to mention you in many of my articles. Issue 1 will talk about the lawsuits filed against the Safe City Strike Force costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The third email is from Pete Dinelli sent to Chief Geier in response to his email.

Date: 9/10/2020 6:20:17 PM Mountain Standard Time
To: Michael Geier
From: Pete Dinelli
Subject: Response to your departing email to me

[EMAIL CONTENT]

Chief Geier:

Thank you for your email, but please confirm if it was written by you, Gilbert Gallegos, John Ross or Sarita Nair.

It is interesting that only now you write me about my blog. I sent you all the blog articles over the last 3 years out of courtesy to you whenever you were mentioned. Not once did you ever write to complain or demand a correction to what was said. Please also recall the times I offered to publish guest columns written by APD and the offer was declined.

Best wishes and I do hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I do.

A LABOR DAY WEEKEND WALK IN THE PARK

On September 10, after the blog article was published, confidential sources provided information that APD Chief Michael Geier was summoned to a city park by Mayor Tim Keller and CAO Sarita Nair during the September 5 Labor Day Holiday weekend. The purpose of the meeting was that Keller had decided to let Geier go, that his services were no longer needed and it was time for Geier to leave APD.

According to the sources Keller told Geier he wanted to take APD in a different direction. Geier was given the choice between termination or retirement and Geier agreed that it was time to retire. Soon after their walk in the park, sources say that Geier met CAO Nair in her office at city hall and the meeting became hostile. On Thursday morning, September 10, the details of Geier’s “retirement” were worked out and the press conference was held by Keller where Geier read his statement.

SECOND VERSE SAME AS THE FIRST

The reasons given by Chief Geier for retiring from APD are remarkably similar, some identical, to those he gave when he retired as Rio Rancho Police Chief close to 3 years ago.

EXCERPT FROM CHIEF GEIER’S RETIREMENT STATEMENT

Below in part is the statement read by APD Chief Geier at the September 10 press conference announcing his retirement:

“ … I have always known that the day would come when I would retire. The last several months have taken its toll on all of us. We have faced unprecedented challenges with COVID, protests in the wake of the George Floyd incident, increased violence in our city and let’s not forget, the never-ending scrutiny of our consent decree. Over my career I have been unable to spend quality time with my own family that they deserved. I will never be able to recoup what I missed but I now believe I can make up for lost time. My wife, children and grandchildren always placed my career at the forefront. They endured the varied work schedules, long hours on graveyard shifts, 24 hour on-call status, missed little leagues games, birthday parties, weekends and holidays worked, etc, etc. My goal is to now put all of them on the forefront and spend many hours of quality time I missed out on during my career. It has not been an easy decision but I will be retiring from APD in the next few weeks. …”

CHIEF GEIER’S RETIREMENT FROM RRPD

On January 28th, 2017, it was reported that then Rio Rancho Police Department (RRPD) Chief Michael Geier was stepping down as Police Chief. Geier joined RRPD in 2014, following a 20-year career with the Albuquerque Police Department.

Reasons given by Geier for retiring from the RRPD were he wanted to spend more time with his wife, who suffers from the rare skin disease scleroderma. Geier said in 2017:

“I’ve been doing this for 43 years and, at some point, you’ve got to put something first. We’ve been together 42 years …right now, I need an extended sabbatical to help her and give that attention.”

A link to the news coverage is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/937902/police-chief-to-step-down.html

KELLER ARTICULATES REASONS FOR GEIER’S DEPARTURE

Keller and Geier have known each other for 15 years. They met when Keller was a freshman state senator representing Albuquerque’s International District and Geier was the APD area commander. Chief Geier was one of the first appointments made by Mayor Tim Keller when he took office on December 1, 2017. Confidential sources have said that in 2017, then State Auditor Tim Keller running for Mayor, met with Geier and asked Geier to be APD Chief if Keller was elected Mayor and Geier agreed to serve with the understanding it would be for a full 4 years.

On September 10, in a written statement, Keller said of Geier:

“Chief Geier came in at a pivotal moment for the Department, and did a courageous job righting the ship through our first year, getting new leadership in place, focusing on gun violence and getting reform efforts on track. … I deeply appreciate the extremely difficult job he took on nearly three years ago. He helped move APD in the right direction in so many important ways.”

During the September 10 press conference, Keller said there were many factors contributing to the decision for Geier to retire. According to Keller, those factors included the “big issues our city is facing” as well as “small distractions.” Keller put it this way:

“As we saw the need, I saw the need, for also just increased progress for a faster rate of change. … We think it’s the right time for new leadership at APD. So, I think it’s a mutual decision. We want to move faster and we think it’s time for new leadership and he’s also ready to retire. So, I think it’s the way it should be.”

“Any time we have rising crime, we’re not where we want to be, that’s certainly the case. … Any time our Department of Justice reforms are stalled out, that’s not where I want to be, that’s absolutely the case. But I think you also have to be thoughtful and timely about those issues and when you make changes, and I think now is the right time.”

Keller addressed the internal investigation Geier opened into Chief of Staff John Ross over the summer for allegedly improperly purchasing electronics with Geier’s signature stamp and other “conduct that reflects poorly on the department ” and said it was a distraction by saying:

“That’s also something that no one wants to see. … I don’t want to see that either because I want everyone focused on fighting crime.”

Mayor Keller went on to say he felt the city’s 6 yearlong police reform effort under the Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) should be moving faster. Geier’s departure from APD occurs soon after the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office and the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office announced APD is under investigation for alleged overtime pay fraud.

Mayor Keller, Chief Geier and APD also faced severe criticisms for APD’s releasing crime stats that were seriously flawed and exaggerated the reduction in crime rates. At the time when the statistics were released, Keller held press conferences to announce the statistics and essentially took credit for reducing crime.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495117/chief-geier-to-leave-albuquerque-police-department.html

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL WEIGHS IN ON GEIER’S DEPARTURE

On Sunday, September 13, the Albuquerque Journal weighed in on Chief Geier’s departure as follows:

Editorial: With APD’s Geier out, we need a strong chief who’s allowed to tackle rampant crime
BY ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD
Sunday, September 13th, 2020 at 12:02am

“City to seek federal help in boosting APD”
– Sept. 2, A1
“Most NM voters back police, oppose cuts”
– Sept. 10, A1
“Bust leads to gun store suspect”
– Sept. 10, A1
“Keller administration grilled on handling of APD”
– Sept. 10, A5
“Chief Geier to leave APD”
– Sept. 11, A1

The results – or lack thereof – of the last three years prove that, and that Albuquerque needs a crime-fighter who is front and center.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

The link to the Albuquerque Journal Editorial is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495890/chief-concerns-with-apds-geier-out-amid-questions-of-whos-in-charge-we-need-a-strong-chief-whos-al

KELLER SHOULD SEEK HELP FROM SHERIFF MANNY GONZLAES FINDING A NEW APD CHIEF

When the Albuquerque Journal editors say “that Albuquerque needs a crime-fighter who is front and center” the one name that pops to mind is Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales. The Sheriff has been “up front and center” with his law enforcement sweeps in the South East area of the city not to mention his involvement with “Operation Legend”, the federal initiative targeting violent crime. Sheriff Manny Gonzales has made it known he wants to run for Mayor next year before his term has ended and he has all but announced that he is running for Mayor.

Frankly, Sheriff Gonzales should not run for Mayor next year. Sheriff Manny Gonzales has some severe shortcomings that make it unlikely he will be the next Mayor or more importantly a good Mayor. Those shortcomings include his opposition to lapel cameras even after the Bernalillo County Commission asked that his department use them and allocated $500,000 funding for them, the deadly use of force cases in his office that have cost taxpayers millions to settle, his opposition to the DOJ consent decree reforms and mandates and having no experience other than a career in law enforcement.

Then there is the matter of Sheriff Gonzales cozying up to Republican President Trump and Attorney General William Barr over Operation Legend. Gonzalez said at first he was going to Washington to meet with Trump and it turns out he went to watch a press conference, nothing more. The trip to Washington damage him politically with Democrats with even Senator Martin Heinrich demanding that the Sheriff resign. If two Democrats run for Mayor, it’s likely that the Republicans will field a candidate of their own and the city will see a repeat of the Mayor Chavez-Romero-Berry race where Richard Berry was elected Mayor.

Sheriff Gonzales has been a good Sheriff, but the qualities of a good Sheriff do not necessarily mean he will make a good Mayor. Sheriff Gonzales is needed now in law enforcement, at least to the end of his term which is in 2022. As far fetched as it may sound, Mayor Tim Keller would be remiss if he did not at least consider asking Sheriff Manny Gonzales for help finding a new APD Chief, perhaps even heading up the search committee. What would really make strange bedfellows would be if Keller asked Gonzales to resign as Sheriff and become the APD Interim Chief without any strings attached. The no strings attached would include allowing Gonzales to run for Mayor next year if he wants.

What makes Sheriff Gonzales qualified to help APD find a new chief is that he is career law enforcement, a well-liked politician as Sheriff, knows the community and knows APD having worked with it over his 20+ years as a Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff. Sheriff Gonzales no doubt has contacts throughout the United States he has developed over his long career in law enforcement. Gonzales has run a law enforcement department and proven he is a crime fighter who is front and center. Sheriff Gonzales is always there when it comes to his department even when things go wrong and when the proverbial “it” hits the fan to take responsibility and deal with a crisis. Such conduct is a far cry from what the city has had with APD Chiefs in the past like Michael Geier, Chief Gordon Eden, Allen Banks and Ray Schultz who all tended to hide in a bunker when confronted with a crisis.

Both Keller and Gonzales have more to lose by not working together to find a new chief than they have trying to upstage each other as to who is the best crime fighter, which is what is happening now. If APD management is not turned around in a hurry the ones that get hurt are the APD rank and file and all the citizens of Albuquerque who are sick and tired of all the violent crime and just want to be safe on the streets and in their homes. Both Keller and Gonzales need to set aside thier own future political ambitions for now and find a new APD command staff that can get the job done. They owe it to the community they both still serve now no matter their future ambitions that may conflict.

Come January 1, 2022 when the Mayor is sworn in after the 2021 election, whoever it is, will be dealing either with a new competent high command management staff or the same old APD department management Geier and Keller put in place that is a throw back to the Ray Schultz years and whose time has also come to move on and retire. APD needs a new generation of police officer in the Chief’s Office NOW who are fully committed to constitutional policing practices.

On Wednesday, September 9, during a meeting of the Albuquerque City Council, Republican Albuquerque City Councilor Brook Bassan asked questions of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sarita Nair if APD Chief Michael Geier still had the confidence and backing of Mayor Tim Keller who appointed him Chief. During the day, rumors of Chief Geier’s immediate departure circulated throughout City Hall and the APD main office building downtown. The line of questioning and answering between Councilor Bassan and CAO Nair became extremely tense and viewed as hostile by many. As is the case with city council meetings, Mayor Tim Keller was not present and CAO Nair responded on his behalf.

LINE OF QUESTIONING

City Councilor Bassan asked questions of CAO Nair on how much direction the Mayor’s Office was giving APD. Bassan asked about a social media posts that alleged that Mayor Keller and his Administration were pushing Chief Geier out. CAO Nair responded that neither she, Mayor Keller nor anyone on City Hall’s “11 th floor”, a reference to where the Mayor’s offices are located, were making tactical decisions for APD.

Nair did not give a definitive answer when Bassan asked directly if Geier had the administration’s support. Nair dismissed the question as “disrespectful” and did not give a direct answer. Nair told the council that Geier was the “right person for the job” when he was hired nearly three years ago. CAO Nair responded this way:

“I think it’s really important that we can dispel myths, but that we don’t fall into the rumor mill. … Chief Geier was one of the first appointments that the mayor made; he was so clearly the right person for the job at that time that even when we went through a national search, he emerged as the top candidate. … I’m sure it’s not your intent, but it is deeply disrespectful to Chief Geier to engage in internet rumormongering at this point.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1494988/councilor-grills-keller-official-on-handling-of-apd.html

NOT THE FIRST TIME

The September 9 City Council meeting was not the first time Bassan had asked CAO Nair about APD nor Geier. During an August City Council meeting, Bassan questioned Nair after media reports that Geier had requested an Internal Affairs (IA) investigation into his Chief of Staff John Ross for engaging nefarious conduct. The alleged conduct was outlined in a complaint to Chief Geier by his Administrative Secretary. The conduct includes:

1. Ross circumventing purchasing rules to make improper purchases,
2. Ross by passing Chief Geier to secure a $10,000 raise taking his pay from $129,304 a year to $140,000 a year
3. Ross absconding with the chief’s signature stamp that was being kept locked in a secretary’s desk drawer,
4. Ross yelling at and intimidating the chief’s secretary, and
5. Ross takin his dog to work without approval and allowing the animal to defecate and urinate in Deputy Chief offices and instructing personnel to walk the animal.

Chief Geier for his part said:

“I take responsibility for what happens in my office with my chief of staff and my assistant. Any suggestion that I am not in control of the department (is) ridiculous. This is nothing more than petty water-cooler talk.”

The link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/08/14/a-police-chief-of-staff-engaging-in-nefarious-conduct-for-financial-and-personal-gain-is-not-petty-water-cooler-talk-geier-needs-to-go-and-take-his-chief-of-staff-with-him/

THAT TWEET THAT WAS

During the September 9 City Council meeting, Bassan asked questions regarding the recent controversy in which APD deleted a tweet from its official account that quoted Chief Geier calling the police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where and African American was shot in the back 7 times by a police officer, as “senseless.” Chief Geier later claimed he was not aware of the shooting and said he would not have issued the statement without knowing all the facts surrounding the shooting.

The tweet was removed and Geier issued an apology for the TWEET saying he did not authorize the TWEET. Department Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos later admitted he was the one who wrote and sent out the TWEET without Geier’s approval. When Bassan asked Nair about the TWEET, Nair said that it was “uncommon” to quote officials without their permission. Nair said that APD Spokesman Gallegos had “stepped up to take accountability for that very human mistake.”

ONATE PROTEST HANDLING QUESTIONED

On June 15, a man was shot in Old Town over the “La Jornada” (The Journey) sculpture in front of the Albuquerque Museum. The June 15 event was originally scheduled to be “prayer vigil” for the removal of the Juan de Oñate statue from the Albuquerque Museum. The prayer vigil erupted into a protest riot and a shooting occurred during the protest for the removal of the figure of Juan de Onate de Salazar in the sculpture. APD’s response and its subsequent shooting investigation came under severe criticism from city councilors and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office.

During the September 9, meeting, Bassan raised questions regarding APD’s handling of the Juan de Oñate protest. Bassan said she was concerned that the Mayor’s Office had helped make decisions about how APD handled the Onate protest and other protests, an allegation Nair rejected. CAO Nair responded this way to the line of questioning:

“Let me be clear: To the extent you’re suggesting that the 11th floor, as we call it, is making operational or tactical decisions about the Police Department, we are not.”

More than one confidential source has reported that Mayor Tim Keller was in constant contact with CAO Sarita Nair during the June 15 Onate Statue protest at the Albuquerque Museum. According to sources, Keller and Nair were particularly concerned to what extend the Onate statute should be protected and if it even should be protected at all. Mayor Keller had already been informed that the Albuquerque Museum Board of Directors had decided a week earlier that the Onate statue was to be removed and stored until a decision could be made what to do with the statue. As a work of art, the Onate statue is worth upwards of $100,000 and when combined with the other statues, the exhibit originally cost the city $800,000 paid for by voter approved bonds.

CHANNEL 13 NIGHTLY NEWS

On Wednesday, September 9, within a few hours after the City Council meeting, KRQE News 13 during its 10:00 pm news cast reported that effective September 30, APD Chief Michael Geier had been relieved of his duties and was out as APD Chief. News 13 also reported Deputy Chief Harold Medina would take over as acting chief on September 30. When News 13 contacted the Mayor Keller’s office to see what sparked the move, the mayor’s office would not confirm or deny the report.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-police-chief-relieved-of- duties/?fbclid=IwAR1EwxihuZ3l1FvMrdfOyf9wxRpfX2nQjE1kHAJVhDSAPbTYA_9dFoEHY7s

APD CHIEF MICHAEL GEIER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

On Thursday morning, September 10, Mayor Tim Keller along with APD Chief Michael Geier, held a press conference to announce that Chief Geier was retiring after 2 years and 9 months as APD Chief. Mayor Keller announced that Deputy Chief Harold Medina would be taking over as interim Chief starting Monday, September 14.

APD Chief Geier’s formal announcement was that he had decided to retire and the announcement came less than 24 hours after the previous night’s City Council meeting. At the Thursday morning news conference, Mayor Tim Keller said the details of Chief Geier’s departure were finalized the morning of September 10. According to Keller it was Geier’s decision to leave at the end of the pay period which is September 18.

Chief Geier for his part teared up and gave at emotional farewell. Chief Geier cited a few factors in his personal life that said lead him to retire, including the amount of work the job requires while also having custody of two grandchildren. Geier said:

“My grandkids were playing and I was doing something for work and they asked a couple times, ‘papa come out and play.’ And the little one came and said, she’s eight years old, she goes, ‘papa do you still love us?’ And that was that moment that I wondered, if I was ever looking for a time when I knew I had to retire, it was then.

I love this department. I’ve had a wonderful career in law enforcement. It was very enjoyable and I feel very rewarded. It gave me the opportunity to serve others, and now it’s time for me to rest and turn the reins over to people who have more energy, are a little bit younger and have a lot more time.”

Chief Geier left immediately after speaking and did not take any media questions.

Links to news coverage are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-police-chief-relieved-of-duties/

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-police-chief-relieved-of-duties/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495117/chief-geier-to-leave-albuquerque-police-department.html

EDITORS NOTE: Chief Geier’s statement read to the press on September 10 is in the postscript to this article. The reasons given by Geier for retiring from APD are remarkably similar to those he gave when he retired as Rio Rancho Police Chief close to 3 years ago. When Geier retired as Chief of RRPD, the reasons he gave were he wanted to spend more time with his wife, who suffers from the rare skin disease scleroderma. Many sources have said that in 2017, then New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller running for Mayor, met with Geier and Keller asked Geier to be APD Chief if Keller was elected Mayor, and Geier agreed.

A LABOR DAY WEEKEND WALK IN THE PARK

Confidential sources have provided information that APD Chief Michael Geier was summoned to a city park by Mayor Tim Keller and CAO Sarita Nair during the September 5 Labor Day Holiday weekend. The purpose of the meeting was that Keller had decided to let Geier go, that his services were no longer needed and it was time for Geier to leave APD.

According to sources Keller told Geier he wanted to take APD in a different direction. Geier was given the choice between termination or retirement and Geier agreed that it was time for him to retire. Soon after their walk in the park, sources say that Geier met CAO Nair in her office at city hall and the meeting became hostile. On Thursday morning, September 10, the details of Geier’s “retirement” were worked out and the press conference was held by Keller where Geier read his statement.

KELLER ARTICULATES REASONS FOR GEIER’S DEPARTURE

Keller and Geier have known each other for 15 years. They met when Keller was a freshman state senator representing Albuquerque’s International District and Geier was the APD area commander. Chief Geier was one of the first appointments made by Mayor Tim Keller when he took office on December 1, 2017. Geier is given credit for making great gains in implementing the Department of Justice 270 mandated reforms.
In a written statement, Keller said:

“Chief Geier came in at a pivotal moment for the Department, and did a courageous job righting the ship through our first year, getting new leadership in place, focusing on gun violence and getting reform efforts on track. … I deeply appreciate the extremely difficult job he took on nearly three years ago. He helped move APD in the right direction in so many important ways.”

During the September 10 press conference, Keller said there were many factors contributing to the decision for Geier to retire. According to Keller, those factors included the “big issues our city is facing” as well as “small distractions.” Keller put it this way:

“As we saw the need, I saw the need, for also just increased progress for a faster rate of change. … We think it’s the right time for new leadership at APD. So, I think it’s a mutual decision. We want to move faster and we think it’s time for new leadership and he’s also ready to retire. So, I think it’s the way it should be.”

“Any time we have rising crime, we’re not where we want to be, that’s certainly the case. … Any time our Department of Justice reforms are stalled out, that’s not where I want to be, that’s absolutely the case. But I think you also have to be thoughtful and timely about those issues and when you make changes, and I think now is the right time.”

Keller addressed the internal investigation Geier opened into Chief of Staff John Ross over the summer for allegedly improperly purchasing electronics with Geier’s signature stamp and other “conduct that reflects poorly on the department ” and said it was a distraction by saying:

“That’s also something that no one wants to see. … I don’t want to see that either because I want everyone focused on fighting crime.”

Mayor Keller went on to say he felt the city’s 6 yearlong police reform effort under the Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) should be moving faster. Geier’s departure from APD occurs soon after the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office and the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office announced APD is under investigation for alleged overtime pay fraud.

Mayor Keller, Chief Geier and APD also faced severe criticisms for APD’s releasing crime stats that were seriously flawed and exaggerated the reduction in crime rates. At the time when the statistics were released, Keller held press conferences to announce the statistics and essentially took credit for reducing crime. APD was criticized for its handling of the Juan de Oñate protest and the shooting investigation.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495117/chief-geier-to-leave-albuquerque-police-department.html

KELLER TAKES CITY COUNCIL TO TASK

During the September 10 Keller press conference announcing Geier’s retirement, Mayor Keller addressed the exchange between City Councilor Bassan and CAO Nair the night before on September 9. In a very uncharacteristic stoic style and without his trade mark smile and grin in his voice, Keller had harsh words for those who he said were “pandering to social media” and said in part:

“I think it’s important that we give the chief and the leadership and the departments at least a couple of days out of respect to understand what they’re doing next and when their last day is. … I think it was totally inappropriate for council to go into those questions in public.”

City Councilor Bassan when contacted was quick to respond saying she disagreed that she was in the wrong. She said she was raising questions brought to her by her constituents. She also said she considered it her responsibility to seek answers for the public. Bassan was direct and said that CAO Nair “evaded” her questions when she could have instead acknowledged the administration was evaluating the chief’s performance. Bassan had this to say:

“I realize … [Mayor Keller and his administration] don’t want me to be vocal; that would make everything a lot simpler [for them.] .. But I seriously believe the city of Albuquerque deserves to know what is happening.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495117/chief-geier-to-leave-albuquerque-police-department.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

CAO SARITA NAIR

CAO Sarita Nair is a political operative for Tim Keller. Prior to being appointed as the CAO, Nair served then State Auditor Tim Keller as the State Auditor’s Chief Government Accountability Officer and General Counsel. Keller appointed Nair Chief Administrative Officer(CAO) in December 2017. As CAO, Ms. Nair is the City’s top senior executive manager, overseeing all 19 departments of municipal government and a budget of over $1 billion dollars. Historically, Mayor’s usually appoint CAO’s who have worked for the city and who have understanding how the city is operated. Nair is a bureaucrat who runs the city, yet she has absolutely no prior experience running any city nor any city department and has never been an elected official.

As CAO, Sarita Nair is paid $186,747.20 a year according to the city’s 250 top wage earners. Nair’s inflated pay is the most paid to any CAO in the city’s history and her pay appears to be her biggest accomplishment at city hall.

The line of questioning by the City Councilor Bassan was legitimate and necessary, even if it was based on any rumor of Geier being forced out. When CAO Sarita Nair tells an elected city councilor “I’m sure it’s not your intent, but it is deeply disrespectful to Chief Geier to engage in internet rumor mongering at this point”, it is Nair who is being disrespectful with her backhanded remark and downright arrogance with her “political pivot” answer. Nair could just have easily said she was not prepared to answer the question and moved on.

With regard to the unauthorized tweet that Chief Geier later apologized for, Nair said that it was “uncommon” to quote officials without their permission. Truth is, it was not “uncommon” but a violation of personnel rules and regulation and has an element of fraud. Nair once again deflected the truth and said that APD Spokesman Gallegos had “stepped up to take accountability for that very human mistake.” Nair did not volunteer if anyone asked that Gallegos send out the tweet for Geier, if she was the one who directed Gallegos to send out the tweet nor if she found out why it was sent out in the first place.

With her condescending remark referring to “internet rumor mongering”, it is obvious that CAO Nair does not have a basic understanding that the Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of all city departments, including the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and all budgets. The City Council votes to approve the Mayor’s appointment of the CAO and the APD Chief. In short, CAO Nair is a political appointment who reports to the elected City Council. The City Council does not report to Nair and are not required to do her bidding but the bidding of their constituents.

Nair has a history of being less than forthcoming when asked questions by the city councilors. Her responses regarding the Mayor’s office not being involved with the Onate Statue tactical plan has been discredited by confidential sources that have said she was in constant contact with APD and the Mayor during the protest.

Further, the fact that it was confirmed within hours after the September 9 city council meeting that Geier was leaving APD is evidence that Nair was less than candid about Geier’s departure and downright misleading. It is now apparent Nair was fully aware that Geier was on his way out and she knew what was going on or she at worse was lying to the city council by withholding information.

KELLER IS THE ONE PANDERING TO SOCIAL MEDIA

When Keller said City Councilors were “pandering to social media” he also said:

“I think it’s important that we give the chief … at least a couple of days out of respect to understand what they’re doing next and when their last day is. … I think it was totally inappropriate for council to go into those questions in public.”

Keller ostensibly has forgotten that the City Council not only controls the APD budget but also is responsible to vote on and approve whoever the Mayor appoints as APD Chief. The City Council has every right to ask the employment status of those they are required to vote and approve for a job.

The APD Chief as a Department Director is required to appear before council on a regular basis to testify as to budget matters and policy matters. When Keller tries to admonish the city council for asking questions at a meeting Keller did not even attend, it is as if CAO Sarita Nair went crying to her boss to complain and to demand that she be treated with respect.

No doubt Republican City Councilor Brook Baasan feels that she is not indebted to Mayor Keller in the least, and she is not. Least anyone has forgotten, Mayor Tim Keller endorsed Baasan’s Democratic opponent for City Council Anne Romero. Bassan has also made it known that she is a strong advocate of Chef Michael Geier and for that reason alone she had every right to ask her questions no matter what Keller or his political operative Nair felt.

The only one guilty of “pandering to social media” is Mayor Tim Keller himself. Ever since Mayor Tim Keller assumed office on December 1, 2017, he has taken political showmanship to all new levels. Keller is known for his photo ops and press conferences, attending protest rallies to speak at, attending marches, attending heavy metal concerts to introduce the band, running in track meets and participating in exhibition football games as the quarterback and enjoying reliving his high school glory days, and posting pictures, press conferences and “fluff” videos on his FACEBOOK page all to the delight of his hard core supporters who heap praises on him.

KELLER’s 60% APPROVAL RATING LIKELY THE RESULT OF CORNA VIRUS PUBLIC RELATION TACTICS

Keller increased his public relations activities once the corona virus hit hard in February. Keller held daily news conferences as if competing with the Governor’s daily press conferences. He also took it to another level and held telephone “town halls meetings”. The “town hall” meetings were especially effective and consisted of calling upwards of 13,000 people at one time on city compiled call lists likely prepared by the city’s 911 call center.

During the “tele conference” town halls meetings, Keller answered questions about the pandemic, what the city was doing, including small business grants the city was offering. All the questions asked of Keller were screened by Keller’s longtime political consultant Alan Packman who now works for the city at the 311-call center, paid over $80,000 a year and who only answers to Keller.

Keller’s public relations actions have paid off for him but that may be short lived. On Sunday, September 13, the Albuquerque Journal reported that a poll revealed that Keller has a 60% approval rating close to 3 years into his term. Such an approval makes Keller the automatic front runner as he seeks a second term. However, cautionary statements were made by the pollster.

In the Journal report on the poll taken, Pollster Brian Sanderoff, the President of Research and Polling, said it “is unknown whether Keller’s approval dropped at any point in the past two years and then climbed back up.” According to Sanderoff, it appears that the public perception of Keller improved during the COVID-19 pandemic and said that may be partly because the virus has temporarily supplanted crime as voters’ top concern.

The public’s focus may have shifted to COVID-19 for now, but Sanderoff said Keller’s legacy is still tied to the city’s response to crime and put it this way:

“Crime is still lurking as the biggest issue facing the city, and whether people ultimately will continue to approve of the mayor’s performance will ultimately be determined by how he’s perceived as handling crime.”

The link to the Albuquerque Journal report on the poll is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1495901/mayor-keller-maintains-his-high-approval-rating.html

REMOVING GEIER MAJOR STEP FOR KELLER’S REELECTION

Candidate for Mayor Tim Keller ran on the platform of reducing the city’s spiking high violent crime rates, increasing the size of the APD, returning to community-based policing and implementing the Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA). Keller made it known in November that he will be running for a second term in 2021.

Sources report that Keller intends to run once again as a public finance candidate and he is already approaching people to help with his re-election bid by asking them to commit to collecting $5.00 qualifying donations and nominating petition signatures for him. Simply put, Keller’s high approval rating can drop in a heartbeat during a highly contested race once his record is examined and how he has failed to keep all of his promises. Keller is trying to turn things around at APD, but it may be too late and things are likely to get worse.

Keller’s removal of Geier as APD Chief is viewed by city hall insiders and political observers as a major step to his reelection bid. Despite all of his public relations and implementing 4 data-based programs to reduce violent crime, Keller’s efforts have been less than stellar especially at reducing crime rates. According to FBI statistics, Albuquerque’s crime rates are at 194% higher than the national crime rates. Albuquerque is also on tract in breaking the all-time high record of homicides in one year. APD continues to struggle with implementing the DOJ consent decree mandates, increasing the size of APD and returning to community-based policing.

ASK ME NO QUESTIONS, AND I WILL TELL YOU NO LIES

With the remarks made by Mayor Keller and CAO Nair about the City Council asking questions, they have adopted the philosophy of “ask me no questions, and I will tell you no lies”. They are seriously mistaken if they think any City Councilor is going to stop doing that, especially the Republicans on the City Council and those who are eyeing to replace Tim Keller as Mayor such as Democrat President City Councilor Pat Davis.

Voters will be deciding if Keller deserves another 4 years with Mayor Keller likely using the Covid 19 Virus epidemic as an excuse for his need for another 4 years to finish what he started. As has been the case in the last 3 elections for Mayor, in 2021 crime rates will likely be the biggest determining issue in the race as well as how APD is performing.

Crime was a major issue in the 2017 Mayor’s race and Keller pledge to bring down high crime rates by returning to community-based policing and increasing the size of APD to 1,200 police officers. At this point, APD has 984 sworn police with 532 of those officers assigned to the field service patrolling the streets of Albuquerque. Although Albuquerque’s property crime dipped very slightly in 2019, the city’s recorded violent crime has increased and the highest number of homicides recorded in one year reached the highest in 2019 and is on pace to break the record again this year.

FINDING NEW APD CHIEF WILL BE DIFFICULT AT BEST

APD leadership and management is crumbling around Mayor Tim Keller who is failing to keep his campaign promises of reducing high crime rates, returning to community-based policing, increasing the size of APD and implementing the DOJ reforms. The abrupt departure of Chief Geier no doubt will have an impact on implementing the DOJ mandated reforms.

Mayor Keller is now faced with the very difficult task of finding and hiring a new APD Chief 14 months before the election for Mayor. That may not happen because of the possibility that person may also be out of a job if Keller is not reelected. For that reason, it is likely Interim Chief Harold Medina will remain Interim Chief until after the 2021 Mayor’s race. If Keller is reelected, Keller will only then make Medina permanent Chief.

Mayor Tim Keller says he wants to conduct a national search to find a new Chief. If in fact Keller finds a new Chief from a national search, he needs to allow that person to run APD and be free of his interference or the interference of CAO Nair. If that person does not produce results, then Keller needs to find to someone who can. Mayor Keller should take this as an opportunity to also remove all the current Deputy Chief’s and allow whoever he selects to be the new Chief to select and bring in their own command staff.

Keller and Nair must understand that while they oversee APD, it is the chief and command staff who have the police training and experience to lead APD. As Keller begins his search for Geier’s replacement, it is likely career law enforcement candidates will be asking how much authority they will really have and who they can surround themselves with to run the department.

CONCLUSION

At this point in time the best thing Mayor Tim Keller could do for his reelection is to buckle down and do his own job. That includes reorganize APD, find a new chief and deputy chiefs and let the city council ask all the questions they want.

Keller also needs to tell his CAO Sarita Nair that she is not being paid almost $200,000 a year to be condescending to any elected official, to knock it off, be honest and forthcoming and show respect to elected officials and never mislead or lie to the council.

Ditto for Mayor Tim Keller. In politics, public relations and a smile on your face and a grin in your voice can get you elected. Sooner or later people expect and demand results.
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POSTSCRIPT

Below is the statement read by Chief Geier at the September 10 press conference announcing his retirement:

“I just wanted to take some time today to send my last personal messages to all members of the Albuquerque Police Department. As you know, I am a 2nd generation police officer, who has served in law enforcement for close to 47 years. It is been a very full and satisfying career and I know that I have touched many lives throughout the years I have served. My father planned for his retirement for many years. He and my mom were going to move to Florida and retire near the Orlando area. He wanted to get a job as security at Disneyworld all his grandkids could come down and visit. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with cancer and retired after 30 years on the police force. He passed away 9 months later at 56 years of age. He never got to live that retirement dream and he got to meet some of his grandkids and great grandkids.

I have always known that the day would come when I would retire. The last several months have taken its toll on all of us. We have faced unprecedented challenges with COVID, protests in the wake of the George Floyd incident, increased violence in our city and let’s not forget, the never-ending scrutiny of our consent decree. Over my career I have been unable to spend quality time with my own family that they deserved. I will never be able to recoup what I missed but I now believe I can make up for lost time. My wife, children and grandchildren always placed my career at the forefront. They endured the varied work schedules, long hours on graveyard shifts, 24 hour on-call status . missed little leagues games, birthday parties, weekends and holidays worked, etc, etc. My goal is to now put all of them on the forefront and spend many hours of quality time I missed out on during my career. It has not been an easy decision but I will be retiring from APD in the next few weeks.

I have been extremely honored and proud to have served as the Chief in the best Police Department in the nation. Every member of APD is a dedicated and compassionate public servant who have devoted their life to helping others and making a difference. To our sworn officers,, remember that as peaceful warriors, you have willing embraced the challenges, risks and uncertainties of our profession knowing that you serve a cause bigger than self- each of you served a great good! Thanks for all you do to make APD great. I will miss you and I will keep you in my prayers. Be safe and take care of each other. Thanks for the memories.”

GEIER’S DEPARTURE FROM RIO RANCHO POLICE DEPARTMENT

January 28th, 2017, it was reported that Chief Michael Geier Rio Rancho Police was stepping down as Police Chief of the Rio Rancho Police Department (RRPD). Geier joined RRPD in 2014, following a 20-year career with the Albuquerque Police Department. Reasons given by Geier for retiring from the RRPD were he wanted to spend more time with his wife, who suffers from the rare skin disease scleroderma. Geier said in 2017:

“I’ve been doing this for 43 years and, at some point, you’ve got to put something first. We’ve been together 42 years …right now, I need an extended sabbatical to help her and give that attention.”

According to news reports, Geier said he would consider a job teaching criminal justice in the future. Confidential sources have said that in 2017, then State Auditor running for Mayor Tim Keller, met with Geier and asked Geier to be APD Chief if Keller was elected Mayor.

A link to related news coverage is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/937902/police-chief-to-step-down.html