On August 1, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announced that it  has fired an APD Commander of Internal Affairs for Professional Standards and that another  DWI officer has resigned  as a result of the ongoing Federal  Investigation into corruption involving the bribery of APD officers in exchange for the dismissal of DWI cases . Both are being investigated as part of an APD probe and FBI investigation into allegations that DWI officers worked with prominent DWI Criminal Defense Attorney Thomas Clear  to get drunken driving cases dismissed in exchange for money and other favors. Six other APD officers implicated in the scandal have  resigned during the Internal Affairs investigation bringing  the total number to 8.

Commander Mark Landavazo was the Commander of the Internal Affairs Professional Standards Division. He has been on administrative leave and under investigation since February 13. Landavazo started with APD in  2007 and was with the DWI unit from 2008 through 2013.  APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said, Landavazo was fired after the internal investigation found he had violated 3 policies. Gallegos said he was disciplined for two of the policies and fired after the third investigation was completed.

The on line news outlet City Desk ABQ reported earlier this summer that it had  obtained emails that showed the FBI had forwarded a tip in June of 2022 to Landavazo about an officer working with attorney Thomas Clear III and his paralegal to guarantee a DWI charge would go away if the defendant paid $10,000. According to those emails, Landavazo suggested the special agent contact the Civilian Police Oversight Agency and an APD spokesperson said he did not tell the chief about the allegations.

APD Officer Neill Elsman who had worked in the DWI unit within the past several years resigned on July 30 before returning to work from military leave.  He had been on military leave since October which was before the investigation began and after he was told he had to return to the department, he resigned.

APD Chief Harold Medina said this in a news release announcing the termination:

“I said we would leave no stone unturned with these investigations. … We will continue to follow the evidence and ensure everyone is held accountable.”

Landavazo is the first officer to be fired related to APD’s internal probe. Including Landavazo, 9 officers have been placed on leave, and 7 of those have resigned or retired in the past several months,   including Elsman and officers Daren DeAguero, Alba, Joshua Montaño, Nelson Ortiz, Johnson and Lt. Justin Hunt. No one has been charged in the case. The FBI is investigating the allegations as a criminal matter.  U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez has said the probe focuses on alleged wrongdoing by “certain” APD officers and others.

Links to quoted and relied upon news sources are here:

https://citydesk.org/2024/apd-officer-connected-to-dwi-scandal-fired-another-resigns/

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/albuquerque-police-fire-commander-another-officer-resigns-amid-dwi-corruption-probe/article_5a2a9ae6-5059-11ef-aa52-f70dbeaa5be5.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-police-commander-fired-officer-dwi/61768455

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/seventh-apd-officer-resigns-commander-terminated-following-dwi-unit-investigation/

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/7th-apd-officer-resigns-commander-fired-amid-dwi-unit-investigation/

APD BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION SCANDAL IN A NUTSHELL

It was on Friday January 19 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed search warrants and raided the homes of 3 Albuquerque Police officers and the home and law office of prominent DWI criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear, III.  All 6 are allegedly involved in a bribery and conspiracy scheme spanning a decade to dismiss DWI cases. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman ordered the dismissed 196 DWI cases because of the scandal due to the main witnesses’ credibility being called into question which in all the cases are APD officers.

The Albuquerque Police Department  opened its own Internal Affairs investigation. APD Chief  Medina appointed Commander  Kyle Hartsock of the Criminal Investigations Division to lead the internal investigation into officers’ conduct as well as into whether anyone else at the department knew about wrongdoing but did not report it.

6  other APD Police officers implicated in the scandal  have resigned during the Internal Affairs investigation. The names and dates of the other 6 resignations are:

• On February 7, 2024 Justin Hunt,who started at APD in 2000, resigned.
• On February 29, 2024, Honorio Alba, who started at APD in 2014, resigned.
• On March 13, 2024, Harvey Johnson, who started at APD in 2014, resigned
• On March 15, 2024, Nelson Ortiz,who started at APD in 2016, resigned.
• On March 20, 2024 Joshua Montaño, who started at APD January 2005, resigned.
• On May 2, 2024 Daren DeAguero,who started with APD in 2009, resigned.

The FBI searched the homes of Alba and Johnson and the law offices of Thomas Clear III and the home of Clear’s paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez.    The US Department of Justice and US Attorney’s office have confirmed the APD police officers and the criminal defense attorney are at the center of the federal investigation involving the dismissal of hundreds of pending DWI criminal cases by the APD Officers for remuneration to have the cases dismissed by the officers failing to appear for hearings. No one has yet to be charged as the federal investigation is ongoing.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Mayor Keller and Chief Medina have made more than a few stunning admissions throughout this sordid APD corruption scandal and they seem joined at the hip. They admit that the APD bribery and conspiracy scheme to dismiss DWI cases went on the entire 6 years they have been in charge of APD, but they never detected what was going on.

Both admitted that only after they found out the FBI was investigating APD the decision was made to initiate a city criminal and internal affairs investigation and to proclaim cooperation with the FBI. Medina admitted that he knew about the corruption as far back as December 2022 when APD first got a complaint related to the department’s DWI unit in December 2022, yet he waited and essentially did nothing for a full year.

Keller’s admissions come from a person who was first elected as the “white knight” state auditor who stopped “waste, fraud and abuse” and held people accountable for government corruption. Medina’s admissions come from a chief who claims he has never looked the other way at police corruption. Keller and Medina have looked the other way on documented corruption involving overtime pay abuses by police officers. There have been seven audits in eight years documenting the corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in police overtime.  One of those audits was done by none other than New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller.

Chief Medina went so far as to blame the Bernalillo District Attorney’s Office for a failure to advise APD when officers did not appear for court. Medina also  accused the Public Defender’s Office of being aware of complaints that Public Defender Board of Director member Tom Clear, III was involved with nefarious conduct and that the Public Defender’s Office did nothing.

BASTION OF “DIRTY AND CORRUPT COPS”

There is absolutely no doubt that APD’s reputation has been trashed to a major extent because of this scandal. It’s downright disgusting that the APD Commander for Internal Affairs for Professional Standards was fired leading, the very commander who should have prevented the corruption.  APD will likely be viewed by many as again having just another bastion of “dirty and corrupt cops” who have brought dishonor to their department and to the department’s professed values of “Pride, Integrity, Fairness and Respect”.  This is so even before any charges have been filed against anyone, before any one is fired from APD and before any action is brought against the police officers involved for government corruption and criminal conspiracy to dismiss cases working with a prominent criminal defense attorney.  Should the criminal defense attorney be charged and convicted of the crimes, he is likely facing jail time in prison as well as disbarment from the practice of law.

There is little doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system. The only way that any semblance of faith can be restored and for people to begin trusting APD again is if all the police officers involved in this scandal are held accountable, the lawyers involved are held accountable.  That will only happen when there is aggressive prosecutions and convictions, the police officers are terminated and they lose their law enforcement certification and disbarment occurs with the attorney.

Ultimately, it is Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Harold Medina who need to be held accountable with what has happened. Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Harold Medina must ultimately be held accountable and take full responsibility for failed leadership of APD and this most egregious  APD scandal.  Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Harold Medina instead have been in full fledge “politcal spin cycle” of “pivot, deflect and blame” since the news broke and since the Albuquerque City Council accused them of failed leadership in dealing with the scandal as they attempt to get ahead of this most recent scandal involving APD.  They both have attempted to take credit for the investigation and for taking action to hold bad cops accountable for the corruption when it was in fact the federal investigation that forced their hand and after they both allowed the problem to fester for 6 years.

On July 3, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump in a 30-minute wide-ranging Question and Answer event  before the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention, took racial swipes at Vice President Kamala Harris by challenging her racial identity.

Trump was interviewed by a panel of African American Journalists that included ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Semafor’s Kadia Goba and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner.  Rachel Scott began the interview by asking Trump this:

“You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congresswomen of color, who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from. You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys. You have attacked Black journalists, calling them a ‘loser,’ saying the questions they ask are, quote, ‘stupid’ and ‘racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir – now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”

Trump immediately became combative and asked Scott if she was with ABC news, saying the network was “a fake news network” and “a terrible network.” Trump said this:

“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so – in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello. How are you?’ … I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country, including employment, including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. … I’ve done so much, and, you know, I say this: Historically Black colleges and universities were out of money, they were stone cold broke, and I saved them. I gave them long-term financing, and nobody else was doing it.”

Scott then asked if Trump found it acceptable that some Republicans on Capitol Hill have referred to Harris as a “DEI hire”  using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump said this:

“I really don’t know. Could be. Could be.”

Trump then went on to say this about Vice President Kamala Harris:

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?  … I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went – she became a Black person. … I think somebody should look into that too.”

Shortly after the panel ended, Trump on his Truth Social doubled down on his attack against Harris’ racial identity, sharing a video where she is cooking with actress Mindy Kaling, who is of South Asian decent. During the video, Harris and Kaling talk about their Indian culture. Harris in the video told Kaling that she looks like “the entire one half of my family.”

Harris is the first female vice president in U.S. history and also the first Black woman to hold the office. As a college  undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, the nation’s most prominent historically Black college and university, where she also pledged the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. She later attended the University of California, Hastings College of Law,  where she earned her Juris Doctorate degree. As a U.S. senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting legislation to strengthen voting rights and to reform policing.

Harris for President Communications Director Michael Tyler criticized Trump’s comments  and said this:

“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency. … [H]e failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was hosting a White House press briefing at the same time as Trump’s appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists.  She was read Trump’s comments on Harris’ and Jean-Pierre said this:

“Wow! As a person of color – as a Black woman, who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern – what he just said, what you just read out to me, is repulsive. It’s insulting, and, you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify.  That is no one’s right. It is someone’s own decision.”

Vice President Harris responded to Trump’s National Association of Black Journalists interview the same day during remarks in Houston, Texas. Harris was addressing a historically Black sorority, Sigma Gamma Sorority, during its 60th Biennial Boule.  Harris  said this:

“It was the same old show − the divisiveness and the disrespect.  And let me just say: The American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us.”

TRUMP’S OTHER CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS

Trump’s racial attacks on Harris were not the only controversial remarks Trump made to the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention.

THE SONYA MASSEY KILLING

Sonya Massey is the elderly African American woman who had called for law enforcement help earlier this month in her apartment. She was shot in the face and killed by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean P. Grayson who said Massey had a pot of boiling water she was about to throw on him when he shot her. Grayson has been charged with murder. The killing has sparked national outrage.

Trump was met with loud gasps from the audience of black journalists when he said he was unfamiliar with the details of the Massey shooting.  Trump said he “doesn’t know the exact case but I saw something” when asked about the case. Trump said this about the shooting without using Massy’s name:

“You’re talking with the water right? … It didn’t look good to me. It didn’t look good to me.”

Trump has previously said that police should get immunity from prosecution if he won the 2024 presidential race. Political reporter Kadia Goba asked whether Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean P. Grayson, who is charged with the Massey murder, should have immunity. Trump sidestepped the question by talking about gun violence in Chicago. When asked again by Goba, Trump said that he would help a person who “made an innocent mistake” implying the killing was an innocent mistake. Trump said this:

“If I felt or if a group of people would feel that somebody was being unfairly prosecuted because the person did a good job, maybe with a crime, or made a mistake, an innocent mistake…I would want to help that person.”

STEALINNG BLACK AMERICAN JOBS

Trump doubled down on comments he has made accusing immigrants of stealing the jobs of Black Americans. Trump said this:

“I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs”.

ABC News senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott quickly followed up and asked:

“What exactly is a ‘Black job,’ sir,”

Trump responded “A Black job is anybody that has a job” and continued to use racist rhetoric against migrants coming to the United States.

At one point, Trump said this:

“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”

The audience responded with a mix of boos and little applause.

PLEDGE TO PARDON JANUARY 6 CAPITOL RIOTERS

Trump was asked about his pledge to pardon people convicted for their roles in the January  6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and specifically whether he would pardon those who assaulted police officers. Trump said this:

“Oh, absolutely I would. … If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”

It was  pointed out to Trump  they have been convicted and therefore are not innocent. Trump responded:

“Well, they were convicted by a very, very tough system.”

Trump  defended  his supporters who entered the Capitol on January  6 by saying “Nothing is perfect in life.”

Trump went on to  compare the 2021 insurrection to the protests in Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and to more recent protests at the Capitol last week by demonstrators opposed to the war in Gaza. Trump falsely claimed that no one was arrested in those other demonstrations and that only his supporters were targeted.

As Trump made the comparison, a man in the back of the room shouted out, “Sir, have you no shame?”

Links to relied upon and quoted news sources are here:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/31/politics/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-nabj/index.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-kamala-harris-black-nabj-convention-chicago/

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/trump-says-he-didn-t-know-vp-harris-was-black-216104005894

https://apnews.com/article/trump-black-journalists-convention-nabj-1e96aa530e88013ed6f577feaf89ccb6

COMMENTARY AND ANALYISIS

Throughout his political career, Trump repeatedly questioned the backgrounds of opponents who are racial minorities. He did that with President Barrack Obama questioning his birth in the United States as well as Republican Niki Haley.  Trumps attacks become more and more vicious when it comes to woman. Trump on more than one occasion has made it clear with his words and conduct that he is a racist of the highest degree  who is not fit to be president.