Mayor Tim Keller Hastily Announces Reelection Bid Day After Sheriff Manny Gonzales Given Albuquerque Journal Front Page Profile News Coverage

Posted on March 23, 2021 by

In politics, media coverage can cause less confident politicians to over react in order to offset favorable coverage given to any rival. On March 21 and March 22, Albuquerque voters were witness to such media coverage and reactions between the two top emerging candidates running for Albuquerque Mayor, Conservative Democrat Sheriff Manny Gonzales and Progressive Democrat Mayor Tim Keller.

FRONT PAGE ABQ JOURNAL COVERAGE OF SHERIFF MANNY GONZALES

Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III has notified the city clerk he is running for Mayor and will be seeking public finance. Gonzales has submitted a candidate registration form for the race but he has yet to publicly announce he is running for Mayor.

On Sunday, March 21, the Albuquerque Journal ran a front-page article that continued on pages A-4 and A-5 on Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales. The front-page story headline was “Quick to draw fire – and fire back”, on page A-4 the headline was “On BCSO ride along, “That’s what I wanted to be” and the headline on A-5 was “Sheriff’s childhood dream: ‘Keeping people safe”. The link to the entire Albuquerque Journal article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371964/sheriffs-childhood-dream-keeping-people-safe.html

You know the Journal means business when it publishes color photos and calls in Senior Editor Ken Waltz, who has been with the Journal for decades, to write a political profile of anyone. The Sunday Journal is the largest circulation day of the newspaper. The news article was a “candidate profile” of Sheriff Gonzales complete with flattering, colored photos and bold headlines. On the front page below the fold was 2 and half inch by 1 and a half inch color photo of the Sheriff speaking. Appearing on page A-4 of the Journal was a 5” by 8” photo of the Sheriff in his dress BCSO uniform talking to former Attorney General William Bar. On page A-5 were two other colored photos, one 5” by 7” and one 4” by 5” of the sheriff.

The article was the most flattering article and profile of Manny Gonzales reported in all the years he has been in elective office. Usually, the Journal publishes editorials critical of Sheriff Gonzales, especially on his refusal to order lapel camera usage by all BCSO Deputies.

The first few sentences of the article captures the tone of the entire lengthy profile article and for that reason merits quoting:

“Hard-nosed. Outspoken. Controversial. Unapologetic.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III is all of that – whether you’re talking about hard-hitting press releases from his office announcing arrests to resisting on-body cameras for his deputies for years to shrugging off calls for his resignation from quarters that range from the American Civil Liberties Union to the state’s senior senator.

He has taken heat over a range of issues including meeting with then-President Donald Trump and agreeing to work with federal agents in a crime crackdown last summer and high-profile shootings by his deputies that led to multimillion-dollar settlements. He has at times been at odds with the district attorney and the governor.

A Marine Corps veteran who has been with BCSO for 25 years, Gonzales not only rejects the criticism, he doesn’t hesitate to fire back.

I don’t work for the governor. I don’t work for the mayor. I don’t work for the president of the United States. I answer to the people who voted me into office,” he said.”

The article continues by reporting on Sheriff Gonzales’ background and giving the Sheriff an opportunity to explain many controversies, including shootings his Sheriff Deputies have been involved with during his time in office.

It was absolutely disappointing that the Journal article failed to report on why Sheriff Gonzales is running for Mayor or for that matter what his platform will be.

The link to the entire Albuquerque Journal profile article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371964/sheriffs-childhood-dream-keeping-people-safe.html

MAYOR TIM KELLER ANNOUNCES RUN FOR SECOND TERM

On Monday, March 22, Mayor Tim Keller announced formally he is running for a second term. The announcement comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone. Over 2 years ago, Tim Keller made it known in a November 5, 2018 radio election night news coverage that he intended to run for a second term. In his March 23 reelection announcement, Keller said he has filed his candidate paperwork and will start campaigning in April when the qualifying period for public financing begins.

What was surprising was Tim Keller made the announcement with a press conference and no fan fair, no crowd, no rousing emotional speech. Keller stood outside in front of the old City Hall, south of the APD Main station in Downtown Albuquerque with his wife and two children by his side. Frankly, it was as if his announcement was hastily arranged in order off set Sheriff’s Gonzales Journal profile published the day before. By all standards, the Keller announcement was a lost opportunity that can not be repeated. It is likely Gonzales will have a more public announcement with a crowd of supporters and it will generate coverage on the TV News stations.

Keller’s announcement was very low key in comparison to the orchestrated public relations he is known for such as his state of the City addresses and his townhall meetings where thousands are called the day before. Keller’s March 14, 2021 State of the City address was given a full hour of television coverage on Channel 7, it was advertised in advance and it consisted of a very slick and impressive pre recorded one hour presentation that also included members of his administration speaking about the accomplishments of the Keller Administration. Watch parties for Keller’s State of the City Address were also arranged at local brewery’s with re-broadcasts of the address given on cable and his FACEBOOK page.

In his March 22 announcement, Keller proclaimed the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the signature accomplishment of his first term and had this to say:

“Shepherding our city, leading our city, making those tough decisions was a trial like no other. I think it’s shown we are tested by a crisis our city has not seen in decades, or in modern history. … That puts us in a great position going forward. … Now I believe our city is finally going in the right direction, and we must keep the course. … It’s time we hit the accelerator and we do not go backwards.”

We are poised to come out of the pandemic stronger and safer with thousands of new good-paying jobs for working families; revitalized public safety efforts; and taking on homelessness, which has been exacerbated by COVID, in a real way. That’s on top of our nationally-leading sustainability efforts, our innovative new safety department, and our commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion. Now that we’re finally going in the right direction, it’s time to hit the accelerator, not go backward—and that’s why I’m running for re-election. ”

Since February, 2020, for over a full year since the pandemic hit the city and after he declared a public health emergency, Keller has touted the city government’s ability to avoid employee layoffs and continue delivering services despite the pandemic. He also acknowledged that the $150 million in federal relief money the city received last spring was a key factor with the city’s success, but Keller argued that Albuquerque fared better than other comparable cities during the crisis.

Links to related news coverage is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2372296/keller-announces-2021-reelection-bid.html

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayoral-race-starting-to-take-shape/6050304/?cat=500

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/albuquerque-mayor-announces-bid-for-re-election/

OTHER CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR

Two other relatively unknows have said they are also running for Mayor. They are Nicholas Bevins, a 25-year-old activist, and Patrick Ben Sais has also filed registration as a mayoral candidate.

Bevins sent KOB 4 News a statement that read in part:

“I am running out of a sense of urgency for my generation and future generations who face countless threats such as climate change and economic inequality which are going unaddressed.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayoral-race-starting-to-take-shape/6050304/?cat=500

PUBLIC FINANCE VERSUS PRIVATE FINANCE CANDIDATES

Albuquerque’s municipal election is November 2. On the ballot this year will be the office for Mayor and the 5 odd numbered city council districts of the 9 city council seats. The council seats up for election are City Council seats 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9.

Both Keller and Gonzales are seeking public finance, hence the reason for Mayor Keller’s announcement and the Journal’s candidate profile of Sheriff Gonzales.

Under the city’s election laws, from April 17 to June 19, public finance candidates for Mayor must collect 3,779 qualifying $5 donations to the city and 3,000 nominating petition signatures both from registered Albuquerque voters. Qualifying public finance candidates will be given $660,000 in cash to run their campaigns in exchange for agreeing to a spending cap and not soliciting any further donations.

The postscript to this blog article provides greater details and deadlines.

Privately financed candidates for Mayor must wait to collect nominating petition signature and will have from June 8 to August 10 must gather more the 3,000 signatures from registered voters within the City.

It’s likely that measured finance committee will be set up to advocate for candidates and they will be able to raise and spend unlimited amounts on behalf of candidates.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

At this point in time, Mayor Tim Keller is the front runner in the race for Mayor and it is his race to lose. The problem is that the pandemic is now beginning to subside and the City’s out of control crime rates are once again emerging as the top story. During the upcoming long hot summer months, it is more likely than not the city will see violent crime continue to rise as people break out of quarantine and start to get back to normal life.

MAYOR TIM KELLER

One thing for certain, Keller does have a big advantage with incumbency and his strong base of progressive supporters. Keller’s problem is his overall accomplishments have been less than stellar, especially dealing with the city’s high crime rates. Keller has not come even even close to the dramatic change he promised when he ran for Mayor. Just 5 months after being elected, Keller sign off on a tax increase after promising not to raise taxes without a public vote. Keller failed to make the sweeping changes to APD and his promised implementation of the Department of Justice reforms stalled so much that he fired his first appointed Chief. Initially, Keller appointed as Chief and Deputy Chief’s those who were part of the culture that resulted in a Department of Justice investigation. Keller recently appointed Harold Medina permanent APD Chief, who has a nefarious past. Medina shot and killed a 14 year old child suffering a psychotic episode and brandishing a BB gun while Medina was attempting to take him into custody. Years later, it was Medina that gave authorization to use deadly force against and Iraq War Veteran suffering from post traumatic stress order, with the city hit with a Jury verdict of $10 Million for wrongful death after the jury decided the veteran was only a threat to himself. Keller is not even close to reaching the 1,200 sworn police officers he promised by the end of his term with the current number being 998 sworn officers. Keller’s promise to bring down violent crime never materialized and his 4 programs to bring down violent crime have failed to move the murder trend down. During the last 3 years homicides have hit all time record numbers with many still unsolved. Keller has always appeared to be more interested in public relations and image than substance and accomplishment.

SHERIFF MANNY GONZALEZ

Gonzales brings to the table his law enforcement credentials, but that is no way enough to run a city during bad economic times, especially with a police department operating under a court approved settlement agreement that Gonzales opposes. Gonzales is well known for his inability to work with other elected officials, often at odds with the County Commission and the District Attorneys Office and refusing to make changes within his office. Given his history of resisting civilian oversight of the Sheriffs Department, it is not at all likely that a Mayor Manny Gonzales will listen to and work with the city council, let alone respect the Police Oversight Board and the Community Policing Councils. The Sheriff’s grand standing refusal to enforce the Governor’s health care orders declaring they were “unconstitutional” during the pandemic was an expression that he feels law enforcement is above the law and he should answer to no one. Gonzales is a throw back to the way law enforcement was many years ago before the Black Lives movement and he has failed to keep up with the times and implementing constitutional policing practices within BCSO. When Sheriff Gonzales says “I answer to the people who voted me into office” ostensibly he believes he answers to only those who actually vote for him and not those like 26-year-old mentally ill Elisha Romero and the 88-year-old Fedencio Duran suffering from Alzheimer’s, both killed by BCSO Deputies. Bernalillo County paid Romero’ family $4,000,000 and Duran’s family $1,495,000 in settlements for civil rights violations, wrongful death and Gonzales defended his officers and complained about the amounts of the settlements, and going so far as to give his deputies commendations for their actions in the Romero case. Sheriff Gonzales is viewed as a Democrate In Name Only (DINO) after he embraced President Trump’s Operation Legend and traveled to Washington, DC, to attend a press conference in the White House.

CONCLUSION

The city is facing any number of problems that are bringing it to its knees. Those problems include the corona virus pandemic, business closures, high unemployment rates, exceptionally high violent crime and murders rates, continuing mismanagement of the Albuquerque Police Department, failed implementation of the Department of Justice reforms after a full 6 years and millions spent, declining revenues and gross receipts tax, high unemployment rates, persistent and increasing homeless numbers, a lack of mental health and counseling programs and very little economic development, just to mention a few.

The city can go no longer afford to elect a Mayor nor a City Council just based upon promises and nothing but eternal hope for better times and for a better future that only results in broken campaign promises. What is needed are elected officials that actually know what they are doing and will make the hard decisions without their eye on the next election or make decisions only to placate their base and to please only those who voted for them, which is exactly what Mayor Keller and Sheriff Gonzales have done now since they have been in office.

At this point, what is needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems. Such a debate can only happen with contested elections. The city needs a highly contested race for Mayor to reveal and come up with solutions to our problems. The city needs more than just two viable candidates for Mayor that will make the ballot such as Mayor Keller and Sheriff Gonzales. If that happens and it’s just Keller and Gonzales, we will be faced with voting for the lesser of two evils, or simply not voting at all.

There is still time left for candidates to announce, but time is running short for candidates who want to seek public finance.

____________________________________

POSTCRIPT

March 1 was the first day candidates were able to declare to seek public finance beginning an 8-month election process. The time lines for privately finance candidates are on a later time frame.
The city link listing all deadlines is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/candidate-calendar-for-the-2021-regular-local-election

PUBLIC FINANCE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR

From April 17 to June 19, 2021, candidates for Mayor must gather 3,000 signatures from registered voters within the City.

From April 17 to June 19, 2021, Candidates for Mayor can collect the $5.00 donations and must collect 3,779 donations. Candidates for Mayor are only given 8 weeks to collect the 3,779 qualifying donations of $5.00. In 2017, there were 8 candidates for Mayor with only 1 candidate qualifying.

PUBLIC FINANCE CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL

From May 31 to July 5, 2021, candidates for City Council must gather 500 qualifying signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent.
From May 31 to July 5, 2021, or approximately 4 weeks Candidates for City Council can collect the $5.00 donations only from May 31 to July 5, 2021, or approximately 4 weeks. There are varying number of $5.00 donations for each council district.
PRIVATELY FINANCED CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL

From June 8 to August 10, 2021, Privately Finance Candidates for Mayor must gather more than 3,000 signatures from registered voters within the City.

From July 6 to August 10, 2021, Privately Financed Candidates for City Council must gather more than 500 signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent.

Privately financed candidates have no fundraising or spending limits. Privately financed candidates can raise and are free to accept campaign contributions from whatever legal source they want including contributions from individuals, businesses and corporations within the city, county, state or out of state and there is no city voter registration required.

There is no limit on what privately financed candidates can spend on their campaigns. However, there are limits on individual contributions privately financed candidates can accept from donors. Specifically, Article XIII, Section 4(e) limits the total contributions from any one person, with the only exception being the candidates themselves, and the private contribution cannot exceed 5% of the salary of the elected official at the time of filing the Declaration of Candidacy.

ON LINE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES AND DONATIONS

On March 2, it was reported that City Clerk Ethan Watson “announced [due to COVID-19] new procedures that allow the candidates to collect those signatures online, while also permitting them to still gather them in person.

The city clerk’s office is creating a new website, in collaboration with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, that will use the Secretary of State’s voter registration database for verification purposes before allowing a signature. The clerk’s office also is updating a second website that allows voters to make $5 contributions for candidates seeking public financing.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2364765/campaign-season-starts-for-city-races-ex-mayors-seat-and-five-councilor-positions-up-for-grabs.html

2021 CANDIDATE GUIDE

The City of Albuquerque “2021 CANDIDATE GUIDE” provides a detailed candidate calendar of deadlines on pages 6 to 12 of the guide. The Candidate Guide provides the dates and requirements for the filing of campaign finance reports.

The link to the Candidate Guide is here:

http://www.cabq.gov/clerk/documents/candidate-guide-2-0.pdf

COMMENCEMENT DATES EMPHASIZED

There is still time for people to make a decision to run for Mayor and City Council, but time is short for candidates for Mayor and City Councilor candidates who are seeking public financing funding.

It is hoped that there will be more than just one candidate opposing all incumbents. What is needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems. Such a debate can only happen with contested elections.

The very last thing the city needs is the coronation of unopposed incumbents.

2021 New Mexico Legislative Wrap Up: What Passed, What Failed; Special Session To Be Called On Recreational Cannabis

Posted on March 22, 2021 by

On Saturday, March 20 at 12:00 noon, the 2021 New Mexico Legislative session became history. Upwards of 110 pieces of legislation were passed by both the House and Senate. Governor Lujan Grisham will have until April 9 to act on the legislation.

This blog article highlights those bills that passed and failed and that are considered the major highlights of the session.

SUMMARY OF BILLS PASSED

2021-2021 BUDGET ENACTED

On March 19, just one day before the New Mexico legislature adjourns, 19, the legislature enacted a 7.4 billion state budget is will be sent to Governor Lujan Grisham for approval. The Governor does have line-item veto power and it may be exercised as she sees fit.

The state government will increase spending by 4.8 percent, or $373 million. The proposed $7.4 billion budget passed both chambers in the final days of the session and is now headed to the governor. Upwards of half of the $7.5 Billon dollar budget will go towards public education. $110-million will be spent to extend the school year by ten days with an additional $120-million for kindergarten to fifth-grade programs to add 25 extra school days to make up for lost learning time.

Part of the budget will be used to increase the governor’s Opportunity Scholarship, which helps provide funding for tuition at two-year universities, to $18-million. An additional $35-million will head towards addressing the needs of Native student’s education.

Lawmakers appropriated about $1.6 billion from the federal American Rescue Plan to help with lost revenue and put about $600-million towards replenishing the state’s unemployment fund. Along additional coronavirus relief plan financing, the state budget spends $400-million in one-time spending for economic recovery.

Overall, the budget increases spending compared to fiscal year 2021 by 4.9%, or $378-million. The budget provides for cash reserves at $1.7 billion, or about 24% of current spending.
Once signed, the budget will take effect from July 1. 2021 to June 30, 2022.

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/new-mexico-lawmakers-send-7-4b-budget-to-governor/

PANDEMIC RELIEF MEASURES

On Friday, February 26, Governor Lujan Grisham signed into law House Bill 11 the long-anticipated pandemic relief measure. It authorizes $200 million in small business loans. Qualifying businesses that have no more than 75 employees will be able to secure up to $100,000 in funding. A separate pandemic recovery bill providing $600 rebates to low-income workers and enacting a four-month tax holiday for restaurants and breweries is also on its way to Lujan Grisham’s desk for final approval after being approved Wednesday by the House. Thus far, the 2021 New Mexico Legislature have enacted bills authorizing upwards of $400 million in state spending on pandemic relief measures.

On March 3, the Governor signed Senate Bill 3 called the Small Business Recovery Act. The bill will provide more than $460 million in low-interest relief loans. It would also make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to receive up to $75,000.

GRT AND PERMANENT FUNDS FOR LEDA PROJECTS

On February 26, the Governor signed House Bill 11 will provide $200 million from the state general fund gross receipts tax revenues to thousands of businesses that experienced income declines in 2020. The bill provides for individual grants of up to $100,000 without repayment to businesses for the reimbursement of rent, lease or mortgage obligations on property located in New Mexico.
Among the guidelines:

Businesses must be operating in New Mexico with fewer than 75 employees per location;

Businesses must demonstrate a loss of revenue for at least one quarter between 2019 and 2020;

Funding must be used for reimbursement of rent, mortgage or lease obligations;

The grant must be accompanied by job creation for each quarter prior to one of the quarterly payments; and

The grants will be paid out in quarterly installments.

TAX PACKAGE

On Friday March 19, a proposal to expand and reshape two New Mexico tax breaks for low-income workers won final approval. The bill expands the tax benefits offered by the Low Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate and the Working Families Tax Credit. The tax credit will be expanded to allow an estimated 41,600 New Mexicans between the age of 18 to 24 to qualify. And it would expand the tax benefit to immigrant workers who are not U.S. citizens.

The Senate voted 40-0 to approve the tax package after rejecting GOP-backed attempts to tack on provisions exempting Social Security benefits from taxation and partially reinstating a tax on food items. The House then voted to send the bill to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for final consideration, signing off on changes made during the Senate committee process.

In its initial form, the tax package also called for a new top personal income bracket of 6.5%, which was up from 5.9% under current state law. But that provision, along with other proposed tax increases, was scrapped by the Senate Finance Committee earlier this week.

Without the tax increases, the more generous tax credits would cost the state an estimated $70 million annually. The $70 million price tag will be set off with the enactment of the state’s $7.4 billion budget and Covid federal relief approved for the states.

Meanwhile, the attempt by Senate Republicans to add the Social Security tax benefit exemption came after several standalone bills on the issue failed to get any traction during this year’s session.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371658/pared-back-tax-package-nears-roundhouse-finish-line.html

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENDED

On March 17, the Governor signed Senate Bill 52 extending unemployment benefits. SB 52 is a technical adjustment to the state unemployment benefit statute that accommodates changes to federal requirements that have come about as a result of pandemic-related unemployment programs.

MINIMUM WAGE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

On March 18, the Governor signed Senate Bill 35 which provides that minimum wage for all high school-aged workers to make the state’s $10.50 an hour minimum wage instead of their current $8.50 an hour. Many argued it was unfair to pay kids less for the same work while others said the lower wage gave school age workers a better chance to enter the workforce.

RESTAURANT GROSS RECEIPT TAX DEDUCTION

On March 3, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1 which provides a short gross receipts tax break for businesses like restaurants, breweries, food trucks and wineries for four months in 2021. Businesses would be able to pocket that sales tax money while the state would reimburse local government for the loss of that tax revenue. The bill will create a $600 income tax credit for people earning less than $31,200 a year who are also claiming the working families tax credit.

PAID SICK LEAVE

House Bill 20, known as the Healthy Workplaces Act, calls for paid sick leave to be a right and not a privilege. Under House Bill 20, which passed on March 20, the state would require businesses to provide sick leave for their employees. The bill states the longer the employee has been with the company, the more time off they will accrue.

Under the bill, private employers in the state will be required to provide workers at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, or 64 hours per year. House Bill 20 was narrowly approved by both the House and Senate.

Supporters of the measure described it as a basic protection for employees, particularly low-wage earners who sometimes have to choose between going to work sick or risk losing their jobs. Opponents argued it would hurt small businesses, particularly those still struggling to get back on their feet after the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

A legislative fiscal impact report of the bill reported that earned sick leave could be used for any type of personal or family member illness or health condition or medical care, curative or preventive, including to attend school meetings related to a child’s disability and absences connected to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking of the employee or a family member. The bill also establishes supplemental sick leave during a public health emergency of 80 hours or twice the weekly number of hours for part-time employees.

The bill lists numerous purposes, including ensuring that all employees can address their personal and family health and safety needs and reducing health care costs and promoting preventive health services by enabling employees to seek early and routine medical care. The bill also addresses the concern that many New Mexico employees currently have no access to sick leave.

Employers would be subject to monetary penalties for violating the proposed law. Not at all surprising HB 20 generated opposition from business groups arguing it would create a right to paid sick leave for all employees in New Mexico. Republican lawmakers pushed to exempt employers with fewer than 10 employees.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/new-mexico-house-passes-paid-sick-leave-bill/article_99ea8da2-7863-11eb-b1c5-e721194a1a9e.html

Nationwide, 15 states already have paid sick leave laws on their books, including neighboring Colorado and Arizona, although many of them exempt small businesses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The enacted bill will not exempt small employers. It would, in its current form, allow employers that already offer paid leave programs to qualify under the law as long as they meet its minimum terms.

Bernalillo County has adopted a paid sick leave ordinance, although it applies only to unincorporated parts of the county and is not as generous to employees as the proposed statewide law. Albuquerque city councilors have put off a local debate over paid sick leave to see what action lawmakers take during this year’s session.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371402/paid-sick-leave-bill-passes-senate-amid-turmoil.html

WAIVER OF 2021 LIQUOR LICENSE FEES

On March 9, the Governor signed Senate Bill 2. The legislation will allow the state to waive annual liquor license fees as businesses struggle to rebound amid the pandemic. The governor said the food and beverage industry is a key piece of the state’s economy. Under the legislation, the next annual fee for renewed liquor licenses and for all new licenses issued in this year will be waived.

LIQUOR REFORM

On Wednesday, March 17, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 255, which will allow home delivery of alcohol by restaurants. Identification checks will be mandatory for all deliveries. Alcohol delivery permits can be issued to retailers, dispensers, craft distillers, winegrowers, small brewers and restaurant licensees.

Under the new law liquor licenses will be more affordable and accessible for those business owners seeking to obtain one. The bill will also provide a significant tax deduction among other protections for existing license holders in recognition of their investment.

As part of the legislation, the Department of Health is directed to conduct a study of the effects of alcohol delivery in the state in several years. Following revisions in both chambers, the bill also makes licenses more affordable and accessible while providing for a significant tax deduction among other protections for existing license holders to recognize their investment.

The bill lifts the restrictions on alcohol sales that had been imposed on Sundays and prohibits the sale of miniature bottles of liquor for off-site consumption. Additionally, the legislation prohibits wine and spirit sales at gas stations in McKinley County.

The bill was sponsored by members of both parties, led by Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto and Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, and including Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil, Rep. Javier Martinez, Rep. Rod Montoya and Rep. Joshua Hernandez.

Governor Lujan Grisham released the following statement:

Ultimately, I side with those who argued that reform, after so many decades, is more than warranted, and that these reforms, in particular, will move us forward as a state – not only by providing an important new revenue stream for the restaurant and hospitality industry but by making this industry more accessible to more New Mexicans while including important safeguards.”

https://www.koat.com/article/gov-signs-bill-allowing-alcohol-delivery-reducing-license-fees-and-lifting-sunday-restrictions/35866439

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/new-mexico-governor-signs-bill-allowing-alcohol-delivery-license-overhaul/6045447/?cat=500

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/gov-lujan-grisham-signs-liquor-law-reform-bill-allowing-home-delivery-of-alcohol/

https://www.krqe.com/news/education/voters-to-decide-childhood-education-proposal/

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PERMANENT FUND

On Thursday, March 18, House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR 1) calling for a constitutional amendment to create a permanent fund for early childhood education programs passed the State Senate.

The bill is considered landmark legislation because it creates a permanent fund for early childhood education. The enactment of the Constitutional Amendment has the potential to transform and expand childhood education programs and provide additional support for K-12 across the state. The funding distribution is from New Mexico’s land grant permanent fund. For years, attempts have been made to dip into the state’s permanent fund which is currently valued at upwards $22 billion for early childhood programs. The Constitutional Amendment will be placed on the ballot as a Constitutional Amendment for the voters to decide its enactment.

As enacted HJR 1 would take an additional 1.25% from the Land Grant Permanent Fund and put it towards child education. The proposal would send an additional $127 million a year for early childhood education programs and an extra $85 million a year for Kindergarten to 12-grade schools. Roughly $33 million would also go to other beneficiaries of the Land Grant Permanent Fund, like the New Mexico Military Institute and the School for the Deaf, just to name a couple. The House has to first agree with some of the changes made before it heads to the voters.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had this to say:

“I know I am not alone in feeling humbled and awe-struck by the transformational potential of today’s action at the Capitol. We are talking about comprehensively uplifting generations – generations – of New Mexican children and families. We are talking about fundamentally changing the historical trajectory of our state. This is a big deal, the big deal.”

State Senator Pete Campos had this to say:

“This bill is about what every child deserves, and that is the best that we can give them so that as they move forward they have a vision and they have purpose, ensuring that their families have a bright future.”

https://www.koat.com/article/landmark-investment-in-new-mexicos-children-passes-senate/35880118

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT ENACTED

On Wednesday, March 16, the House adopted the New Mexico Civil Rights bill HB 4 agreeing with Senate changes on a 41-26 vote and sent it to the governor’s desk. HB 4 enacts a new civil rights act and ends qualified immunity as a defense in state civil courts and allows individuals whose civil rights have been violated to bring a case for remedy in state court. The New Mexico Civil Rights bill sets a cap of $2 million for remedy. There is no cap on damages in civil rights actions brought in federal courts and “qualified immunity” is available.

The original bill was amended to make attorney’s fees subject to judicial review and added that a claimant suing law enforcement must notify the police of the lawsuit within one year after an alleged event occurs. The notice provision was assed so law enforcement could begin recovering records and conducting interviews. The enacted bill allows a potential claim up to three years to be brought to the court. Only an event that occurs after July 1, 2021 is actionable.

https://www.koat.com/article/civil-rights-act-headed-to-governors-desk/35868371

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR JUDICIAL OFFICES

Senate Bill 160 passed making New Mexico the first state to extend public campaign financing to district judges. Since 2008, New Mexico has had a publicly finance system for those running for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals seats public financing since 2008. SB 160 passed the Senate on a party-line 22-13 vote.

The importance of the bill is that it would result in more transparency, reduce the appearance of impropriety of lawyers contributing to judicial campaigns of judges they appear before that gives an impression of a pay-to-play system of justice. To qualify for the public finance, candidates would have to obtain a number of small contributions from voters with the exact figure dependent on the judicial district they were running in.

Candidates for District Judge will get distributions from a public election fund that is financed in part by proceeds from unclaimed property, such as abandoned personal bank accounts and stocks. The amount of public finance candidates received will be based on numbers of registered voters eligible to cast ballots in their races. A fiscal analysis of the bill estimated it could cost $950,000 to provide the public funds to an average number of District Court candidates during an election year.

REPEAL OF 1969 ABORTION BAN

On Friday, February 26, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 9 repealing the 1969 state statute that criminalized abortion. 1969 law criminalized abortion to end a woman’s pregnancy except in certain circumstances, such as rape and incest. The 1969 state statute has not enforced been in the state due to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade in the 1970s, which legalized abortion nationwide.

The repeal of the 1969 law was necessitated by the fact the repeated attempts have been made over the years to have the United States Supreme Court reverse the decision of Roe v Wade. With the appointment of 3 very conservative supreme justices over the last 4 years, the reversal of Roe v. Wade is becoming more and more likely by the Supreme Court, in which case New Mexico’s 1969 law would again become law in the state.

AID IN DYING

House Bill 47 called the “End-of-Life Options Act” passed both the Senate and House and the Governor has said she will sing it. It allows terminally ill patients of sound mind to ask a physician to prescribe drugs to help them die, led to impassioned arguments. Proponents said people should have the right to a peaceful death, while opponents said life should be respected and raised concerns about misuse. Previous attempts to pass such legislation failed. , but this year’s effort made it across the finish line. The governor has said she will sign it.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2370378/lawmakers-send-aid-in-dying-bill-to-lujan-grisham.html

NEW MEXICO TRAPPING BAN

On Thursday, March 18, the New Mexico House voted 35-34 in favor of Senate Bill 32, a proposal to ban traps, snares and wildlife poisons on public land. Three hours of intense debate that touched on ranching, outdoor recreation and animal cruelty. The proposal has already passed the Senate on a 23-16 vote and it now goes to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for her signature to become law. If signed by the Governor, the bill would go into effect April 1 next year.

The measure is called “Roxy’s Law” after a dog strangled to death by a snare during a 2018 hike. Senate Bill 32 was described by supporters as a commonsense step that would prevent the suffering of pets caught or killed in traps and snares. If signed into law, it will be illegal to use a trap, snare or wildlife poison “for purposes of capturing, injuring or killing an animal on public land.” The bill has exceptions for Native American ceremonies and ecosystem management by government agencies. Cage traps would also be permitted in some circumstances.

Opposition to Senate Bill 32 was strong by the ranching community arguing that traps are a reasonable way to manage predators. Cattle for example can be captured and then fall prey to wild predators such as coyotes. According to Animal Protection Voters and Wild Earth Guardians, during the current trapping season, at least nine dogs have been caught in privately set traps and snares on public land.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371274/lawmakers-take-up-trapping-ban-for-public-lands.html

CAPITAL OUTLAY AND TRANSPARENCY ON INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING

Dozens of infrastructure and other projects around the state will receive a combined $517 million in capital outlay funding under House Bill 285. Under House Bill 55, The Legislature would be required to publish a searchable database showing how each lawmaker spends capital outlay dollars.

The goal of House Bill 55 is to bring transparency to the state’s process for funding public infrastructure projects, passed the Senate 40-0 and passed the House 65-1 and the Governor is expected to sign it.

Think New Mexico has been advocating for making the state’s capital outlay system more transparent ever since we published our 2015 report, which called for overhauling the way New Mexico funds infrastructure projects. Two years ago, legislation that would have disclosed the legislative sponsors of every capital outlay appropriation passed the House but failed by just a handful of votes in the Senate. Last week, we were given 1,000 to 1 odds of passing House Bill 55 this year.

As New Mexico In Depth wrote, when the bill is signed into law, the public will finally be able to see “how individual lawmakers spend millions of dollars in most years — a far cry from the secrecy that has surrounded such decision making at the Roundhouse for as long as people can remember.”

PAID SICK LEAVE

House Bill 20, known as the Healthy Workplaces Act, calls for paid sick leave to be a right and not a privilege. House Bill 20 was narrowly approved by both the House and Senate.

Under the bill, private employers in the state would be required to provide workers at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, or 64 hours per year. The bill provides that the longer the employee has been with the company, the more time off they will accrue.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/new-mexico-house-passes-paid-sick-leave-bill/article_99ea8da2-7863-11eb-b1c5-e721194a1a9e.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/roundhouse-roundup-paid-sick-leave-bill-passes-2021-session-wraps/

REDISTRICTNG LEGISLATION

On March 30, the state House reached agreement Senate Bill 304 which is bipartisan legislation that would establish an independent redistricting committee to propose new legislative and congressional districts. The proposal passed the House on a 64-2 vote. The proposal adopts the elements of several competing redistricting measures. It calls for a seven-member committee that would hold hearings throughout New Mexico and propose maps based on new census data.

The legislation bars the committee from considering party registration data in crafting the proposed boundaries, and the panel couldn’t consider the voting addresses of candidates or incumbents, except to avoid pairing of incumbents, if possible. The proposal would start the process this summer with an independent committee led by a retired judge or justice. No more than three of the seven members could be from the same party. Lawmakers could amend or change the maps in the special session, but they would start with the committee’s proposals.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2371821/house-sends-bipartisan-redistricting-bill-to-senate.html

NO HAIR DISCRIMINATION:

Senate Bill 80 passed both chambers which prohibits discipline or discrimination based on a student’s race or culture because of a hairstyle or headdress

BROADBAND

Senate Bll 93 passed both the Senate and House and will create a central state agency to develop and upgrade New Mexico’s broadband system. Despite investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, access to broadband services has remained spotty for many New Mexicans. SB 93 awaits the governor’s signature.

SUMMARY OF WHAT FAILED

Following is a listing of major legislation the failed to pass the session.

RECREATIONAL USE OF CANNABIS FAILS WITH SPECIAL SESSION TO BE CONVENED

The biggest disappointment of the 2021 New Mexico Legislature was the State Senate to take up a final vote of House Bill 12 which would legalize the recreational use of cannabis.

It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-4 vote and advanced to the full Senate for a final vote. House Bill 12 emphasizes government oversight of pricing and supplies along with social services for communities. Under the bill, the Regulation and Licensing Department will get discretion to select a plant limit, require independent testing of potency and prohibit producers from stacking licenses to prevent monopolies.

The major provisions of the bill in final form were:

• Recreational cannabis will be legal in 2022.

• There will be a maximum 20% tax on all sales.

• The state will regulate sellers.

• There will be no limits on the amount of license issued.

• People who have been convicted of possessing it for personal use will have their criminal record expunged.

• There will be a cap on the number of plants sellers can grow as determined by the Department of Regulation and Licensing.

Had the full Senate adopted HB 12, New Mexico would be the 16th state to legalize recreational marijuana. Projections show that recreational cannabis sales in the state could total as much as $318 million in the first year alone. Governor Lujan Grisham has indicated supports the legislation.

Links to media coverage are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/recreational-cannabis-is-expected-to-cross-the-finish-line/35878644

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/bill-legalizing-recreational-marijuana-advances-to-senate-floor-/6046136/?cat=500

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/senate-judiciary-committee-set-to-hear-bill-legalizing-recreational-marijuana/

On Friday, March 19, the Governor’s office issued a statement that a special session is ‘on the table’ if the Recreational Cannabis did not pass by Saturday at noon. The Governor’s office announced that within 2 weeks a special session will be called for the legalization of recreational use of cannibus.

https://www.koat.com/article/governors-office-says-special-session-is-on-the-table/35890847

LEGISLATION THAT FAILED

The online news agency New Mexico Political Report published an excellent summation of the legislation that failed in the 2021 legislative session. Below is the summation followed by the link to the report.

“Payday loans: A bill that would have reined in what many call predatory lending died after the House and Senate failed to agree on how much interest storefront lenders could charge on small loans. The Senate approved Senate Bill 66, which would have capped the interest rate on storefront loans at 36 percent. But the House amended the bill to allow a 99 percent interest rate on loans of less than $1,100.

Curbing gubernatorial powers: Following a year of contentious government-ordered shutdowns amid the pandemic, House Bill 139 and Senate Bill 74, which would ensure the Legislature played a role in any future emergency order by the governor, went nowhere.

Open primaries: House Bill 79, which would have opened up the state’s primary elections to New Mexico voters who aren’t affiliated with a major political party, failed to make it to the House floor for a vote, dying early in the committee process.

Clean fuel standards: A bill that would reduce New Mexico’s carbon footprint by implementing a statewide clean fuel standard cleared the Senate but did not get taken up by the full House. Opponents argued Senate Bill 11 would lead to higher gas prices, but supporters disputed that notion, saying similar laws enacted by other states have not caused fuel prices to spike.

Prison reform: House Bill 352 and House Bill 40 would have prohibited the state or counties from entering into any new contract with a private company to run a jail, prison or juvenile facility. Both got stuck awaiting a hearing in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

Dam repairs: The safety of New Mexico’s dams has raised concerns among lawmakers and safety experts for two years, following the release of state and federal reports about poor conditions. Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, introduced legislation committing $100 million to repairs. But Senate Bill 138 never got past the Senate Finance Committee.

Changing the Legislature: Senate Joint Resolution 273 would have let voters decide whether to limit how many terms a state lawmaker could serve. House Joint Resolution 12 would have let voters decide whether to give the State Ethics Commission the power to set government officials’ salaries — including for state lawmakers, who are currently volunteers. And House Joint Resolution 13 would have asked voters if the Legislature should extend its 30-day session in even-numbered years to 45. None of the measures made it through both chambers.

Cigarette tax: A bill that would have added $2 to the price of a pack of cigarettes stalled in a Senate committee. Senate Bill 197 also would have increased the excise tax for other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, as well as e-liquids and closed system cartridges for electronic cigarettes.

Social Security tax break: What senior relying on Social Security income wouldn’t embrace a plan to exclude those checks from taxes? Two efforts — House Bill 49 and Senate Bill 78 — got stuck in tax and revenue committees. Some Senate Republicans tried, without success, to renew them Friday during a lengthy debate on tax reform.

Cage-free eggs: It wasn’t sunny side up for legislation to require that eggs produced or sold in New Mexico be cage-free. Senate Bill 347 became another casualty of the backlog of bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the measure languished for three weeks.

PERA reform: A bill that would have significantly altered the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association Board of Trustees, House Bill 162, never got out of committee. The board, beset by infighting, oversees a nearly $17 billion retirement fund for about 92,000 New Mexico state workers and retirees.

Mandatory minimum sentences: Lawmakers backing House Bill 293, to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes, asked a committee to essentially kill it early in the session after Republican Party leaders blasted them for trying to cut a break to sex offenders who harm children. The intent was to give judges more leeway in sentencing defendants.

Financial literacy: Two efforts to require public school students to take a half-credit class in money management stalled — House Bill 302 in a House committee and House Bill 63 on the Senate floor. Lawmakers in both parties and both legislative chambers were generally supportive of the measures.

Graduation credits: Legislation changing the type of credits high schoolers would need to graduate stalled in the Senate Education Committee — though lawmakers vowed to study the issue in the interim. House Bill 83 would have dropped the number of required credits, allowed students more leeway in choosing electives and let them bypass Algebra 2.

Veteran discrimination: House Bill 113 started off strong, soaring through the House. But the bill meant to ensure someone could not be discriminated against for being a military veteran — particularly one wrestling with post-traumatic stress disorder — got stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Time change: A bill that might have ended twice-yearly clock changes in the state died in the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee days before the session ended. Senate Bill 102 would have made Mountain Daylight Time the permanent year-round time if enabling federal legislation on the issue were passed.

Reducing hunger: A measure that would have created a plan to reduce hunger in New Mexico failed to make it out of the House. House Bill 207 would have required state agencies to work with community and agricultural leaders on a commission tasked with creating an annual plan to decrease food needs.

Chop shops: Illegal chop shops that dismantle stolen vehicles to sell for parts would face stiffer penalties under a bill approved by the House. House Bill 145 idled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure would make the dismantling of stolen vehicles a third-degree felony.

Red-flag law changes: Much to the disappointment of gun violence prevention advocates, a bill to expand New Mexico’s so-called red-flag gun law became a victim of more pressing priorities. House Bill 193 sought to amend the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act by adding law enforcement officers to the list of people who could seek a court order to temporarily take firearms from a person considered a threat.”

https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2021/03/21/what-passed-what-didnt-during-the-legislative-session/

COMMENTARY AND ANLYSIS

By all accounts, the 2021 New Mexico Legislature was productive but only historical as to the manner in which it was conducted. It was productive because many long serving conservative Senate Democrats lost their bids for another term resulting in more progressive legislations making it through.

It was historic session because the public was not allowed into the state capitol building but were allowed to participate by virtually by “zoom” with most or all committee hearings also held by zoom. It was reported that upwards of 20,000 members of the public participated virtually.

What will be historical will be if the special session to be called by the Governor in a few days results in New Mexico becoming the 16 state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.

2021 Legislative Update: Legalization Of Recreational Cannabis Expected To Become Law; Civil Rights Act And “End of Life” Measure Pass; Early Childhood Care Fund; Liquor Reform Becomes Law

Posted on March 19, 2021 by

On Saturday, March 20 at 12:00 noon, the 2021 New Mexico Legislative session comes to an end. Upwards of 110 pieces of legislation have been passed by both the House and Senate. Thus far, Governor Michell Lujan Grisham has signed 10 of those bills This blog article highlights a few of those bills including the recreational use of cannabis which is still pending and the enactment of New Mexico Civil Rights Act, the Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act.

RECREATIONAL USE OF CANNABIS

On March 18, in the early morning hours, House Bill 12 that would legalize the recreational use of cannabis passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-4 vote. It now advances to the full Senate for a final vote. House Bill 12 emphasizes government oversight of pricing and supplies along with social services for communities. Under the bill, the Regulation and Licensing Department will get discretion to select a plant limit, require independent testing of potency and prohibit producers from stacking licenses to prevent monopolies.

As the bill currently stands:

• Recreational cannabis will be legal in 2022
• There will be a maximum 20% tax on all sales
• The state will regulate sellers
• There will be no limits on the amount of license issued
• People who have been convicted of possessing it for personal use will have their criminal record expunged
• There will be a cap on the number of plants sellers can grow as determined by the Department of Regulation and Licensing.

Representative Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, who was one of three sponsors had this to say:

“(We will be) regulating something that we know is safe, that we know what the product is, that we no longer have to have an illicit market provide for that for something that is and has been proven time and time again that is not only medically safe for patients who need this medication, but for those who are interested using it recreationally.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee further voted to table, and thereby kill, a Republican-sponsored proposal that stressed low taxes and cheap consumer prices to eliminate to illicit marijuana.

If the full Senate adopts HB 12, New Mexico would be the 16th state to legalize recreational marijuana. Projections show that recreational cannabis sales in the state could total as much as $318 million in the first year alone. Governor Lujan Grisham has indicated supports the legislation.

Links to media coverage are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/recreational-cannabis-is-expected-to-cross-the-finish-line/35878644

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/bill-legalizing-recreational-marijuana-advances-to-senate-floor-/6046136/?cat=500

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/senate-judiciary-committee-set-to-hear-bill-legalizing-recreational-marijuana/

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT ENACTED

https://www.koat.com/article/civil-rights-act-headed-to-governors-desk/35868371

LIQUOR REFORM BECOMES LAW

On Wednesday, March 16, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed House Bill 255, which will allow home delivery of alcohol by restaurants. Identification checks will be mandatory for all deliveries. Alcohol delivery permits can be issued to retailers, dispensers, craft distillers, winegrowers, small brewers and restaurant licensees.

Governor Lujan Grisham released the following statement:

“As lawmakers from both parties said over the course of debate, this was an example of productive and creating problem-solving, with well-considered and compassionate and careful arguments made on both sides of a complicated and charged issue. … Like any bipartisan compromise, at the end of the day, most if not all will feel both that they got some of what they wanted and had to give some of what they didn’t. Ultimately, I side with those who argued that reform, after so many decades, is more than warranted, and that these reforms, in particular, will move us forward as a state – not only by providing an important new revenue stream for the restaurant and hospitality industry but by making this industry more accessible to more New Mexicans while including important safeguards.”

https://www.koat.com/article/gov-signs-bill-allowing-alcohol-delivery-reducing-license-fees-and-lifting-sunday-restrictions/35866439

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/new-mexico-governor-signs-bill-allowing-alcohol-delivery-license-overhaul/6045447/?cat=500

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/legislature/gov-lujan-grisham-signs-liquor-law-reform-bill-allowing-home-delivery-of-alcohol/

https://www.krqe.com/news/education/voters-to-decide-childhood-education-proposal/

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PERMANENT FUND

On Thursday, March 18, House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR 1) calling for a constitutional amendment to create a permanent fund for early childhood education programs passed the State Senate.

The bill is considered landmark legislation because it creates a permanent fund for early childhood education. The enactment of the Constitutional Amendment has the potential to transform and expand childhood education programs and provide additional support for K-12 across the state. the funding distribution is from New Mexico’s land grant permanent fund. For years, attempts have been made to dip into the state’s permanent fund which is currently valued at upwards $22 billion for early childhood programs. The Constitutional Amendment will be placed on the ballot as a Constitutional for the voters to decide its enactment.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had this to say:

State Senator Pete Campos had this to say:

https://www.koat.com/article/landmark-investment-in-new-mexicos-children-passes-senate/35880118

END OF LIFE BILL ENACTED

On Tuesday, March 16, New Mexico legislators granted final approval to a bill that would establish an End-of-Life Options Act, sending it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The measure allows patients with a terminal illness to seek a doctor’s help to end their life. The patient would have to be able to self-administer the life-ending medicine.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2370378/lawmakers-send-aid-in-dying-bill-to-lujan-grisham.html

COMMENTARY

Although a full day remains in the 2021 session, there is still time to act on major bills that could very easily make the 2021 session one of the most meaningful in state history.

Debunking False Claim That APD’s Consent Decree Cause Of City’s Increased Crime; Dereliction Of Duty By APD Management, Police Union And APD Police Resisting Reforms

Posted on March 17, 2021 by

On February 4 and February 11, Channel 7 broadcast highly critical reports of the Department of Justice consent decree in its Target 7 reporting. Both reports singled out the Federal Monitor and the reform process under the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) as the reason for the city’s spike in violent crime rates.

Links to related blog articles on the KOAT TV news stories are here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/02/15/apd-police-union-spreads-false-claims-that-casa-reforms-increase-abqs-crime-rates-and-objects-to-outside-force-review-team-as-a-party-to-lawsuit-police-union-contacts-with-press-undermine/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/02/10/target-7-searches-for-scandal-on-federal-court-monitor-finds-nothing-reports-millions-spent-on-reforms-fails-to-report-apd-management-and-police-union-reason-for-costly-delay/

In the February 11 Target 7 report Shaun Willoughby, President of the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association said:

“The whole [reform effort] system is set up to fail and the taxpayers and the people that live in this community like me and my family are the ones that are taking the brunt of [violent crime]. … Really look at this process. … It is absolutely out of control. … The entire department and the processes within it are out of control. Your officers are running out the door. Really look at every single state or agency that’s been involved in this process. … What is happening? Did it bring harmony and trust with the community? I don’t think so.”

Willoughby is blaming the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and its mandated reforms for the city’s high crime rates in Albuquerque. It’s false narrative.

This blog article is a deep dive analysis of Federal Consent Decrees in general with a discussion of the questions raised as to Albuquerque’s consent decree.

FEDERAL JUDGE’S LINE OF QUESTIONING

During the February 26 hearing on the Federal Monitor’s 12th status report on compliance, Judge James Browning, who oversees the consent decree, took note of the KOAT TV news reports as well as related Albuquerque Journal articles. The Judge disclosed that the court had received correspondence from citizens.

Judge Browning asked the attorneys representing the City, the DOJ and the Police Union point blank if they thought that the Court Approved Settlement and the reforms mandated were the cause of the increase in City’s high crime rates.

According to a transcript of the February 26 hearing, Judge Browning asked the following question of DOJ United States Attorney Paul Killebrew:

“I think this week we saw on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal that our violent crime rate is rising, and concerns about that. And there has been some suggestion by people in the news media and perhaps the police association and others, letters I’ve received, that this consent decree is the cause of crime in the community. … So what’s your thoughts about the impact of this consent decree and perhaps additional costs as a result of this EFIT on the rising violent crime in Albuquerque?”

Mr. Kilebrew responded as follows:

“… [W]hether a city’s investment in a consent decree is causing crime, I am dubious about that prospect. The research that’s out there which has looked for correlations between crime trends and cities that have consent decrees does not show this kind of correlation. So I am doubtful that this correlation really exists. For decades and decades it was a department that did not invest in accountability of its officers. They weakened its [Internal Affairs] IA structure, they did not appropriately staff its IA department, and so now, when they’re under a court order that requires those structures to have integrity, it requires a very large up-front investment, larger than they have made in the past. And that is simply, again, not negotiable. It’s unfortunate that we’re in a situation where they now have to make this large investment, but it was unavoidable ultimately if they’re going to comply with the law.”

Judge Browning asked the Police Union Attorney Fred Mower if the consent decree was causing the city’s high crime rates in the following manner:

“… All right. Let me ask you, Mr. Mowrer, you were very careful both in your issues and concerns and then your motion opposing the joint motion not to get into this area, but I have watched Mr. Willoughby’s comments publicly, and I think they’ve been most pronounced by Nancy Laflin on Channel 7, that the consent decree and then, in addition, this additional layer that we are laying on top with the EFIT is contributing or even a primary or major cause of the rise of crime in the community. Is that the position of the police association or your views, that that’s the reason that crime is rising is because of this consent decree or this EFIT?

Police Union Attorney Fred Mower answered the court as follows:

“Well, Your Honor, I think to simplistically state it like that, no. I don’t think the APOA can take the position that this consent decree that’s gone on, as Mr. Killebrew has indicated, going on seven years now, and the monies, the millions of dollars that have been spent, and now this new proposal with unidentified costs is a driver of what the crime rate is happening in this town. … I can’t say, and I don’t think it’s easy to prove that the money being spent here is what’s driving crime in Albuquerque. I think we’re like a lot of major cities. We’re facing dynamics because of just the city, closeness to cartel issues, closeness to issues concerning violent crime in a lot of major cities.

JUDGE BROWNING: “Well, that was going to be my next question. You hang around with a lot of policeman in a lot of courtrooms. What do you think the cause of the rise of crime in Albuquerque and particularly violent crime is? … What’s your thoughts … as to why we’re having a rise in crime here?”

MR. MOWERY: “Your Honor, as I’ve kind of indicated, I believe in fairness to all. There are multiple factors. I would say that the last one you just raised is an issue; that there is — the lack of bail bonds and quick release of individuals who are accused of violent crimes is contributing. I think the access and lack of control of arms, weapons, is a problem. I think that — and I hate to go this broad, but, Your Honor, I think there is a breakdown in our society in some ways of our morals, discipline, and control which is contributing. I think the proclivity of drugs present in the city of Albuquerque is contributing to this. There is a factor of mental illness in the city of Albuquerque. There are — I know you’ve seen, Your Honor, as you drive the city streets a lot of homeless people downtown. And all big cities have this problem. But I think there are multiple, multiple factors that are contributing to this, and that’s just a very short list. … ”

The Police Union Attorney Mowery made it clear he was not speaking for the Union President but for his client the Police Union itself. The police union attorney’s response came as a surprise to many in that it was Police Union President Shaun Willoughby who made the serious accusation the CASA reforms are responsible for the city’s high crime rates. Sources have confirmed that the Union President and union supporters solicited Channel 7 to do both investigative reports providing the station with the false narrative.

Albuquerque City Attorney Esteban Aguilar had this to say about the accusation that the consent decree was causing an increase in crime:

“… I want to be sensitive to the comments that we hear publicly that consent decrees add or increase crime in a particular area and that monitors in general have their own financial incentive for changing the bar or prolonging the process. That isn’t happening right now. You know, I want to be very clear that we do not see that happening. What we see are issues with the review process. As I’ve indicated before, especially to members of the community, the monitor and his team are officers of the Court and we would expect that they will continue to interact with the parties and with the Court with a duty of candor as officers of the Court. If that were not to be the case and we were to find information that would reflect an ulterior motive or an improper motive, we would address that with our partners. That isn’t going on right now. … ”
…
The consent decree has been in place for six years, or a good portion of the beginning phases of that. The APD had not bought in and was not, in my view, taking steps to fully and faithfully execute its obligations under that agreement. The City reset that in 2017 [under the Keller Administration], and essentially started over. ”

CONDEMNATION OF ATTORNEYS AND THE COURT

On March 8, in an article published in the on-line news ABQReports, one police union sympathizer condemned all the attorneys involved with the Federal Court Approve Settlement Agreement (CASA). The commentator condemned the Albuquerque Police Officers Association attorney, the DOJ attorney, and the City Attorney for denying that the DOJ consent decree has caused the rising crime in Albuquerque. What was reprehensible was the condemnation of the judicial system when the commentator wrote:

“If you have ever been in a courtroom you know that justice and truth are usually absent from the building. Attorneys in a courtroom are more like characters from a Shakespearean play, trying to feed egos, dodge direct questions and craft answers of appeasement. I don’t believe anything any attorney tells me when they are in a courtroom. It’s just a stage play and drama; justice and truth are not the main players.”
…
Has the DOJ consent decree added to Albuquerque’s crime issues? Yes, but it is only part of the problem.

Why is the DOJ consent decree adding to Albuquerque’s crime woes? One obvious reason is that when you have more detectives investigating other police officers for frivolous infractions than you have detectives trying to solve homicides, there is a problem. It seems that those running the consent decree believe that APD officers are more dangerous to the community than the person(s) who murdered four people and left them to bake in the sun at the airport.

I believe the consent decree has caused some APD officers to slow down getting to dispatches and to not act when they need to. Just look at Dr. Ginger’s “catastrophic” reports where he nitpicks the slightest of issues. Making mountains out of molehills, molehills that end up getting officers disciplined and making their job impossible to do. It’s easier for an officer to take a report after the mayhem has finished than to arrive and use force to stop the mayhem from continuing. … Officers fear that doing their job, will cause them to lose their job. … .

The link to the full ABQReport commentary column is here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/judge-browning-needs-to-hear-this

EDITOR’S COMMENTARY

In the interest of full disclosure, the editor of https://www.petedinelli.com/ is currently a fully licensed New Mexico attorney who has been practicing law for 42 years predominantly as a prosecutor and trial attorney having practiced in State and Federal Courts. If “justice and truth are usually absent from the [courthouse] building” and “justice and truth are not the main players” in a courtroom as asserted in the ABQReports article, then where will you find it? In a courtroom, people are placed under oath to tell the truth and can be prosecuted for perjury and evidence must be presented.

You’re sure hell are not going to find “justice and truth” on the streets of Albuquerque. You’re sure hell are not going to find “justice and truth” behind an APD badge worn by someone who ignores and has no respect constitutional rights of others. You’re sure hell are not going to find “justice and truth” from someone behind a badge who wans to be the judge, jury and executioner of the mentally ill they encounter, mentally ill who pose a danger and a threat only to themselves, which is exactly what brought the United States Justice Department (DOJ) here in the first place.

From 2006 to 2011, the five years before 2 APD Detective killed Christopher Torrez in his backyard who suffered from schizophrenia, a shooting that resulted in a $6 million dollar judgment against the city, APD shot 38 people, killing 19 of them. More than half were mentally ill. At the time of the Torrez shooting the rate of fatal shootings by APD was 8 times that of New York City. It is shootings like these that brought the Department of Justice to the city to investigate APD and found a pattern of excessive use of force and deadly force and a “culture of aggression”.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/02/son-deceased

Over the past 7 years, the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have paid out large judgments costing millions, especially for police use of deadly force and deadly force cases.

Just 4 cases have cost the City of Albuquerque $26,318,000 in out of court settlements for law enforcement use of deadly force cases. There have been 5 Bernalillo County Sheriff Office (BCSO) cases settled by the county for $8,595,000. Combined, the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have paid out $34,913,000 or $7,913,000 greater than the George Floyd case, but settling 9 cases.

A link to a related blog article on payouts in cases can be found here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/03/15/george-floyd-case-settles-for-27-million-in-6-years-27-09-million-paid-in-8-apd-it-will-happen-again-as-police-reforms-resisted-by-apd-and-bcso/

CONSENT DECREES

The claim is false that APD’s Court Approve Settlement Agreement is the cause of city’s increases in crime. The false claim reflects a level of ignorance of just how consent decrees work.

An academic report found an uptick in crime among the 31 cities that came under federal oversight between 1994 and 2016. The study also found those increases were temporary and diminished into statistical insignificance over time. Stephen Rushin, the study’s co-author and a professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law had this to say:

“To say that … [consent decrees] don’t work, at minimum is misleading. … I don’t think anyone, even folks who have spent their life doing this, would think it’s perfect. But I think to say that it just doesn’t work and everyone knows it, that’s not true. … It would be fair to say there’s some empirical support for the claim that consent decree cities have seen maybe an uptick in crime relative to unaffected cities. … But, again it’s more complicated because our research … found that after a few years, that relationship goes away.”

According to Professor Rushin, other experts said that crime rates aren’t the only factor to consider when weighing the potential costs and benefits of consent decrees. For instance, a widely cited study from the University of Texas-Dallas found that cities operating under such agreements saw a decrease in civil rights lawsuits against police. The link to the University of Texas-Dallas study is here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133.12295

Professor Rushin went on to say:

“These [crime] numbers are not destiny and there are good examples of cities as big as Chicago going through these kinds of very disruptive processes and coming out the end a much safer and seemingly more constitutional police department”.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2757809

One example is Los Angeles, which operated under a consent decree between 2000 and 2013. A 2009 report from the Harvard Kennedy School found that crime did rise in the first couple years of the consent decree, but at a pace no faster than it did across all of California.

http://lapd-assets.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Harvard-LAPD%20Study.pdf

ARGUMENTS PRO AND CON

Some have claimed that consent decrees lead to reductions in police morale, reduce the proclivity of police officers to act proactively, and over time cause crime rates to rise.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-delivers-remarks-chicago-crime-commission).

Others have argued that consent decrees offer one of the only effective remedies to addressing police compliance with civil rights.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/what-is-a-consent-decree/

“Studies of consent decrees in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh suggest that when police leadership embraced the decrees, there is some increase in public satisfaction with police services with no evidence of harmful effects on police morale. The evidence also shows that there is no increase in crime or reductions in arrests after these decrees were put into place.”

“In Cincinnati, the results from an evaluation of a collaborative agreement, a less restrictive agreement than a consent decree, found that improvements in community satisfaction after the formation of the collaborative agreement and several reforms started by the police department. Crime rates did not drastically change after the collaborative agreement was established. This evidence, however, is largely descriptive – meaning that we can only observe crime, arrests, and reports of satisfaction with the police before and after consent decrees are put into place.

We do not have an adequate comparison group of agencies that could have been placed under a decree but were not. The unknown reasons why certain police agencies ultimately get placed under consent decrees means it is very difficult to draw strong conclusions about their impact on the police and communities they serve.

What is clear, however, is that consent decrees by their very design place a number of mandatory reforms on police agencies, typically requiring new training of officers, hiring criteria, promotion criteria, internal review of officers, and even different forms of outside scrutiny, such as more extensive auditing of data collected by police departments. These changes typically upgrade police department standards. Whether these changes lead to improvements in police service deliver is an open question. But clearly, the changes are often substantial and require a lot of work by the police agency responsible.

EDITORS NOTE: Mandatory reforms, training in constitutional policing practices, hiring criteria, promotion criteria, Internal Affairs review of officers conduct , and the outside scrutiny of officer involve shootings are all required under the Albuquerque’s consent decree.

In recent years a number of police departments have come under scrutiny for high profile shootings or killings of civilians. The Baltimore Police Department and the Chicago Police Department both have entered into court ordered settlement agreements in the aftermath of high-profile events that triggered massive civilian protests.

EDITOR’S NOTE: APD experienced extensive scrutiny after the 2010 shooting of Kenneth Ellis III, a former army infantryman who served in Iraq and who suffered from service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder and the 2014 shooting of homeless camper and mentally ill James Boyd who was shot and killed by APD in the Sandia Foothills. The Ellis shooting resulted in a $10.5 million dollar jury judgment against the city. The Boyd shooting resulted in a $5 Million dollar settlement with the Boyd family and a criminal jury trial of two SWAT officers with the jury unable to reach a verdict and the charges dismissed against both officers.

“Some have argued that the police in these agencies have become less aggressive in the enforcement of crime, and that the climbing crime rates in these cities is the result of consent decrees and other forms of outside intervention. This claim, however, can be disputed because court orders were put in effect long-after crime began to rise in Baltimore and Chicago. “

https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/does-legal-regulation-police-impact-crime

BENEFITS OF CONSENT DECREES

“Researchers in another study looked at 23 police departments that agreed to consent decrees between 1990 and 2013, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland as well as suburban departments such as Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. The study found the average maximum reduction in the risk for litigation was as much as 36%, usually while the consent decree is in effect, but that lawsuits start to trend back up once the decree lifts.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2017/05/24/__trashed/

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

APD has been struggling for over 6 years with trying to implement the DOJ consent decree reforms. After six years and millions spent, APD still has a long way to go to be compliant under the settlement before the case can be dismissed. The reforms were to be fully implemented in 4 years, and after 2 years of compliance in 3 areas determined to be 95% , the case was to be dismissed. APD management, the police union and rank and file have essentially done whatever they could do, and at different times, to interfere with the reform efforts.

The biggest failure made clear in Federal Court Monitor’s 12th report filed on November 2 relates to “Operational Compliance”. Operational Compliance is defined as “managements adherence and enforcement to APD policies in the day-to-day operation of APD” . Operational compliance is where line personnel are routinely held accountable for compliance by their sergeants, and sergeants are routinely held accountable for compliance by their lieutenants and upper command staff. In other words, APD “owns” and enforces its own policies and without expecting the Federal Monitor to do it for them.

CITY AND APD MANAGEMENT REPONSIBLE AND “RUN CONSENT DECREE”

The Federal Monitor and the Federal Judge assigned the case are not “running the consent decree” as has been argued. Such an accusation is at the very least misleading and at the very worse just a lie. The consent decree is very specific that the Federal Monitor has absolutely no management nor control over APD nor any of APD’s personnel and cannot discipline city personnel and neither can the Federal Judge.

The Federal Judge assigned the case has not issued any order appointing a receiver to take over APD and to manage APD. The City and APD have not been taken to task by the Federal Judge nor found in contempt of court for violation of the settlement, even though APD and the City have come close at least twice. The first occasion was in 2017 when the Assistant APD Chief secretly recorded the federal monitor to try and have him removed. The second and most recently was when the DOJ was considering filing a motion for contempt of court for APD’s failure to conduct proper use of force investigations but the City and DOJ agreed to hire of team of experts to review use of force incidents by APD and train APD.

It is APD’s management that is responsible for implementing the mandated reforms agreed to by the City and the DOJ, not the Federal Monitor nor the Judge. The Federal Monitor’s sole responsibility is to gather data, audit the progress and report to the Court. At this point, the Federal Judge merely reviews the 3 compliance levels of the settlement and will determine ultimately if and when the case should be dismissed.

DERELICTION OF DUTY

The problem always has been and continues to be that APD management, the police union and its membership have not fully embraced the reforms. In fact, all three have resisted them from time to time, at different times, as has been repeatedly documented by the federal monitor in at least 4 reports over the last 3 years.

Sean Willoughby, the union president, has said that police officers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being investigated, fired or disciplined. The police union has never articulated in open court and in clear terms exactly what it is about the reforms that are keeping rank and file from “doing their” jobs and “why they hate” the CASA as articulated by the union president. It’s likely the union feels what is interfering with police from doing their jobs is the mandatory use of lapel cameras, police can no longer shoot at fleeing cars, police can no longer use choke holds, police need to use less lethal force and not rely on the SWAT unit, police must use de-escalating tactics and be trained in crisis intervention, and management must hold police accountable for violation of standard operating procedures.

It is a dereliction of duty if APD officers are intentionally and willfully “slowing down getting to dispatches and to not act when they need to” act. It is a dereliction of duty for an officer to simply refuse to act, refuse to take a call for service or intentionally delay the time to respond to a 911 emergency call, or refuse to make an arrest when the officer sees a crime in progress or has probable cause to make an arrest. The argument that “Officers fear that doing their job, will cause them to lose their job” is a feeble attempt to undercut and discredit the reform process in the hopes of bringing it to an end.

Simply put, if a police officer does their job and follows constitutional policing practices and procedures as they are required to do, there is nothing to fear and there will be no discipline let alone termination. If any police officer does not want to do their job and not follow constitutional policing practices as mandated by the consent decree, they are part of the problem and need to leave APD or find another line of work.

REASONS CITY’S CONSENT DECREE NOT CAUSING CRIME INCREASE

The APD Police Union and supporters have gone to questionable lengths contacting the news media to discredit the City’s 6-year-old settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the 271 mandated reforms alleging the consent decree is the cause of the City’s increase in violent crime and saying police cannot do their jobs.

There are 3 very strong reasons that the argument the City’s consent decree is causing an increase in violent crime in Albuquerque is false:

FIRST: Critics of the DOJ settlement falsely assume without definitive data that crime has increased because of the consent decree. Albuquerque’s increases in violent crime can be attributed in part to the national trend in violent crime. FBI statistics reveal that Albuquerque has the dubious distinction of having a crime rate 194% higher than the national average. The FBI has never linked the city’s consent decree to the rise in violent crime nor keeping APD from doing its job.

SECOND: Virtually all DOJ consent decrees are tailored to individual community needs. All other consent decrees deal with racial profiling and “systemic racism” and the use of excessive force and deadly force. Albuquerque’s consent decree is totally different. The DOJ investigation of APD did not deal with “racial profiling” nor “systemic racism” but with APD’s use of force with persons suffering from acute mental illness and in crisis. The DOJ found APD’s policies, training, and supervision failed to ensure that police encounters with people having psychotic episodes did so in a manner that respected rights and that were safe.

THIRD: Arguing that violent crime has increased in other cities that have consent decrees is a diversion tactic . It is a tactic used by police unions to interfere with the reform process of consent decrees. On June 6, 2020, a New York Times published the “How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts”. According to the article as demands for police reform have mounted across the country in the aftermath of police violence or deadly shootings, unions have emerged as significant roadblocks to police reforms and change. The greater the political pressure for police reform, the more defiant police unions become in resisting police reforms. Police unions aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct. Police unions can be so effective at defending their members that cops with a pattern of abuse can be left untouched, ostensibly undisciplined and they remain on the force.

The link to the entire New York Times article is here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html

CONCLUSION

Instead of resisting the consent decree, APD management, the police union and police officers must embrace the reform effort. The union and its media sympathizers also need to knock it off with attempting to influence the judge by use of the media to send the Federal Judge a message. The union attorney is more than capable of filing pleadings in support or opposition of the CASA, present evidence under oath to the Judge and make argument in a court of law.

Only until APD becomes in complete compliance will APD be able to fight crime without violating people’s civil rights and thereby allow the dismissal of the DOJ consent decree. One thing for certain is that only APD management, the police union and all APD police officers can make the consent decree actually work and have the court dismiss it sooner rather than later.

George Floyd Case Settles For $27 Million; In 6 years, $34.9 Million Paid In 9 APD & BCSO Cases; It Will Happen Again As Police Reforms Resisted By APD And BCSO

Posted on March 15, 2021 by

On May 25, African American George Floyd died when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was taking Floyd into custody and pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for upwards of 9 minutes with some reports saying as much as 14 minutes. A bystander’s cell phone video caught the incident while Floyd struggled as he said at least 14 times “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe” until he succumbed to death. Floyd’s death sparked violent protests in the city Minneapolis and beyond. The death led to the Black Lives movement demanding police reforms and the “defund the police” movement.

The Floyd family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in July of last year against the city, Derek Chauvin and the 3 other fired police officers charged in his death. The federal lawsuit alleged in part that the Minneapolis Police violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force and racism to flourish in its police force.

The federal lawsuit filed sought unspecified compensatory and special damages. It was requested that the damage amount to be determined by a jury. It also sought a receiver to be appointed to ensure that the city properly trains and supervises officers in the future.

On Friday, March 12, the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay $27 million to settle the civil lawsuit filed by the George Floyd family over his death in police custody. The settlement was announced as jury selection continued in the criminal case of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin who has been charged with murder for Floyd’s death.

Three weeks for jury selection has been set aside and with opening statements no sooner than March 29. The other 3 former police officers charged in Floyd’s death face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges. The aiding and abetting charges were brought in part against the other 3 officers for their failure to take any action to intervene and stop Derek Chauvin from using the knee tactic to subdue George Floyd.

The Minneapolis City Council approved the settlement in a closed-door session. The settlement includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested. City Council President Lisa Bender in announcing the settlement had this to say:

“I hope that today will center the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share. … But I do want to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss.”

The Floyd family private Attorney Ben Crump said the settlement was the largest pretrial federal civil rights settlement of its kind ever, and had this to say:

“[This] sends a powerful message that black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.”

COSTLY CITY AND COUNTY PAYOUTS

The George Floyd settlement of $27 Million may be the largest single amount paid in an excessive use of force or deadly force cases, but the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have had more than their fair share of such a cases. Over the past 7 years, the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have paid out large judgments costing millions, especially for police use of deadly force and deadly force cases.

A review of those cases are in order, as well as the city’s consent decree, as proof that it has happened here time and again. It could very easily could happen again with much larger judgments if things do not change with APD and BCSO.

APD’s “USE OF DEADLY FORCE” CASES

The City of Albuquerque has paid out $26,318,000 in settlements in use of deadly force cases by APD over the last 7 years. Following are those cases with amounts paid:

2011 SHOOTING OF CHRISTOPHER TORREZ: $6.018 Million

On April 12, 2011, APD officers Detectives Christopher Brown and Richard Hilger went to a residence to serve Christopher Torres, age 27, with a warrant for his arrest in connection with a road-rage incident. Torrez, who suffered from schizophrenia, lived with his parents. Torrez got into an altercation with the 2 police officers in the backyard of the northwest Albuquerque home. It ended with the 27-year-old getting shot three times in the back at point blank range. APD publicly said that Torrez had a lengthy criminal history, which was false.

On June 10, 2014 it was reported that a State District Judge rejected claims by the officers in the state court action that they were acting in self-defense when they shot Christopher Torres. The court concluded that Detectives Richard Hilger and Christopher Brown committed batteries on Christopher Torres with Hilger beating him and Brown by shooting the unarmed Torres three times in the back at point-blank range.

The Judge also found the testimony by the officers, who were in jeans and sweatshirts the day of the shooting, was “not credible.” It was argued that Torrez did not know that Brown and Hilger were cops and Torrez presumed someone was breaking into his parents home. The District Court Judge awarded more than $6 million to Stephen Torres, Christopher’s father and personal representative of the estate. The payout was limited to $400,000 under the state Tort Claims Act.

A separate civil rights lawsuit based on Christopher’s killing was filed in U.S. District Court and a trial was soon to follow after the state case.

On May 22, 2015, it was reported the federal case was settled with the city for $6,018,385.82.

https://www.abqjournal.com/413552/judge-awards-6-million-to-family-of-man-shot-by-apd.html

https://www.koat.com/article/family-of-man-fatally-shot-by-apd-settles-for-6m/5064206

https://www.krqe.com/news/family-of-man-killed-by-albuquerque-police-settles-for-6m/

In the five years before the Torrez shooting, the Albuquerque Police Department had shot 38 people, killing 19 of them. More than half were mentally ill. At the time of the Torrez shooting, Albuquerque’s rate of fatal shootings by APD was 8 times that of New York City.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/02/son-deceased

2014 SHOOTING OF KEN ELLIS, II: $10.3 MILLION JURY JUDGMENT

One morning in January, 2010, APD pulled over Kenneth Ellis III, a former army infantryman who served in Iraq and who suffered from service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. APD was conducting a sweep for stolen vehicles when they pulled over Ellis’ because his license plates didn’t match his car. It was a stop made on a false suspicion of auto theft. When Ellis pulled into a Northeast Heights 7-Eleven convenience store, a police car pinned his car in from behind and at that point the 25-year-old suffered a psychotic episode. Ellis got out of his car, put a pistol to his head, called his mother on a cell for help and asked her to come help him.

Police at the scene testified that Ellis took one step toward an officer, still with the gun pointed to his own head and another officer shot Ellis, once in the neck killing him. It was then Lieutenant Harold Medina, who is now the APD Chief who authorized the use of deadly force. Medina was never disciplined for his failed leadership in the case. Former APD Chief Geier was serving on the use of force board and held the opinion that there was a failure of leadership by Medina and that he should have been disciplined, but Medina was not.

On March 13, 2013, a civil jury unanimously awarded Ellis’ family $10.3 million. The Court found the City clearly liable ruling Mr. Ellis was only a danger to himself when he was shot and killed by APD. On January 27, 2014, it was reported that the $10.3 million dollar judgment appealed by the City of Albuquerque was settled by the city for $7.5 million for the police shooting and killing of Kenneth Ellis, III.

https://www.koat.com/article/jury-city-to-pay-millions-in-ellis-shooting-death/5046565

https://www.koat.com/article/report-city-agrees-to-settlement-in-ellis-case/5053797

2014 JAMES BOYD SHOOTING: $5 MILLION SETTLEMENT

On March 16, 2014, homeless camper and mentally ill James Boyd was shot and killed by Albuquerque police in the Sandia Foothills . Neighbors who resided in homes adjacent to the open space area called to complain about Boyd camping out where he was not allowed to be. When open space officers attempted to arrest Boyd for trespassing, he became agitated and resisted arrest. The incident escalated out of control. A 15-hour standoff occurred where the APD crisis intervention was attempted. Boyd was armed with 3 inch knifes, one in each hand, as APD Crisis Intervention attempted to settle him down and be allowed to be taken into custody. During the entire 15 hour standoff, no one assumed total command of the incident and no orders to stand down were given to police to allow a “cool off” and surveillance of Boyd.

During the standoff, upwards of 21 APD were dispatched including 2 SWAT Officers. As Boyd began to walk down with the knives in his hand but as if he was going to turn himself in, holding of the knives was viewed as an aggressive act. APD fired “flash bang” shells at Boyd, the K-9 Unit was dispatched and James Boyd was shot 3 times by the SWAT Officers. The shooting made national headlines with police lapel camera footage capturing the incident. One photo of Boyd on the side of the foothill looking down on 6 armed police officers lined in a row behind each other pointing their weapons at Boyd appeared on the front pages of newspapers. The two SWAT officers were charged criminally, with one officer retiring. A jury could not reach a verdict on the murder charges and the charges were dismissed.

On July 15, 2015, the city agreed to pay $5 million to the family of James Boyd for his wrongful death and APD’s use of deadly force.

https://www.abqjournal.com/610827/albuquerque-reaches-settlement-in-lawsuit-over-james-boyds-death.html

2014 MARY HAWKES SHOOTING: $5 Million SETTLEMENT

On January 17, 2018, it was announced that the City of Albuquerque reached a $5 million settlement with the family of Mary Hawkes, a 19-year-old woman who was shot and killed by police during a foot chase in 2014. APD Police Officer Jeremy Dear said he fired his gun after Hawkes pointed a gun at him while he was chasing her through Southeast Albuquerque. Dear’s lapel camera was unplugged during the encounter and the incident was not recorded. Dear fired five times, hitting Hawkes with three rounds. Hawkes was shot in the back as she fled.

The Hawkes family argued in their lawsuit that scientific evidence did not support Dear’s version of events. The bullet trajectories, they said, showed the “impossibility of his account” and Hawkes’ fingerprints and DNA were not on the gun found at the scene and allegedly used by Hawkes. Hawkes was killed just days after the Department of Justice announced the city’s police department had a pattern of using excessive and deadly force, and the Hawkes family alleged that the police department’s “structural and systemic deficiencies” led to her killing. The $5 Million settlement resolved the lawsuit filed by her family against both the city and then APD Officer Jeremy Dear.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1120552/hawkes-family-settles-lawsuit-fatal-apd-shooting.html

BCSO “USE OF DEADLY FORCE” CASES

Bernalillo County has paid out $8,595,000 in settlements over a 2 year period in 5 cases involving the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). The cases involve the allegations of unconstitutional uses of force, deadly force and racial profiling. Following is a listing of those cases and payouts:

2015 WRONFUL DEATH OF FIDENCIO DURAN: $1,495,000 SETTLEMENT

On Bernalillo County settled the wrongful death case of Fidencio Duran for the sum of $1,495,000.

It was on September 14, 2015, Fidencio Duran, 88, died after he was shot numerous times with a “pepper ball” gun after he encountered BCSO Deputy Sheriffs in the South Valley. Mr. Duran was partially blind and deaf and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. His wife of 67 years had died the day before after a three-year bout with illness. Duran wandered around the neighborhood shirtless. He banged on the door of a neighbor, who called the BCSO.

When BCSO Deputies arrived, a 90-minute standoff ensued, in which Mr. Duran, shirtless and wearing one shoe and reportedly holding a four-inch knife, spoke, sometimes incoherently, in Spanish. Eventually, the BCSO officers fired over 50 rounds of pepper balls at him from two directions. Some of the pepper balls penetrated his skin, causing contusions and embedding fragments of plastic.

BCSO officers unleashed a muzzled K9 police dog after shooting with pepper balls. The dog knocked the 115-pound man over, breaking his femur and hip. He was taken to the hospital, where it took doctors days to remove all of the pepper ball fragments. He never left the hospital, succumbing to pneumonia as a complication of his injuries a month later. A doctor from the Office of the Medical Investigator “determined that the manner of death was Homicide” according to a civil lawsuit filed.

In an ostensible act of defiance, Sheriff Manny Gonzales issued commendations to the deputies involved.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/09/albu-f09.html

2017 WRONGFULL DEATH OF ROBERT CHAVEZ: $700,000 SETTLEMENT

On August 16, 2017, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies spotted a stolen car near Coors and ILiff. When they tried to pull over the vehicle a chase ensued. The stolen vehicle crashed into Robert Chavez’, 66, car near Broadway and Avenida Cesar Chavez in the Southwest part of the city. When Robert Chavez was hit, Chavez broke his back, shoulder, forearm, wrist, ribs and pelvis in the crash and also had other internal injuries. Chavez went into a coma and died 11 days after the crash. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the county and BCSO.

The BCSO Sheriff Department’s old policy would not have allowed officers to pursue for a stolen vehicle, but Sheriff Manny Gonzales changed the hot pursuit policy allowing such chases a year before the fatal crash. Bernalillo County settled with Mr. Chavez’ family for $700,000 but not before the county backed out of a $1 Million settlement.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1210343/man-injured-in-bcso-chase-dies.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/family-attorney-county-

2017 KILLING OF MARTIN JIM AND SHOOTING OF ISAAC PADILLA: $3.3 MILLION SETTLEMENT

On November 17, 2017, BCSO Deputies, at around 4 am in the morning, initiated a high-speed chase of a stolen truck about 4 a.m. across the South Valley on Nov. 17, 2017. A deputy rammed the truck at Coors and Glenrio NW on Albuquerque’s West Side obliterating the front driver’s-side wheel. With the truck at a standstill, two sheriff’s deputies parked their vehicles to block the truck from moving forward.

BCSO Sheriff Deputy Joshua Mora soon arrived on the scene. Mora is the son of then-undersheriff Rudy Mora and had worked for BCSO about 18 months as a sheriff’s deputy. In the span of 18 seconds, Mora jumped from his car, ran to the truck, yelled commands at the driver, and fired 7 shots into the vehicle occupied by 3 passengers, including a 4-year-old child. Mora didn’t realize Martin Jim was sitting in the back seat. A settlement in the case was reached after Senior U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera of Albuquerque ruled that a “reasonable jury could conclude that Deputy Mora acted unreasonably.”

On May 21, 2020, it was reported that the family of Martin Jim, 25, the man killed in 2017 incident settled the federal excessive force lawsuit against the county for $1.5 million. An earlier $400,000 state court settlement arising from the same deadly shooting paid to Jim’s partner, Shawntay Ortiz and his four-year-old son, amounted to $1.9 million. That is an addition to the $1.36 million settlement paid to the estate of the driver of the pickup truck, Isaac Padilla, 23, who was killed. Another $40,000 was paid to two other passengers in the truck. The total payout to resolve legal claims related to Deputy Joshua Mora’s actions was $3.3 million.

The defendants, Mora, the county and Sheriff Manny Gonzales maintained Martin Jim’s death was unintentional and that the killing of Isaac Padilla, the driver of the truck, was justified. No weapons were found in the truck negating Mora’s defense that his actions were in justified and in self-defense.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1458471/settlements-in-bcso-shooting-total-33-million-deputy-opened-fire-killing-driver-passenger-in-stolen-truck.html

2019 THE KILLING ELISHA LUCERO: $4 MILLION SETTLEMENT

On July 21, 2019, Elisha Lucero, 28, who suffered psychosis and schizophrenia, was shot to death in front of her RV, which was parked in front of her family’s South Valley home. BCSO Deputies had responded to the home after a relative called 911 saying Lucero had hit her uncle in the face. According to the 911 call, a relative said Lucero was mentally ill, needed help, and was a threat to herself and to everybody else. Just one month prior, Lucero had called BCSO and asked to be taken to the hospital for mental health issues.

According to the lawsuit, when deputies arrived, they said Lucero initially refused to come out of the home. Eventually, the 4-foot-11 Lucero, naked from the waist up, ran out screaming and armed with a kitchen knife. The BCSO Deputies pulled their revolvers and shot her claiming they feared for their lives. According to an autopsy report, Lucero was shot at least 21 times by the deputies. The two BCSO Deputies who shot and killed Elisha Lucero were not wearing lapel cameras. Sheriff Gonzales refused to have lapel cameras purchase and mandated for the BCSO.

The Lucero lawsuit filed on January 13 alleges Sheriff Manny Gonzales has fostered a “culture of aggression” in the department and too few deputies are trained to handle people with mental health issues. The Lucero family civil suit states:

“The deputies created a situation where they were forced to use deadly force against Ms. Lucero or have justified their unlawful use of deadly force with the falsehood that Ms. Lucero presented a deadly threat to one or all of them.”

On March 6th, it was reported that Bernalillo County settled the Lucero family lawsuit for $4 Million dollars.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/family-of-elisha-lucero-settles-case-with-bcso-for-4m-/5667056/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1428402/family-of-mentally-ill-woman-shot-by-bcso-gets-4m-settlement.html

BCSO RACIAL PROFILING CASES SETTLED: $100,000 SETTLEMENT AND COUNTING

It was on December 6, 2017 that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sherese Crawford, a 38-year-old African-American woman on temporary assignment in New Mexico as an Immigration and Customs Agent (ICE) deportation officer. The lawsuit alleged that Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) deputies racially profiled her by pulling her over three times, twice by the same deputy, within a month with no probable cause or reasonable suspicion that she was breaking the law. None of the three times she was pulled over was she given a warning or a citation.
ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Kristin Greer Love had this to say at the time:

“Our client is an accomplished federal agent who was targeted for driving while black … BCSO unlawfully and repeatedly stopped her because she fit a racial profile. Targeting people because of the color of their skin is unconstitutional and bad policing. Racial discrimination has no place in New Mexico, and BCSO must take immediate action to ensure that this behavior does not continue.”

https://www.aclu-nm.org/en/press-releases/aclu-files-racial-profiling-lawsuit-against-bcso

On July 8, 2020, it was reported that two black women from Wisconsin are suing Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales and two deputies alleging racial and religious profiling stemming from a traffic stop in July 2017. The lawsuit was filed about five months after Bernalillo County reached a $100,000 settlement with Sherese Crawford, a 38-year-old African-American who filed a lawsuit against BCSO after she was pulled over three times in 28 days by BCSO deputies Patrick Rael and Leonard Armijo, the same deputies named in the new lawsuit, in spring 2017.

The civil case was filed by Sisters Consweyla and Cynthia Minafee, and a 5-year-old child, Yahaven Pylant, were traveling from Phoenix back to Wisconsin when they were pulled over by Rael on Interstate 40 the morning of July 7, 2017. Cynthia Minafee was Yahaven’s legal guardian at the time. According to the lawsuit, the traffic stop lasted almost an hour and included an extensive search of the vehicle with a drug dog.

According to the lawsuit, Rael told the women to get out of the car and said he could smell marijuana on Cynthia. Cynthia said that she had not smoked in the car and that there was no marijuana in the vehicle. Consweyla Minafee, the driver, was not issued a traffic citation, but Cynthia Minafee was issued a citation for not having Yahaven properly restrained. The citation was dismissed in May, online court records show.

A link to a news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1473973/two-bcso-deputies-face-second-racial-profiling-lawsuit.html

DOJ INVESTIGATION OF APD

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).

You can read the entire report here:

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

The investigative report found a pattern or practice of use of “deadly force” or “excessive use of force” in 4 major areas:

APD’S USE OF DEADLY FORCE NOT JUSTIFIED

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

APD’s FAILURE TO USE DE ESCALATION TACTICS

The DOJ found that Albuquerque Police officers often used less lethal force in an unconstitutional manner, often used unreasonable physical force without regard for the subject’s safety or the level of threat encountered. The investigation found APD Officers frequently used take-down procedures in ways that unnecessarily increased the harm to the person. Finally, the DOJ found that APD officers escalated situations in which force could have been avoided had they instead used de-escalation measures.

APD’S USE OF DEADLY FORCE AGAINST MENTALLY ILL

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

APD’S USE OF EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE COMMON

The DOJ investigation found the use of excessive force by APD officers was not isolated or sporadic. The pattern or practice of excessive force stemmed from systemic deficiencies in oversight, training, and policy. Chief among these deficiencies was the department’s failure to implement an objective and rigorous internal accountability system. Force incidents were not properly investigated, documented, or addressed with corrective measures by the command staff.

APD COURT APPROVED SETTLEMEMT AGREEMENT (CASA)

Albuquerque has paid out upwards of $64 million dollars over the last 12 years for excessive use of force and deadly for cases and civil rights violations stemming from a “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice (DOJ). On November 10, 2014, the DOJ and the City of Albuquerque and APD entered into a 106-page negotiated Court Approved Settlement Agreement (APD) mandating 271 sweeping reforms of APD.

Major reform mandates under the settlement include:

1. Sweeping changes ranging from APD’s SWAT team protocols, to banning choke-holds, to auditing the use of every Taser carried by officers and re writing and implementation new use of force and deadly force policies.

2. The CASA mandates the teaching of “constitutional policing” practices and methods as well as mandatory crisis intervention techniques and de-escalation tactics with the mentally ill.

3. The City agreed that APD would overhaul and rewrite all of its “use of force policies” and “deadly force” policies, recruitment procedures, training, internal affairs procedures and implement field supervision of officers.

4. Stricter training and restrictions on the use of nonlethal force is required.

5. More training and controls over the use of Tasers by officers along with quarterly audits of their use.

6. The agreement mandates that APD adopt a new system to hold officers and supervisors accountable for all use of force incidents with personnel procedures implemented and outlining details how use of force cases would be investigated. It requires far more reporting by officers and field supervisors and also requires detailed reviews of those reports up the chain of command within the department.

7. Officers who point their firearms at a person, but don’t fire, must fill out a use of force report that will be reviewed by field supervisors. That review is separate from a city civilian police oversight agency that will be independent of the department and will review police use of force incidents as well as civilian complaints.

8. APD agreed to revise and update its policies on the mandatory use of lapel cameras by all police officers.

9. Certain types of hand-to-hand techniques are barred under the CASA unless the officer is in a situation that require the use of lethal force if it were available. Neck holds, sometimes called choke-holds, are explicitly forbidden to be used by officers except in situations where lethal force would be authorized.

10. A major change in the CASA bans APD officers from firing their weapons at moving vehicles in all but life-threatening situations.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The $27 Million dollar settlement in the George Floyd should be a major wake up call to both the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and to the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Department (BCSO), but for totally different reasons.

ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT

On Friday, October 6, 2020, the Court appointed Federal Monitor Ginger had this to say about APD:

“We are on the brink of a catastrophic failure at APD. … [The department] has failed miserably in its ability to police itself. … If this were simply a question of leadership, I would be less concerned. But it’s not. It’s a question of leadership. It’s a question of command. It’s a question of supervision. And it’s a question of performance on the street. So as a monitor with significant amount of experience – I’ve been doing this since the ’90s – I would have to be candid with the Court and say we’re in more trouble here right now today than I’ve ever seen.”

The $27 Million dollar Floyd Settlement should send a strong message in no uncertain terms about the need to embrace the reforms by APD. APD has been struggling for over 6 years with trying to implement the DOJ consent decree reforms. After six years and millions spent, APD still has a long way to go to be compliant under the settlement before the case can be dismissed. The reforms were to be fully implemented in 4 years, and after two years of compliance in 3 areas, the case was to be dismissed. APD management, the police union and rank and file have essentially done whatever they could to interfere with the reform efforts.

It is clear from the 12th Federal Court Monitors report filed on November 2, 2020 that “Operational Compliance”, which is managements adherence and enforcement to APD policies is apparent in the day-to-day operation of APD and police union resistance have been and continue to be the biggest sticking points for APD. Both represent the biggest obstacles for the department under the consent decree. Operational Compliance is attained at the point that the adherence to policies is apparent in the day-to-day operation of the agency. In other words, line personnel are routinely held accountable for compliance, not by the monitoring staff, but by their sergeants, and sergeants are routinely held accountable for compliance by their lieutenants and command staff. In other words, the APD “owns” and enforces its policies.

BERNALILLO COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT

Likewise, the $27 Million dollar settlement in the George Floyd case should be a major wake up call to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s office. BCSO needs to review their standard operating procedures and recognize that the Sheriff’s Department is way behind the times when it comes to constitutional policing practices. BCSO for years has resisted civilian oversight often ignoring the citizen advisory board recommendations. Most recently, BCSO has resisted the U.S. Supreme Court mandated disclosures of police misconduct of officers who testify in court.

The deaths of Fidencio Duran, Robert Chavez, Martin Jim, and Elisha Lucero as well as the shooting injuries to Isaac Padilla, Shawntay Ortiz and his four-year-old son were all preventable had BCSO Sheriff’s Deputies been properly trained in constitutional policing practices. In this day and age of George Floyd and the Black Lives Movement, there is absolutely no excuse for BCSO involved with racial profiling cases involving any minority.

One of the biggest problems is that Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales has shown himself to be a law enforcement “throw back” to by gone days, especially with his refusal to order the use of lapel cameras before the State legislature mandated it and his resistance to make mandatory disclosures of officer misconduct to the District Attorney’s office as mandated by the United States Supreme Court. Sheriff Gonzales is now running for Mayor on a “law and order” platform and his mismanagement of BCSO will likely be a major issue as well as his well known opposition to many of the reforms of APD mandated by the consent decree.

In a 2-year period Bernalillo County has been forced to pay out $8,595,000 in settlements involving the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office for deadly force and civil rights violations. It appears to be a question of not if but when the BCSO will get hit with another use of deadly force case unless the department does a major review of its practices and training and as Sheriff Gonzales moves on and his term expires in 2022.

CONCLUSION

Unless and until such time the Albuquerque Police Department fully implements the DOJ mandated reforms and the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Department acknowledges an embrace reforms, it not a manner of if but when the city and county are confronted with other 6 figure judgments for excessive use of force or deadly force.

Mayor Tim Keller: “Crime Is Absolutely Out Of Control”; 2020 Crime Statistics Report Property Crime Down But Violent Crime, Shootings, Stabbings And Murder Up; Murders Up 3rd Year In A Row Under Keller

Posted on March 12, 2021 by

Over 3 years ago, in August, 2017, then New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller, candidate for Albuquerque Mayor, had this to say about the city’s high crime rates:

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

During his full 3 years in office, Mayor Keller has initiated numerous crime-fighting initiatives. All were initiated before the pandemic hit the city hard in February of last year. March 11, 2020 is when the Corona Virus was declared a world wide pandemic and the country began to shut down and people began to quarantine and businesses began to close.

The 4 crime fighting initiatives Mayor Keller implemented during his first 2 years in office were:

KELLER’S FAILED VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION PROGRAMS

It was in 2018 to 2019, during a 9 month period, in response to the continuing increase in violent crime rates, Mayor Keller scrambled to implement 4 major crime fighting programs to reduce violent crime. Those programs are:

1. The Shield Unit

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

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

2. Declaring Violent Crime “Public Health” issue

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

3. The “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP program)

On November 22, 2019 Mayor Tim Keller announced what he called a “new initiative” to target violent offenders called “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP). The VIP initiative was in response to the city’s recent murders resulting in the city tying the all-time record of homicides at 72 in one year. Mayor Keller proclaimed the VIP is a “partnership system” that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and social service and community provides to reduce violent crime. According to Keller vulnerable communities and law enforcement will be working together and building trust has proven results for public safety. Mayor Keller stated:

“… This is about trying to get these people not to shoot each other. …This is about understanding who they are and why they are engaged in violent crime. … And so, this actually in some ways, in that respect, this is the opposite of data. This is action. This is actually doing something with people. …”

4. The Metro 15 Operation program.

On Tuesday, November 26, 2019 Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference to announce a 4th program within 9 months to deal with the city’s violent crime and murder rates. At the time of the press conference, the city’s homicide count was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017.

Before 2017, the last time the City had the highest number of homicides in one year was in 1996 with 70 murders that year. Keller dubbed the new program “Metro 15 Operation” and is part of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) program. According to Keller and then APD Chief Michael Geier the new program would target the top 15 most violent offenders in Albuquerque. It’s the city’s version of the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.

Links to news coverage are here:

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

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

Fast forward to Thursday February 18, 2021. Channel 4 during its 6:00 PM news cast reported the following story:

STORY LINE: “Keller details proactive strategies to tackle crime in Albuquerque”

Keller was asked by KOB Channel 4 when the results those initiatives would be noticed. His response was to blame the Covid Pandemic when he said:

“I think it’s a challenging question because of COVID and what we’re seeing around the country. And actually we are concerned and worried about the reverse. … Violent crime is skyrocketing everywhere in the country. That is what we are trying to plan for, brace for and deal with. So until we have all the other associated aspects with COVID and violent crime and drug use show some kind of clear direction. Then we can give you an accurate forecast.”

On Friday, February 12, KOB Channel 4 did another report interviewing APD Chief Harold Medina on the city’s crime rates.

Following are the relevant portions of the Channel 4 report:

STORY LINE: “Interim APD chief says pandemic, drugs contributing to crime in Albuquerque.”

“ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-

The Albuquerque Police Department has opened up 20 homicide investigations in 2021. Interim APD Chief of Police Harold Medina spoke with KOB 4 about the crime crisis. He didn’t have details about how many of the homicides have been solved. However, he pointed to an arrest from a January homicide. He also said they have leads in half of the homicides committed this week.

Medina added that he believes the pandemic is contributing to crime.
…

“I think this is directly related to the COVID situation that we’re in.” he said.

In addition to the pandemic, Medina said drugs are also fueling crime. Medina said he’s working on new strategies to help combat crime.”

It is laughable that Medina would say the pandemic is contributing to crime seeing that he was hired as Deputy APD Chief when Keller came into office and oversaw the Field Services and he knows damn well that violent crime was soaring long before the pandemic was around.

THREE FULL YEARS OF NIBRS

On Wednesday, February 24, 2021 then Interim Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Median released the city’s 2020 crime statistics as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It was the third year in a row that the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has compiled crime statistics using the National Incident-Based Reporting System, (NIBRS) as opposed to the Summary Reporting System (SRS) used for decades.

NIBRS provides more comprehensive and detailed information about crimes against person, crimes against property and crimes against society occurring in a law enforcement jurisdiction.

SRS VS. NIBRS

Prior to 2018, APD reported crime statistics to the FBI using the SRS system of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), which counted only the most serious offense that occurred during an incident. The 8 crime categories were:

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

Starting in 2018, APD began to report crime using NIBRS, which has 3 major reporting broad categories:

Crimes against persons
Crimes against property and
Crimes against society.

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

Each offense collected in NIBRS belongs to 1 of 3 categories:

CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS include murder, rape, and assault, and are those in which the victims are always individuals.

CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY include robbery, bribery, and burglary, or to obtain money, property, or some other benefit.

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

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

STATISTICS RELEASED

The statistics released on February 24 by APD reveal that during the last 3 years, Crimes Against Property have decreased by a mere 7%, but violent Crimes Against a Person and Crimes Against Society have continued to rise. Following are the raw numbers in each of the 3 categories of Albuquerque’s crime statistics:

CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY (Includes robbery, bribery, and burglary)

2018: 57,328
2019: 51,541
2020: 46,371

CRIMES AGAINST A PERSON (Include murder, rape, and assault)

2018: 14,845
2019: 14,971
2020: 15,262

CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY (Include gambling, prostitution, and drug violations)

2018: 3,365
2019: 3,711
2020: 3,868

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/apd-homicide-list-for-web-site-as-of-15feb2021.pdf

RAW NUMBERS ANALIZED

CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY (Includes robbery, bribery, and burglary) declined by a mere 7% from 2018 to 2020.

CRIMES AGAINST A PERSON (Includes murder, rape, and assault) showed that violent crime including aggravated assaults, shootings and stabbings, increased by 4%. The 4% increase was the same as in 2019 with assaults having a 4% rise. In 2019, violent crime increased 1%. This coincides with the city having reach 80 homicides breaking another record. Bernalillo County recorded 241 shootings. With a 2% increase in violent crime, 2020 fell short of the homicide count but had the second-highest number of homicides with 76 and with Bernalillo County reporting 292 shootings. According to the statistics released, the use of firearms as the percentage of homicides committed with a gun jumped from 69% in 2019 to 78% in 2020.

CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY (gambling, prostitution, drug violations) had 61% increase weapons law violations last year. In 2019, weapons law violations, which include the illegal use, possession and sale of firearms, recorded a 19% increase and an 11% rise in drug offenses.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2363157/2020-saw-a-rise-in-violent-crime-drop-in-property-crime.html

ABQ’S CRIME STATISTICS IN A NUTSHELL UNDER MAYOR KELLER

In 2020, FBI statistics reveal that Albuquerque has the dubious distinction of having a crime rate about 194% higher than the national average.

A synopsis of the statics during Mayor Tim Keller’s 3 years in office is in order.

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.
In 2020, there were 76 homicides in Albuquerque.

As of March 9, 2021, there have been 27 homicides in the city, another record, with only 4 arrests.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2366213/police-investigating-homicide-at-sunport.html

EDITOR’S NOTE: Albuquerque had more homicides in 2019 than in any other year in the city’s history. The previous high was 72, in 2017 under Mayor RJ Berry. Another high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides.

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

HOMICIDE CLEARANCE RATES

For the past two years during Mayor Keller’s tenure, the homicide clearance percentage rate has been in the 50%-60% range. According to the proposed 2018-2019 APD City Budget, in 2016 the APD homicide clearance rate was 80%. In 2017, under Mayor Berry the clearance rate was 70%. In 2018, the first year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 56%. In 2019, the second year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 52.5%, the lowest clearance rate in the last decade. In 2020, the APD homicide clearance rate continued to deteriorate was less than 50%.

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.
In 2020 during Keller’s third full year in office, Crimes Against Persons went 2019: 14,971 in 2019 to 15,262 in 2020.

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.
In 2020 during Keller’s third full year in office Crimes Against Society, had 61% increase weapons law violations last year.

AUTO THEFTS

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

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

911 EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES

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

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

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

APD PERSONNEL LEVELS

During the February 8, 2021, City Council Public Safety Committee, Interim Chief Harold Medina reported that APD has 957 sworn police. Of the 957 sworn police, Medina reported a mere 371 sworn police are in Field Services responding to calls for service or 39% of the entire sworn force. The 371 sworn police taking calls for service are spread out over 3 shifts and 8 area commands to patrol based on crime rates in the areas. Medina also told the committee that Field Services has 6 area commanders, 18 lieutenants, 53 sergeant’s, 21 bicycle officers for a total of 511 officers assigned to field services. The problem is commanders, lieutenants, sergeant’s, and bicycle officers do not patrol the streets and do not take calls for service.

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/zero-growth-for-apd

On February 18, then Interim APD Chief Medina was asked the number of narcotics officers the department has right now, compared to past years, Medina said:

“I think it’s right around four right now. That is way less than we had 20 years ago. 20 years ago we had basically three teams of narcotics.”

It was a stunning admission by Medina that APD has only 4 narcotics officers, presumably doing undercover work. FBI statistics over the past 8 years have shown that narcotics trafficking has increased in Albuquerque significantly to the point it is being called and opioid crisis by the United States Attorney.

On February 10, 2021, Medina said half of all the officer-involved shootings last year involved people on meth. In 2016, 17 and 18, it was more than 70%. On February 12, 2021 as a matter of sure coincidence with a day before story that meth usage is connected to police shootings, it was reported that a random traffic stop on the West Side in the early morning of February 11, a BCSO Deputy seized duffel bags stuffed with 160 pounds of methamphetamine.

Links to news coverage are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-multiple-shootings-and-crime-linked-to-meth/35474658

https://www.abqjournal.com/2358459/apd-confrontations-often-fueled-by-meth-use-ex-interim-chief-medina-says-solution-is-to-address-lifestyle-and-root-causes.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/2359161/bcso-traffic-stop-yields-more-than-160-lbs-of-meth.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

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

The crime statistics released for 2018, 2019 and 2020 make it clear that despite all of Mayor Tim Keller’s promises and actions to bring down skyrocketing violent crime, implementation of at least 4 new programs, increasing APD personnel and millions spent, violent crime is still “absolutely out of control”. Regrettably , Mayor Tim Keller has failed to do his “job to actually address crime in Albuquerque.”

Mayor Tim Keller, APD Chief Harold Medina can take little comfort in Crimes Against Property has fallen a mere 7% given the fact violent crime has increased and so have homicides. In other words, your property may be safe, but you still need to carry a gun to protect yourself.

The 2021 Albuquerque Municipal election for Mayor and City Council Election is Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Mayor Tim Keller has already made it know he is seeking a second 4-year term. When Tim Keller was asked in 2017 why he was running for Mayor he said “I think it would be really neat to be Mayor of my home town and I have done good job at all the jobs I have ever had.” A re election campaign based on “Give me more time and another chance to do good” is not a winning strategy, especially after what Tim Keller promised when he was running the first time and what is still happening with violent crime being “absolutely out of control”.

There is no doubt that the City’s violent and murder rate will be a defining issue, as it should be. But the real issue at this point is does any one really care and has the city accepted that high crime is simply the norm thereby giving Keller a pass?

Links to a related blog articles are is here:

The Public Relations Firm Of “Keller & Medina” Promote “Big Lie” On Reducing Crime; 1,000 Arrests In 6 months Out Of 15,000 Average A Year Not Enough To Bring Crime Rates Down

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

NEWS AND COMMENTARY

Monthly Archives: March 2021

Mayor Tim Keller Hastily Announces Reelection Bid Day After Sheriff Manny Gonzales Given Albuquerque Journal Front Page Profile News Coverage

2021 New Mexico Legislative Wrap Up: What Passed, What Failed; Special Session To Be Called On Recreational Cannabis

2021 Legislative Update: Legalization Of Recreational Cannabis Expected To Become Law; Civil Rights Act And “End of Life” Measure Pass; Early Childhood Care Fund; Liquor Reform Becomes Law

Debunking False Claim That APD’s Consent Decree Cause Of City’s Increased Crime; Dereliction Of Duty By APD Management, Police Union And APD Police Resisting Reforms

George Floyd Case Settles For $27 Million; In 6 years, $34.9 Million Paid In 9 APD & BCSO Cases; It Will Happen Again As Police Reforms Resisted By APD And BCSO

Mayor Tim Keller: “Crime Is Absolutely Out Of Control”; 2020 Crime Statistics Report Property Crime Down But Violent Crime, Shootings, Stabbings And Murder Up; Murders Up 3rd Year In A Row Under Keller