“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

— Matthew 19:13-14

On January 19, 2022, the New Mexico Voices for Children released the 2021 Kids Count Data Book. The annual “Kids Count” data book is prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Casey foundation is a nonprofit based in Maryland focusing on improving the well-being and future of American children and their families. It assesses how New Mexico children are faring in a number of areas including economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. The “Kids Count Data Book” is a 90 page document with an extensive number of tables, graphs charts and statistics listing and counties in the state.

The links to the Kids Count Data Book is here:

https://www.nmvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/KidsCount-DataBook2021-FINAL.pdf

https://www.nmvoices.org/archives/16481

NEW MEXICO’S RANKINGS AND PERCENTAGES IN A NUTSHELL

EDITOR’S NOTE: The term “child” refers to the age group from birth through 17 years. Poverty is defined as those living at or below the federal poverty level (FPL). The FPL for a family of three was $21,720 in 2020, the year the most recent data were collected.

Following are New Mexico’s rankings in the nation gleaned from the 2021 Kids Count Data Book:

50th in the nation for education.
29th in the number of young children not enrolled in school.
45th with children living with families where the head of the household lacked a high school diploma.
49th in the nation for child well being.
48th in the nation for child poverty.
49th in the nation for eighth grade math proficiency.
50th in the nation for fourth grade reading proficiency.
37th in the nation for health care for children.
48th in the nation for Family and Community.
29th in the nation for children without health care insurance.
48th in the nation for children living in single-parent families.
43rd in the nation for child and teen death rates.

Following are the state’s percentages gleaned from the 2021 Kids Count Data Book:

32% of New Mexico children have parents that lack secure employment.
25% of New Mexico Children are living in poverty.
76% of New Mexico’s fourth graders are not proficient in reading.
79% of New Mexico’s 8th graders are not proficient in math.
25% of New Mexico’s high school students do not graduate on time.
9.3% low birth weights for children born in New Mexico.
2,124 total children born in New Mexico with low birth weights.
6% of New Mexico children are without health insurance.
29,000 total New Mexico children without health insurance.
36 is New Mexico’s child and teen death rates per 100,000.
44% of New Mexico children live in single parent families or 195,000 children living in single parent families.
14% of New Mexico children live in families where the household head lacks a high school education or 69,000 children.
24 is New Mexico’s teen birth rate per 1,000 with 1,659 births.

DISCUSSION OF ASSESSMENT

Emily Wildau, the New Mexico Kids Count Data Book coordinator, said the biggest surprise that come out of the annual assessment is New Mexico saw 20,000 additional children enrolled in Medicaid in 2021. The increase in Medicaid coverage for New Mexico children is likely due to job losses leading to a loss of private-employer insurance.

Currently, New Mexico ranks 49th in the nation for child wellbeing, but the January Kids Count Data Book does not assess national rankings. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, in many ways, New Mexico’s response to the pandemic has been “a success story”. Improvements for families with children made before the pandemic include the development of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD), a minimum wage increase, increased K-12 funding and teacher pay increases and “crucial” COVID-19 relief for families, workers and businesses.

A key piece of new information for 2021 is that hardship data shows that many New Mexico families spent the monthly federal Child Tax Credit money to pay down debt. This was especially true for Native American and Hispanic families.

The Kids Count Data Book shows that child food insecurity increased from 24% in 2020 to 26% in 2021.

Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said the New Mexico legislature should continue to enact legislation that will positively impact families and children, particularly families of color. Wallin said other areas of public policy where lawmakers should focus on to help families with children and provide equitable relief for communities of color include “strategic investment in food insecurity,” continuing to “invest in early childhood education” and support of the Early Childhood Trust Fund which augments federal funding for prenatal-to-five-years of age.

The link to quoted news source material is here:

https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2022/01/20/2021-kids-count-data-book-indicates-positives-but-also-continued-challenges/?mc_cid=fdc5c09001&mc_eid=d03b0979c3

MAJOR FINDINDS

Following are the narratives on the major findings of the Kids Count Data Book for 2021:

ECONOMIC WELLBEING

The rate and number of New Mexico children living in poverty appears to have decreased from 2019 to 2020. It is likely that policies such as pandemic economic relief prevented increases or, in some cases, resulted in decreases in child poverty. However, with 116,000 or 25% of our children living at or below the Federal Poverty Line, New Mexico still ranks poorly at 48th in the nation in child poverty. By the onset of the pandemic and its resulting recession, most other states had recovered from the Great Recession, but New Mexico’s economy had not quite fully rebounded, which means more families were vulnerable to falling into poverty than had the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. New Mexico’s future economic success and the quality of our future workforce is determined, in large part, by what sorts of opportunities our children have today

EDUCATION

Between 2018 and 2019, the number of young children not enrolled in school decreased slightly, bumping our national ranking up from 30th to 29th. However, New Mexico’s rate of young children not enrolled in school has not changed much over the long term and is actually only slightly better than it was in 2009. While the state is continuing its planned rollout of the NM Pre-K program, insufficient funding for the child care assistance program over the last several years has meant that fewer families have been able to afford child care in a setting that is education oriented. While an influx of federal COVID-19 relief has allowed policymakers to make improvements and increases in some areas, these improvements will need to be sustained and made permanent after one-time federal money is spent to adequately address the pressing needs in this policy area.

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FOURTH GRADE READING PROFIENCY

This Measures the percentage of fourth graders who scored below proficient in reading as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Children need to be able to read proficiently by fourth grade in order to be able to use their reading skills to learn other school subjects. In fact, kids who are not reading at grade level by this critical point are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to go to college. New Mexico ranks 50th in the nation in fourth grade reading proficiency. The state had been making progress in this indicator, but this marked the first year since 2009 that the rate of students reading below proficiency increased. Reading proficiency is a crucial element of scholastic success, but in New Mexico, 76% of our children are not proficient in reading by the fourth grade. As has been the case in the past, boys, children of color, and children from families earning low incomes have proficiency rates that are below the state average in fourth grade reading.

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EIGHTH GRADE MATH PROFIENCY

This Measures the percentage of eighth graders who scored below proficient in math as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Math proficiency by the eighth grade is necessary for students to do well in high school math courses and attend college. As more and more jobs in today’s increasingly high-tech work environment depend on science, technology, engineering, and math skills, students not proficient in math are at a real disadvantage. New Mexico ranks 49th in eighth grade math proficiency. The 79% of New Mexico eighth graders who are behind in math are likely to struggle in high school and college math courses.

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HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES

One-quarter of New Mexican high schoolers do not graduate on time. This rate is significantly worse than the national average of 14%. For the sixth year in a row, New Mexico is ranked 50th among the states on this indicator. Though New Mexico continues to rank very poorly on this measure, the state has made improvements in this indicator over the long term, going from 35% of students not graduating on time in 2009 to 25% not graduating on time in 2019.

The biggest improvements in this indicator over that time period were seen among Native American and Hispanic students. Graduating on time is important because those who don’t are more likely to drop out altogether and those who don’t dropout are less likely to go on to college. Adults without a high school diploma are more likely to be employed in low-paying jobs, not have benefits like paid leave and health insurance, and have higher unemployment rates than those with higher levels of educational attainment.

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HEALTH CARE

According to 2020 data, 6% of all New Mexico children were uninsured, and 2019 data show that Hispanic and Native American children are more likely to be uninsured. Although New Mexico has seen an increase in the number of children on Medicaid during the pandemic, households with children delayed or did not receive needed medical care at higher rates than the rest of the nation.

People of color in the state delayed getting care at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, with 26% of Hispanic households with children delaying care compared to 20% of non Hispanic whites. Nearly 40% of those identifying as two or more races or other race, a category that includes Native Americans, also delayed care. Similar racial and ethnic breakdowns can be seen for households with children who did not get medical care at all. This is likely correlated to unemployment rates, as families lost employer-provided insurance or became unable to afford health insurance or medical care due to financial hardship.

The rates of women receiving no prenatal care while pregnant improved from 2018 to 2019. While all rates improved, they remained higher among teen mothers and mothers with less than a high school diploma than among the general population of mothers. Hispanic and Native American women in New Mexico are the least likely to receive prenatal care during pregnancy, while non-Hispanic white mothers are the most likely to receive prenatal care early on in pregnancy.

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MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health during the pandemic has improved both in New Mexico and the nation. This year 30% of adults in the U.S. felt anxious – an improvement from 35% this same time last year. New Mexico saw an even bigger improvement in this indicator, with 26% of adults feeling anxiety – compared to 46% who felt this way last year.

The rates for adults feeling depressed in the U.S. also improved to 19% from 23% last year, while that rate in New Mexico improved even more significantly to 16% this year from 34%. What’s more, this year New Mexico flipped from faring worse than the nation on both of these indicators to faring better. Similarly, we’re seeing a switch in anxiety rates based on race and ethnicity.

While rates are lower across all races and ethnicities this year, non-Hispanic white adults are now reporting the highest rates of anxiety – at 32%, from 38% last year – while those rates dropped to 28% from 50% for Hispanic adults and to 9% from 52% for adults identifying as two or more races or another race. (Data for depression by race and ethnicity are not available this year.)

The reasons for these flips in data are not clear-cut, but may stem from multiple causes, including a decline in responses during collection resulting in data that may not reflect lived experiences, as well as a variety of public policy improvements. For example, an easing of the state’s pandemic restrictions due to our high vaccination rate may play a part, as may the return to in-person schooling, as well as 2019 state tax improvements for low-income families and additional 2020 state pandemic relief – all of which may have had different benefits along the lines of race and ethnicity.

In addition, parents could choose between receiving the increased federal Child Tax Credit in one lump sum in 2022 or receiving it in advance, with installments paid out periodically in 2021. The decision of when to receive CTC payments could also account for some of the change. However, we do not see a similar switch along the lines of race and ethnicity in any of the measures of economic well-being during this time frame.

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HEALTH INSURANCE

New Mexico children face some major challenges but ensuring that they have health insurance can help address a number of the issues that can threaten children’s health and well-being, and this is one area in which New Mexico does comparatively well. Thanks to the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, New Mexico has seen some of the biggest improvements over time in the nation – dropping to 6% from 14%.

Although the 2020 data are not strictly comparable to earlier data, the share of children without health insurance remained at 6% in 2020, ranking us 29th in the nation on this indicator. Medicaid likely played a part in keeping children covered during the pandemic when families were losing their health insurance benefits. However, Medicaid coverage rules will change once the pandemic ends. In long-term trends, the biggest improvements in this measure have been among Native American and Hispanic children. However, Native American children in New Mexico, with uninsured rates around 11% in 2019, were still at the greatest risk of being uninsured.

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DEATH RATES

New Mexico’s child and teen death rate is 36 deaths per 100,000 children and teens. This is significantly worse than the U.S. average rate of 25 per 100,000 and ranks New Mexico 43rd among the states on this measure. Rates among Native American children in New Mexico (at 56 per 100,000) are significantly higher than the state and national averages. Over the long term, New Mexico’s child and teen death rate has decreased, from 40 in 2009 to 36 deaths per 100,000 in 2019, following a national overall trend of gradual improvement on this indicator. Rates have remained the same among Hispanics and decreased among non-Hispanic whites but have increased among Native Americans.

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EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC

New Mexico entered the pandemic with a significant lack of internet access in households compared to the national rate, according to 2019 data. Data from 2020, which are less representative of New Mexico and the nation due to pandemic data collection issues, still show that 9% of New Mexico households had no internet subscription compared to 6% of all households in the country.

We know these estimates are low, and in many cases, when families have internet access, it is often poor quality, making it challenging for students to complete online assignments and for parents to monitor their child’s academic progress since grades are posted online. Poor internet connectivity and lack of internet service continue to be significant barriers for students who must quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure and those adults who are still working remotely or who are enrolled in postsecondary courses online.

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FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

The rate of children living in single-parent families in 2020 is not comparable to the rate in other years. Data indicates that 39% of children in New Mexico were living in single-parent families in 2020, and our rate is still much higher than the national average of 29%. Our ranking is based on 2019 data and we remain 48th among the states on this measure. Our high rate of children living in single-parent families is likely part of the reason so many of our children live in poverty, are food insecure, and face educational and health challenges. That single-parent families and poverty are linked is well understood, but what receives far less attention is the question of which situation is the cause and which the effect.

Essentially, not only can being a single parent lead to a life of poverty, but the converse – that financial instability within a relationship can lead to its dissolution – is also true. However, public policies that seek to increase marriage rates among families earning low incomes rarely take this fact into consideration and too frequently fail to take a holistic approach to ensuring all families can thrive, no matter their structure. Partly because centuries of systemic discrimination have forced a higher share of people of color into poverty, children of color are more likely to live in single parent families than are their white and Asian counterparts.

Work to ensure that more children of color live in two-parent families must begin by dismantling the race- and ethnicity-based barriers that their parents face; barriers to quality and culturally appropriate education, jobs that pay family sustaining wages, and safe housing. Public programs that use a two-generational approach – meaning they create opportunities simultaneously for both parents and children and in doing so address both groups’ needs – are also crucial for improving indicators like this one. Some public programs, such as TANF, have unproductive policies, such as requiring mothers to name their child’s father regardless of a pattern of abuse. These policies may not only put children in traumatic and sometimes dangerous situations, but they can also jeopardize financial assistance and exacerbate a single-parent family’s poverty.

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ADULT EDUCATION

In 2019, 14% of New Mexico children – or 69,000 kids – lived in families where the head of the household lacked a high school diploma. These numbers rank New Mexico 45th in the nation on this indicator. This rate has been improving in New Mexico and nationwide since 2009, when 21% of New Mexico children lived in families headed by a parent without a high school diploma. In New Mexico, rates are highest among Hispanic children at 21% and Native American children at 18% – compared with 5% for non-Hispanic white children and 7% for Black and Asian children as well as children of two or more races. Still, the biggest improvements in this indicator since 2009 have been among Hispanic and Native American children.

HIGH POVERTY AREAS

A high-poverty area is defined as a Census tract where at least 30% of the population lives at or below the federal poverty level. This indicator measures all children living in such areas, including those whose families earn incomes higher than the poverty level. Regardless of their own family’s income, children who grow up in neighborhoods where poverty rates are high are more likely to be exposed to drug use and be victims of violent crime. They are less likely to have access to fresh and healthy food, adequate high-quality housing, and community resources like great schools and safe places to play. Studies show that children in high-poverty areas are more likely to start school behind and will need more individual attention. All of these factors can negatively impact their health and development.

With New Mexico’s rate of children living in high-poverty areas – 20% – more than double the national average – 9% – our state ranks 49th in the nation on this indicator. New Mexico improved from 2018 to 2019 when the percentage was 21%, a difference of approximately 9,000 children. Moreover, longer-term trends have improved, with 4,000 fewer New Mexico children living in high-poverty areas in 2019 than did in 2010 – compared to 5,000 more in 2018. Native American children are most likely to live in high poverty areas (at 45%), followed by Hispanic and Black children (at 20%). Non-Hispanic white children are least likely to live in high-poverty areas (8%).

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TEEN BIRTH AREAS

The teen birth rate is the number of births to teens (ages 15 to 19) for every 1,000 females in that age range in the population. Teen births are associated with negative impacts for both mothers and children. Teen mothers are less likely to graduate high school, to receive adequate prenatal care, and to be economically secure. Babies born to teen mothers are more likely to be born at a low birthweight, be malnourished, face developmental delays, do poorly in school, become teen parents themselves, and live in poverty. Far from being an isolated issue, teen births affect the well-being of mothers, children, and society as a whole.

Following a national trend, the teen birth rate in New Mexico has improved significantly over time, dropping from 60 per 1,000 female teens in 2009 to 24 per 1,000 in 2019 – its lowest point in a decade. This represents an improvement of 60%, although New Mexico keeps its rank of 41st among the states on this indicator. Moreover, teen birth rates have declined across all races and ethnicities, improving most dramatically among Hispanic and Native American teens, with the rate of Hispanic teen births dropping from 81 per 1,000 in 2009 to 28 per 1,000 in 2019, and the rate of Native American teen births dropping from 73 per 1,000 in 2009 to 32 per 1,000 in 2019.

Teen birth rates are higher for teens of color in part because they are more likely to live in poverty and face systemic discrimination, both of which are barriers to receiving health care and pursuing college and a career and, therefore, delaying child bearing until they are older. Just as poverty and racism can lead to the formation of single-parent families, they can also lead to teen births.

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POLICY SOLUTIONS TO STRENGTHEN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

The Kids Count Data Book offers the following specific solutions in the following major 4 areas:

FAMILIES

• Expand funding for home visiting programs, especially for teen parents. Home visiting provides parents with early emotional support, parenting skills, developmentally appropriate activities, and aids in accessing community economic, health, and educational resources.

• Maintain income eligibility for child care assistance at 350% the federal poverty level (FPL) and provide continuous eligibility so parents can accept pay raises without suddenly losing benefits that are worth more than the pay increase; eliminate copays for families earning less than 100% FPL and, for families between 101% and 350% FPL, scale copays to their incomes so payments do not put an undue burden on families earning low incomes.

• Invest in broadband infrastructure so that families and communities can better access health, wellbeing, family support, and education services.

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ADULT EDUCATION

• Support career pathways approaches that better align adult education with post-secondary education opportunities and industry needs while providing a clearer ladder to economic self-sufficiency.

• Expand access to high school equivalency programs, adult basic education, post-secondary education, and job training through a career pathways approach.

• Provide need-based financial assistance to these programs for adults lacking skills and earning low incomes who don’t qualify for many forms of financial aid and may have a family to support while they advance their education.

• Expand funding and access for English as a second language (ESL) classes to help parents increase their level of education.

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HIGH POVERTY

• Increase access to affordable housing in safe areas with prospects of work for families earning low incomes, especially families of color, including through the creation or expansion of incentives for developers to build mixed-income housing developments.

• Promote community change efforts that integrate physical revitalization with human capital development. Combining investment in early childhood care and education programs for children with workforce development and asset building activities for parents can benefit lower income families.

• Increase funding for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), which help parents and children save money for buying a home or paying for college.

• Target additional school funding towards schools in high-poverty areas.

• Incentivize teaching, expand community schools, and reduce class sizes in schools in high-poverty areas.

• Enact targeted economic development initiatives to communities that need them most and require accountability for tax breaks to corporations so that tax benefits are only received if corporations create quality jobs with decent wages and benefits for New Mexico residents. Tax breaks that do not create jobs should be repealed so the state can invest more money in support services for our children.

• Target federal WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funds to support education and job training programs that help parents increase their educational attainment and workforce skills to create pathways out of poverty.

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TEEN BIRTH RATES

• Increase funding for teen pregnancy prevention and support programs to help at-risk young women avoid pregnancy and see alternative opportunities for their future. Parenting support programs such as home visiting also help young mothers delay second pregnancies, improve their parenting skills, get a high school diploma, and access community supports.

• Expand funding and support for school-based health centers. Students reaching sexual maturity need access to physical and behavioral health professionals to help them make informed decisions.

• Expand evidence-based, age-appropriate comprehensive sex education and defund abstinence-only programs.

• Fund service-learning programs that provide students with civic engagement and work-related experience and have been linked to decreases in teen pregnancy rates.

• Support the creation of and funding for county and tribal health councils in order to better integrate health care with social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development for teens.

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WHAT THE STATE IS DOING TO TURN THINGS AROUND

The biggest accomplishments of the 2019 Legislative session were the dramatic increases in public education funding, creation of the Early Childhood Department (CYFD), the mandates to Children, Youth and Families and Public Education departments, not to mention raises for educators and increasing CYFD social workers by 125 were clearly the biggest accomplishments of the 2019 Legislative session.
It was almost 2 years ago on July 1, 2020 that the Lujan Grisham administration launched its new Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD).

The new department is charged with preparing children for school, promoting healthy families and developing a labor force to carry out the agency’s work. Creation of the new department was a major priority of Governor Lujan Grisham during the 2019 legislative session where it won approval. The agency formally began operation on July 1, the start of the 2021 fiscal year. About 270 employees from other departments were transferred into the new one. The sponsors of the legislation were Democratic Senator Michael Padilla of Albuquerque and Representative Linda Trujillo of Santa Fe.

New Mexico is 1 of just 4 states with a stand-alone department dedicated to services targeting children through age 5. The initial operating budget for the new department was $419 million for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The new department is tasked with overseeing the state’s growing investment in prekindergarten, home visiting programs for new parents, childcare and similar services that previously were scattered across several departments. One of the key goals is to better coordinate the state’s network of early childhood services by housing them in one department rather than having them overseen separately by other departments.

YAZZIE V. STATE OF NEW MEXICO AND MARTINEZ REVISITED

On Friday, July 20, 2018, Santa Fe District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled in the case of Yazzie v. State of New Mexico and Governor Suzanna Martinez that the state of New Mexico was violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education. The consolidated lawsuit was filed by the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit, brought on by a coalition of parents, students, lawmakers and others in 2014, charged New Mexico had not done enough to address the needs of Native Americans, English-language learners, disabled and low-income students. The Plaintiffs argued that the New Mexico public schools were inadequately funded. All those student groups typically lag behind Anglo students when it comes to math and reading proficiency. While the court ruling did not apply a price tag to its mandate, it said New Mexico has to begin providing remedies for that problem.

In a 75-page decision, the Court ruling centered on the guaranteed right under the New Mexico Constitution to a sufficient education for all children. The lawsuit alleged a severe lack of state funding, resources and services to help students, particularly children from low-income families, students of color, including Native Americans, English-language learners and students with disabilities. The court rejected arguments by Governor Susana Martinez’s administration that the education system is improving and for that reason it does not need more funding. The Court found that the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) did not do the best it could with the funding it has given by the legislature to the education system.

2022 LEGISLATIVE FUNDING

During the 2022 New Mexico Legislative session, a trio of bills to fund programs to help Native American students succeed in school past. The house bills provided more than $70 million to tribal entities to help offer culturally relevant lesson plans and access to virtual and after-school programs for those students.

On bill appropriated $20 million from the state’s general fund to the Indian Education Act to provide educational funding for tribes starting July 1, 2024. That money will be used to create culturally relevant learning programs, including Native language programs, for students in the K-12 system. A Legislative Education Study Committee report says if the bill becomes law, each of the state’s 23 tribal entities would receive $547,826 per year.

A second bill appropriated $21.5 million to help tribal education departments develop learning plans and programs for students, extend learning opportunities and support tribal school libraries. That bill also would take effect July 1, 2024. Each tribe and pueblo would get $250,000 a year, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, which would get $500,000, according to the bill’s fiscal report.

The third bill is aimed at higher education. It appropriates $29.6 million to four state colleges and three tribal colleges for 53 initiatives, such as building a Native American teacher pipeline and expanding high school-to-college programs to encourage those students to attend college. The bill’s fiscal impact report says it is assumed the bill would go into effect 90 days after the last day of the Legislature once Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it into law.

There was no other legislative bills filed in the House of Representatives regarding the Yazzie/Martinez case. Lente said he thinks the push to address the court ruling has been led by Native Americans because “if we don’t do this, nobody is going to make it a priority.”

In the Senate, three Democrats have filed Senate Memorial 12, which asks the state Public Education Department to develop a “comprehensive plan” to address the needs of the student groups tied to the Yazzie/Martinez case and then annually report to the Legislature about the plan.

The link to quoted news source material is here:

https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2022/02/01/bills-to-address-yazzie-martinez-court-ruling-advance%ef%bf%bc/?mc_cid=21ff84b79b&mc_eid=d03b0979c3

COMMENTARY ANALYSIS

The rankings and financial numbers are depressing and staggering. Notwithstanding the statistics, a glimmer of real hope came out of the 2022 legislative session building on the progress of the past two legislative sessions.

On February 17, the 2022 New Mexico Legislature 30-day legislative session came to an end. The 2022 New Mexico Legislature approved an $8.48 billion state budget, the largest budget in state history. The budget bill boosts state spending by $1 billion, nearly 14%, over current budget levels.

The enacted budget includes significant increases in spending in areas that should have a direct impact on major areas identified by the New Mexico Kids Count Data Book. The enacted budget includes increases in spending for public education and raises for educators, as well as funds going towards initiatives for local economic development projects and housing programs for homeless people.

Annual spending on K-12 grade public education is increased by $425 million to $3.87 billion, a 12% boost.

Annual Medicaid spending is increase by roughly $240 million to $1.3 billion as the federal government winds down pandemic-related subsidies to the program that gives free health care to the impoverished.

The budget contains salary increases of 7% for school districts and state government staff across the state. A minimum hourly wage of $15 for public employees and higher base salaries for teachers is provided.

The enacted budget extends free college tuition to most New Mexico residents pursuing two- and four-year degrees. $75 million is allocated to the “opportunity scholarship” program, providing free tuition and fees for New Mexico residents. Unlike the existing lottery scholarship, it would be open to adults long after high school graduation and could be used for part-time course loads.

The enacted budget fully funds home-based care for thousands of people who have had severe disabilities since childhood.

Pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage is extended for a year after births, up from two months, by spending $14 million. Most births in New Mexico are covered by Medicaid.

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/new-mexico-lawmakers-hammer-out-state-budget/6395640/?cat=500

https://www.abqjournal.com/2470767/lawmakers-strike-tenuous-budget-deal-as-adjournment-looms.html

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE DEPARTMENT

The creation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department was long overdue and it still offers the best potential in investing in New Mexico’s future that promises the biggest returns: our children. The new department is now focusing state resources on children from birth to 5 years of age. A major goal of the department, coupled with other investments, will be more New Mexico children growing up to secure gainful employment as adults who don’t require government services.

FINAL COMMENTARY

When it is all said and done, and the money spent and long gone, there is no guarantee that New Mexico rankings will get any better when it comes to children living in poverty. Notwithstanding, Albuquerque and New Mexico, and all of its leaders, have a moral obligation to do something to address poverty, children living in poverty and to protect our most venerable population, its children.

On February 26, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, “Der Führer” former President Donald Trump predicted “a major war in Europe” would erupt. Trump called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “an atrocity that should have never been allowed to occur” and then put the blame on President Joe Biden’s administration. “Der Führer” Trump mentioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as if an afterthought calling him “a brave man” Trump told the audience of 5,000:

“The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course he’s smart, but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb.”

As Russia was beginning to invade Ukraine and the United States was rushing to defend neighboring allies in Europe, Der Führer Trump expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin. Trump said at a Florida fund-raiser:

“Putin’s pretty smart! He’s taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. … taking over a country — really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people — and just walking right in.”

“Der Führer” Trump praised Putin’s aggressive moves against Ukraine as “genius” and “very savvy” in an earlier podcast interview with conservative podcaster Buck Sexton. Trump said in part:

“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force…. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well.”

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/donald-trumps-gushing-praise-vladimir-putin-matters-rcna17315

“DER FÜHRER” TRUMP ON THE PROWEL

During the February 26 the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, Trump, made the strongest suggestion yet that he is going to run for president again in 2024 and he said this:

“[Democrats] are going to find out the hard way starting on November 8, and then again even more so on November 2024. They will find out like never before. We did it twice. We will do it again. We are going to be doing it again a third time.”

Trump, who has already endorsed over 120 local and federal Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-cpac-ukraine-russia-major-war-in-europe-2024/

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY THE “BRAVE MAN” DER FÜHRER TRUMP ORDERED $400 MILLION IN AIDE WITHHELD

Trump was impeached for the first time for trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. The effort included holding up nearly $400 million in U.S. security aid to Ukraine and leveraging an Oval Office visit that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been requesting. Trump also pushed discredited claims that Ukraine, not Russia, had meddled in the 2016 election, repeatedly siding with Putin over his own national intelligence agencies.

Retired U.S. Army lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former national security council whistleblower who raised alarms about Trump’s pressure tactics said this:

“Putin is the critical agent, but certainly Trump contributed to it with his scheme back then and continued to contribute it by undermining national security. … Ultimately the president undermined U.S. foreign policy because he weakened Ukraine.”

It was on September 23, 2019 that the Washington Post and other national news outlets reported that President Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine. According to three Trump senior administration officials, Trump issued the order at least a week before a phone call in which Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden, according to three senior administration officials.

According to Trump officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, officials at the Office of Management and Budget relayed Trump’s order to the State Department and the Pentagon during an interagency meeting in mid-July. They explained that Trump had “concerns” and wanted to analyze whether the money needed to be spent. The Trump Administration officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delays were part of an “interagency process” but to give them no additional information. It was a pattern that continued for nearly two months, until the White House released the funds on the night of Sept. 11.

Trump’s order to withhold aid to Ukraine a week before his July 25 call with Volodymyr Zelensky raised questions about the motivation for his decision and fuel suspicions on Capitol Hill that Trump sought to leverage congressionally approved aid to damage Joe Biden. The revelation occurred as lawmakers clash with the White House over a related whistleblower complaint made by an intelligence official alarmed by Trump’s actions.

Republican senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee said that the aid to Ukraine had been held up while the Trump administration explored whether Zelensky, then the country’s new president, was pro-Russian or pro-Western. They said the White House decided to release the aid after Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) threatened to freeze $5 billion in Pentagon funding unless the money was distributed.

A Trump senior administration official said that Trump’s decision to hold back the funds was based on his concerns about there being “a lot of corruption in Ukraine” and that the determination to release the money was motivated by the fiscal year’s looming closure.

There was concern within the Trump administration that if they did not spend the money, they would run afoul of the law. Eventually, Trump gave the OMB’s acting director, Russell Vought, permission to release the money. Trump officials emphatically denied that there was any link between blocking the aid and pressing Zelensky into investigating the Bidens, stating: “It had nothing to do with a quid pro quo.”

Trump repeatedly denied doing anything improper and insisted that his July 25, 2019 conversation with Zelensky was “a perfect phone call.” He also hinted that he may release a transcript of it, but he never did.

Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Murphy said at the time that Ukrain President Zelensky’s “entire” administration was concerned that the aid that was being cut off to Ukraine by Trump was a consequence for their unwillingness, at the time, to investigate the Bidens. Murphy cited his interactions with numerous Ukrainian officials during an early September trip there. Murphy said he heard “directly” from Zelensky about “his concern about why the aid was being cut off to Ukraine,” though the Ukraine’s new president did not specifically broach the subject of a quid pro quo.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-ordered-hold-on-military-aid-days-before-calling-ukrainian-president-officials-say/2019/09/23/df93a6ca-de38-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html

What “Der Führer” TRUMP did in ordering $400 million in aide withheld from Ukrain can only be described as an extortion that failed. It was done by Trump to reshape American foreign policy and to advance his personal and political goals.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) at the time had this to say:

“I don’t think it really matters . . . whether the president explicitly told the Ukrainians that they wouldn’t get their security aid if they didn’t interfere in the 2020 elections … There is an implicit threat in every demand that a United States president makes of a foreign power. . . . That foreign country knows that if they don’t do it, there are likely to be consequences.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-ordered-hold-on-military-aid-days-before-calling-ukrainian-president-officials-say/2019/09/23/df93a6ca-de38-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html

TRUMP HAS HISTORY OF SIDING WITH PUTIN ON UKRAIN

Trump has a long history of siding with Putin when it comes to Ukraine to the point that saying Putin would never invade the country.

It was on August 1, 2016 that Trump in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week ” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never make a military move into Ukraine, even though Putin already had done just that, seizing the country’s Crimean Peninsula:

“He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.”

Stephanopoulos responded with a reference to Crimea, which Putin took from Ukraine in early 2014:

“Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?”

Trump responded:

“OK – well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. … And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess … with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He takes Crimea.”

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/31/politics/donald-trump-russia-ukraine-crimea-putin/

A link to a related blog article entitled in part “Trump: The Once And Future Fascist Who Wants To Be President Again” is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/11/27/trump-the-once-and-future-fascist-who-wants-to-be-president-again-us-military-loyalty-to-democracy-trump-needs-to-be-moved-to-a-gated-community/

PUTIN INVADES UKRAIN

On Wednesday, February 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the evasion of Ukraine and said that a “special military operation” would begin. Before the announcement, Putin had amassed upwards of 150,000 troops along its border. President Joe Biden said repeatedly weeks prior that Putin would invade the European democracy.

Multiple news organizations reported explosions in multiple cities and evidence of large-scale military operations across Ukraine have now been going on for a full week with no end in sight. Putin has made it clear that his goal is to overthrow the Ukraine Government The full invasion of Ukraine by Russia is on a scale Europe has not seen since World War II and since Adolph Hitler began invasions. The Russian invasion is a bloody and devastating conflict for Russians and Ukrainians alike.

Putin’s clearest answer for the invasion was revealed on Monday, February 21, in a speech he delivered. Putin proclaimed that Ukraine is an illegitimate country that exists on land that’s historically and rightfully Russian and he said: “Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood. ” For the past few years, Ukraine has made overtures to the West and wanting to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) of European Country.

NATO provides that war on one member country is a declaration of war on all. Putin believes the Ukraine democracy is anti-Russian regime in what Putin views as rightfully Russian territory populated by rightfully Russian people and it is totally unacceptable to him. The Russian invasion is yet another step of his to recreating the Soviet Union. Putin’s expressed beliefs about Ukraine goes back since the USSR dissolved and the 20 years he has been the Russian President. In a 2005 speech Putin proclaimed:

“The collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster [in which] tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory.”

The central contention of Putin’s speech on February 21 is that Ukraine and Russia are essentially inseparable from a historical standpoint. Putin said this:

“Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. … Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of what has historically been Russian land have called themselves Russians. … [ Ukraine] was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik Communist Russia.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-cpac-ukraine-russia-major-war-in-europe-2024/

You can read more on Putin’s reasons for invading Ukraine in the postscript to this blog article.

BIDEN CALLS UKRAIN “PUTIN’S WAR OF CHOICE”

President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address delivered on March 1 check Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus. Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever their political differences, are joined “with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.” He asked lawmakers to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered. It was a notable show of unity after a long year of bitter acrimony between Biden’s Democratic coalition and the Republican opposition.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2474721/biden-steps-to-state-of-the-union-lectern-at-fraught-moment.html

In his first State of the Union address, President Biden had this to say about the Ukraine invasion:

“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated.

He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.

From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, inspires the world. Groups of citizens blocking tanks with their bodies. Everyone from students to retirees teachers turned soldiers defending their homeland.

In this struggle as President Zelenskyy said in his speech to the European Parliament “Light will win over darkness.” The Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States is here tonight.

Let each of us here tonight in this Chamber send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world. Please rise if you are able and show that, Yes, we the United States of America stand with the Ukrainian people. EDITOR’S NOTE: the entire chamber rose and applauded.

Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And the costs and the threats to America and the world keep rising. That’s why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2.

The United States is a member along with 29 other nations. It matters. American diplomacy matters. American resolve matters.

Putin’s latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected repeated efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And he thought he could divide us at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready.

Here is what we did. We prepared extensively and carefully.

We spent months building a coalition of other freedom-loving nations from Europe and the Americas to Asia and Africa to confront Putin. I spent countless hours unifying our European allies. We shared with the world in advance what we knew Putin was planning and precisely how he would try to falsely justify his aggression.

We countered Russia’s lies with truth. And now that he has acted the free world is holding him accountable.

Along with twenty-seven members of the European Union including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and many others, even Switzerland. We are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever.

Together with our allies –we are right now enforcing powerful economic sanctions. We are cutting off Russia’s largest banks from the international financial system. Preventing Russia’s central bank from defending the Russian Ruble making Putin’s $630 Billion “war fund” worthless.

We are choking off Russia’s access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come. Tonight I say to the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime no more.

The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs. We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts your luxury apartments your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.

And tonight I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American air space to all Russian flights – further isolating Russia – and adding an additional squeeze –on their economy. The Ruble has lost 30% of its value. The Russian stock market has lost 40% of its value and trading remains suspended. Russia’s economy is reeling and Putin alone is to blame.

Together with our allies we are providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom. Military assistance. Economic assistance. Humanitarian assistance. We are giving more than $1 Billion in direct assistance to Ukraine. And we will continue to aid the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and to help ease their suffering.

Let me be clear, our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO Allies – in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west. For that purpose we’ve mobilized American ground forces, air squadrons, and ship deployments to protect NATO countries including Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

As I have made crystal clear the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of territory of NATO countries with the full force of our collective power. And we remain clear-eyed. The Ukrainians are fighting back with pure courage. But the next few days weeks, months, will be hard on them.

Putin has unleashed violence and chaos. But while he may make gains on the battlefield – he will pay a continuing high price over the long run. And a proud Ukrainian people, who have known 30 years of independence, have repeatedly shown that they will not tolerate anyone who tries to take their country backwards.

To all Americans, I will be honest with you, as I’ve always promised. A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world.

And I’m taking robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at Russia’s economy. And I will use every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers. Tonight, I can announce that the United States has worked with 30 other countries to release 60 Million barrels of oil from reserves around the world.

America will lead that effort, releasing 30 Million barrels from our own Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And we stand ready to do more if necessary, unified with our allies. These steps will help blunt gas prices here at home. And I know the news about what’s happening can seem alarming.

But I want you to know that we are going to be okay. When the history of this era is written Putin’s war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger.

While it shouldn’t have taken something so terrible for people around the world to see what’s at stake now everyone sees it clearly. We see the unity among leaders of nations and a more unified Europe a more unified West. And we see unity among the people who are gathering in cities in large crowds around the world even in Russia to demonstrate their support for Ukraine.

In the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security. This is a real test. It’s going to take time. So let us continue to draw inspiration from the iron will of the Ukrainian people.

To our fellow Ukrainian Americans who forge a deep bond that connects our two nations we stand with you. Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people.
He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.

A link to the entire Biden State of the Union address is here:

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/bidens-2022-state-of-the-union-address-annotated/2987689/

COMMENTARY

President Trump is no better than the dictators he praises and admires such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean President Kim Jung Un and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia who the CIA say personally ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashogge.

One thing is for certain is that both Trump and Putin are definitely on the prowel. One fascist invades and wages war on peaceful Ukraine Democracy while the other runs around essentially plotting to return to power feeding bitterness and hatred where ever he can to his cult like followers formerly known as the Republican Party now know as the “Der Führer” Trump Party.

__________________________

POSTSCRIPT

WHY PUTIN INVADED UKRAIN

“Putin’s clearest answer for the invasion was revealed on Monday, February 21, in a speech he delivered. Putin proclaimed that Ukraine is an illegitimate country that exists on land that’s historically and rightfully Russian and he said: “Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood. ” For the past few years, Ukraine has made overtures to the West and wanting to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) of European Country.

NATO provides that war on one member country is a declaration of war on all. Putin believes the Ukraine democracy is anti-Russian regime in what Putin views as rightfully Russian territory populated by rightfully Russian people and it is totally unacceptable to him. The Russian invasion is yet another step of recreating the Soviet Union. Putin’s expressed belief’s about Ukraine goes back since the USSR dissolved and the 20 years he has been the Russian President. In a 2005 speech Putin proclaimed:

“The collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster [in which] tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory.”

The central contention of Putin’s speech on February 21 is that Ukraine and Russia are essentially inseparable from a historical standpoint. Putin said this:

“Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. … Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of what has historically been Russian land have called themselves Russians. … [ Ukraine] was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik Communist Russia.”

The history according to Putin is that the early Soviet leaders of Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev carved land away from Russia and several nearby nations to create a distinct and ahistorical republic called Ukraine. The creation of Ukraine and the other Soviet republics was an attempt to win the support of “the most zealous nationalists” across the Soviet Union at the expense of the historical idea of Russia.

Putin proclaimed that Ukraine represents “the virus of nationalism.” In his view Ukraine is an infection introduced to the Russian host by the Bolsheviks. When the Soviet Union collapsed, and republics from Ukraine to Estonia to Georgia declared independence, the virus killed its host.”

In reality, these countries have longstanding ethnonational identities distinct from Russia. But Putin does not accept this as reality, treating the former Soviet republics and, above all, Ukraine as parts of Russia stolen from the motherland as a result of communist machinations. According to Putin:

“Radicals and nationalists, including and primarily those in Ukraine, are taking credit for having gained independence. As we can see, this is absolutely wrong. … The disintegration of our united country was brought about by the historic, strategic mistakes on the part of Bolshevik and Soviet leaders … the collapse of the historical Russia known as the USSR is on their conscience.”

Putin does not see post-Soviet Ukraine as a real country. He sees it as having no real history nor national tradition to unite it. Instead, he sees it as a playground for oligarchs who deploy anti-Russian demagoguery as a smokescreen for their corruption. Putin said:

“The Ukrainian authorities, I would like to emphasize this, began by building their statehood on the negation of everything that united us.”

Russian control over Ukraine, he argues, has been replaced by a different kind of foreign rule: that of the West. After the 2013 Euromaidan protests, which toppled pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych, “Ukraine itself was placed under external control … a colony with a puppet regime.”

The ominous implication of this historical narrative is that the Ukrainian government, in its current form, is both illegitimate and intolerable. Putin warned in his February 21 that a Western-backed government Ukraine threatens the very survival of the Russian state. In the speech’s most paranoid passages, Putin warned of Ukraine acquiring nuclear weapons with Western assistance, joining NATO, and ultimately serving as a launching pad for an American assault on Russia. Putin said:

“This is the source of America’s traditional policy towards Russia.”

Links to quoted source material are here:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/2/23/22945781/russia-ukraine-putin-speech-transcript-february-22

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/why-putin-invaded-ukraine-russia-war-explained-rcna16028

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-is-russia-invading-ukraine-11645570205

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-is-russia-invading-ukraine-11645570205

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/trump-putin-russia-ukraine.html

Ever since the creation of the Police Oversight Board and the Police Oversight Commission in 2014, both have been plagued by political turmoil, resignations and membership and staffing turnover. Both have been plagued with constant resistance from the Albuquerque Police Department management and all too often completely ignored by the APD Chief and executive staff as well as the Mayor and City Council. Within the last 6 months, the Police Oversight Agency and its civilian police oversight board has seen the resignation of its Executive Director the Chairman of the CPOA board and 3 members of the civilian oversight board.

The Albuquerque City Council began efforts to try and fix the Police Oversight Agency ordinance by amending the ordinance creating the agency and the board. On February 23, 2022, the Albuquerque City Council voted to defer all action on amending the Civilian Police Oversight Agency Ordinance for two weeks to allow consideration of other changes. Amendments to the CPOA ordinance will be heard at the next regular meeting of the City Council on March 7, 2022. The blunt truth is that the Albquerquerqu City Council is attempting to fix the unfixable.

GUEST OPINION COLUMN BY JIM LARSON

JIM LARSON is a long-term resident of Albuquerque. Mr. Larson has an extensive and diversified career in law-enforcement both on the Federal and State levels. His law enforcement career includes being a former United States Secret Service Agent, a Dallas Texas Police Officer, and Investigator with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and working at Sandia National Laboratories. After retiring from Sandia National Laboratories, Mr. Larson served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children. He has been involved with APD civilian police reform including serving a short period of time on the Civilian Police Oversight Board. He has not been compensated for his article. Larson offered the following:

“So here we are seven years later, with the City Council continuing their futile efforts to establish effective civilian police oversight to fulfill their constituent’s demand.

Recently the Chairperson of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency (CPOA) Board resigned in frustration citing the City Council has designed a bad process. From the Council’s poorly conceived Board member appointment process to the list of far too ambitious training requirements for a Board of unpaid volunteers, and of course, the long list of responsibilities delegated to the Board, the Civilian Police Oversight Ordinance in Albuquerque is broken. He noted some Board members appointed by the Council clearly show they cannot and will not devote the minimum of 20 hours per week required to be a fully functional and well-informed member of this Board.

Here is a summary of some of the City Council’s proposed amendments (O-21-78) supposedly designed to finally establish a functioning police oversight system necessary to promote accountability of the police officers and protect the rights of civilians…

Since the inception of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency Board (Board), the Director directs and oversees the investigation of all civilian complaints and reviews of officer-in-volved shootings and serious use of force. He then makes findings and recommendations for review and approval by the Board.

Not for long! If the City Council O-21-78 proposed amendments are approved on March 7, 2022, the Board has no authority to review and approve the results of CPOA civilian complaint investigations and reviews of officer-in-volved shootings and serious use of force. The Board is provided the results for information only. Only when disciplinary recommendations are in the results does the Board have to approve them, and this is only because the CASA requires their approval.

This amendment is designed, as are the others, to finally establish a properly conceived and functioning police oversight system necessary to promote accountability of the police officers and protect the rights of civilians. Instead, this specific amendment reverts to the relationship between the for Police Oversight Commission and Independent Review Officer that the U.S. Department of Justice Albuquerque Police Department Findings Letter of April 10, 2014, exposed as contributing to the overall systemic problems with the Police Department’s use of force in encounters with civilians and which the CPOA ordinance was adopted to remedy.

The CPOA’s Administrative Office was previously required to receive and process all civilian complaints. The Council’s amendments now limit complaints to officer misconduct directed only against sworn police officers employed by the Albuquerque Police Department. This amendment would appear to be a violation of stipulations contained in the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) that the City Council agreed to in 2015.

The complainant or complaint’s authorized representative in a Civilian Police Complaint (CPC) has always been afforded a minimum of five minutes to address the Board relating to the complaint and investigation when it was presented to the Board.

Now that the Board does not have the authority to review and or approve complaints and the City Council has removed this option and in so doing will deny the complainant’s access to the Director who is the new sole decision-maker with respect to their complaint and not the Board prior to the amendment.

If at any point during an investigation the investigator determines that there may have been criminal conduct by any APD personnel, the CPOA investigator shall immediately notify the APD Internal Affairs Bureau commanding officer and transfer the administrative investigation to the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Previously the CPOA was able to review the IA investigation and continue processing the complaint at any time upon the conclusion of any criminal proceeding. That is now deleted from the ordinance with the amendments.

The CPOA’s Administrative Office was previously required to audit and monitor all incidents of use of force by police and all matters under investigation by APD’s Internal Affairs (IA) or other APD personnel tasked with conducting administrative investigations related to a use of force incident. CPOA records reflect that the audit and monitoring process never happened. Resolving the noncompliance was achieved by an amendment limiting matters under investigation to a “representative sampling” which means a subset of a population that seeks to accurately reflect the characteristics of the larger group.

Apparently, to compensate for this elimination of its review and approval authority, the Board, which previously had the option of performing an annual audit, now is required to perform semi-annual audits on a random sample of up to 10% of individual civilian police complaint investigations involving allegations of use of force or in exceptional circumstances, for the purpose of promoting an enhanced measure of quality assurance in the most challenging cases the Board may, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Board, perform an additional audit, or direct that an audit be performed, on any individual Citizen Police Complaint Investigation.

Now, after seven years, the Board shall draft a job description that informs members of their roles, responsibilities, and specific expectations of a CPOA Board member. The Board shall present the job description to the City Council for final approval. Each member of the CPOA Board shall sign the job description to affirm their understanding of their obligations to the Board. This requirement may help filter applicants who do not fully grasp the commitment and requiring a new member’s signature may make it easier to remove members who fail to meet that commitment. That will not address the Board problems in turnover because the model is flawed as evidenced by the many nice to do ordinance requirements that have not been met vs those that are essential, even though all are just advisory just advisory.

There are numerous clarifications to the Board’s training requirements and compliance reporting requirements to the City Council by the Director. The issues of the Board’s failure to comply with required training have been noted for about two years. The extensive training requirements, some dependent on being conducted by APD, are not addressed in any of the new amendments but penalties for failure to complete the training are implemented.

Filling and maintaining Board vacancies has consistently been a significant problem. Efforts to address this are amendments for the reduction of the Board size from nine to seven and for the City Council staff shall establish written policies and procedures for its administration of the process to formulate recommendations for appointments based on evaluation of the qualification criteria and submit recommendations for appointment(s) to the City Council for its approval.

The Director shall notify the President of the City Council of a forthcoming vacancy on the Board at least sixty days prior to the expiration of a Board Member’s term, and within five days of the resignation of a Board member. The City Council shall act on an appointment to fill the vacancy within sixty days of the Council President’s receipt of notice from the Director.

The qualifications for the position of Director no longer minimally include the requirement of law degree but now have been expanded to include masters and relevant experience in criminal investigations. The position clearly requires demonstrated prior management experience and leadership skills to successfully navigate the organizational structures of not only the Board and CPOA, but also the Albuquerque Police Department, City Council, Mayor’s Office, and the Albuquerque Police Officers Association.

The number of full investigative files requested by the Board to fulfill its review function is the primary source of disagreement between the CPOA office and the Board. In the past, the Board has varied its approach to achieving its oversight of the CPOA investigative work product, utilizing at times a Case Review Committee (CRC) to perform due diligence on each case. The CRC then moved to more of an audit function, whereby only a randomly selected number of cases involved a CRC review of the entire investigative file whether warranted or not. The CRC met seven times in 2020, but during the IMR-14 period met only in January and April.

The Independent Monitor’s 14 report opines that it appears that the audits use may have been discontinued, with the Board now requiring that the full investigative case be made available for every complaint is not supported by a review of Board agendas. Yes, there are full investigative files requested, but they are officer-involved shooting and serious use of force cases, not civilian complaints.

The monitoring team emphasizes that this is a matter to be worked out by the Board and the CPOA investigative office. A process is envisioned that allows the Board to fulfill its review function while allowing it adequate time to address issues not being addressed such as requiring deeper analysis, such as policy and training recommendations, the requesting and analysis of data, and long-term trend analysis, as well as a process that does not unnecessarily burden the investigative function of CPOA.

The City Council’s wisdom reflected in the proposed amendments takes a hatchet to the allowing the Board to fulfill its review function by removing the function and ignoring any concerns about the quality of some CPOA investigations. It addresses the continued understaffing of the Board by reiterating excessive training requirements for a volunteer Board and instituting a monitoring and discipline regime. It also reduces the Board size to 7 from 9 with support from the Board and Interim Director suggesting it will be easier to have a quorum and for subcommittees to function.

The Executive Director has always been selected by and works under the supervision of the Board in accordance with CASA stipulations. The history of the Director’s relationship with the Board has been unsettled. The former Director resisted and at times defied those to whom he directly reported and under whose supervision he worked. Some of the unease arose from the varied views of the Board’s role and authority. For example, some members wanted to see documented investigation process manuals and procedures, while others viewed this as none of the Board’s business which the former Director supported in his rejection of the value of input from the Board, and the result was the Board still does not know if such documents exist.

An example of how the Board allows the process to be corrupted was when a Board member and the former Director both voted and supported a change to language in the APD use of force policy “near-final draft.” The language represented a return to issues the community clearly did not support from their comments at public meetings and which the Board also strongly opposed. They did not report their supporting votes at several opportunities, which some believed was evidence of attempts to evade accountability. When finally forced to acknowledge their votes because of public protest when the revision language was published, the two opined that the re-introduction of Graham vs Conner language did not significantly change the policy, their personal opinions and not the Boards. Only after communication with the monitor revealed his adamant disagreement with the inclusion of the Graham language was there agreement that a special meeting was needed. The Board took no corrective action or reproaching either their direct report Director or the long-time board member who frequently espoused his policy expertise.

Each citizen should be aware of significant changes to the Police Oversight Ordinance and form their own opinion of the amendment’s value in enhancing civilian police oversight or is it another ill conceived quick fix to problems that require more independent analysis.

CHARLES ARASIM COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Freelance reporter Charles Arasim has submitted the following guest column for publication on this blog. He has not been compensated for the article. He is a citizen police oversight advocate, and as such was recognized by the Department of Justice when the Court Approved Settlement Agreement was negotiated. Mr. Arasim has scrutinized the process and usefulness of the Police Oversight Ordinance and Agency.

Soon after the Albuquerque Civilian Police Oversight (CPOA) Board, and City Council approved Executive Director Edward Harness’ (2018) second three-year contract, the CPOA began having serious issues culminating in the Director’s (2019) secret – backed by sitting Board member Bill Kass and Albuquerque Police Officer Union’s demands… eventually dismissed by the Federal Court – unauthorized approval of adding the Graham v. Conner standard to the near-final draft of the Albuquerque Police Department’s use of force policy.

Instead of terminating the Director and demanding member Kass’ resignation, the Board went into several months of closed-door sessions to rewrite the Director’s job description – not an exception to the New Mexico Open Meetings Act – while ignoring the resignations of the CPOA’s most experienced investigators.

In the second half of 2020 the CPOA Administrative office, still under the control of an insubordinate Director, completed investigations in only 13% of the Civilian Complaints received. The City Council received this information, did nothing, but, again behind closed doors, secretly discussing amendments to the CPOA Ordinance.

Months later, the CPOA Board publicly announced that the Executive Director’s position was open to all comers which resulted in 3 things:

1. The Director’s fiery public resignation,

2. The Independent Monitoring team reporting to the Federal Court that the CPOA had failed to meet the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) in providing meaningful, independent review of all citizen complaints, serious uses of force, and officer-involved shootings by APD or reviewing and recommending changes to APD policy and monitor long-term trends in APD’s use of force, and

3. CPOA Board Chairman Eric Olivas resigning, along with 3 other Board members, saying the City Council had “[D]esigned a bad process. From the appointment process, training, and of course the long list of responsibilities delegated to the Board, the Civilian Police Oversight Ordinance in Albuquerque is broken. Efforts are underway to nibble at the edges of the problem, but frankly, the proposed amendments to the ordinance hit at the low-hanging fruit and do nothing to give a meaningful role to Civilian Oversight of Police in Albuquerque.”

Fast forward to February 2022.

The City Council comes out of the shadows to reveal their proposed amendments to the CPOA ordinance. Those amendments will not bring the CPOA into compliance with the CASA. The amendments will in fact give more, if not all, power to the office of the Executive Director proven to be accountable to no one The amendments will make the CPOA a virtual carbon copy of the abolished Police Oversight Commission and the Independent Review Officer system of independent civilian police oversight that in 2014 the United States Department of Justice determined had contributed to the Albuquerque Police Department’s pattern and practice of unconstitutional use of deadly force.

It is obvious the City has failed in correcting APD structural and systemic deficiencies of insufficient oversight, inadequate training, and ineffective policies that contributed to the 2014 DOJ Investigative Report findings that APD engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive use of force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

In the most recent report Independent Monitors Report, IMR-14, dated November 12, 2021, the Federal Monitor reviewed the CASA requirement that the city shall implement a civilian police oversight agency … that provides meaningful, independent review of all citizen complaints, serious uses of force, and officer involved shootings by APD and shall also review and recommend changes to APD policy and monitor long-term trends in APD’s use of force. The Federal Monitor reported the CPOA failed to meet the requirements and is in “non-operational compliance,” meaning the adherence to policies is not apparent in the day-to-today operation of the agency.

Seven years of existence has not resulted in quality, rigor, or consistency in processes by the Board or the Executive Director’s office when conducting civilian complaint investigations or review of APD findings in serious uses of force or officer involved shooting incidents.”

DINELLI COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

After the passage of a full 7 years of the court approved settlement as well as the tumultuous history of the Citizen’s Police Oversight Commission that was mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement, it has become painfully obvious that CPOA and its board of voluntary citizens has become so dysfunctional as to be irreparable and irrelevant. It is not at all likely any of changes or amendments to the CPOA ordinance will have any impact on any of the numerous problems identified by Eric Olivas, the former Chairman Of Civilian Police Oversight Agency.

It is personalities and hidden agendas that make both the agency and the civilian volunteer board dysfunctional. Adding to the disfunction is more than a little politics thrown into the mix by the Mayor, the City Council, the Chief and his high command and union opposition to any and all kind of civilian police oversight. The civilian board has never had any ability to persuade APD to change policies or improve their training given the extent the Mayor and APD ignore it and undercut it.

The investigation of police misconduct cases and all use of force cases and serious bodily harm cases should be done by “civilian” personnel investigators not by Internal Affairs nor by the Citizens Police Oversight Agency or the Board. The function and responsibility for investigating police misconduct cases and violations of personnel policy and procedures by sworn police should be assumed by the Office of General Council in conjunction with the City Human Resources Department and the Office of Internal Audit where necessary. The Office of Independent Council would make findings and recommendations to the Chief of Police for implementation and imposition of disciplinary action.

Link to former APOA Executive Director Ed Harness’ resignation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvE37sN–dM

Link to Former CPOA Board Chairman Eric Olivas’ resignation letter:

https://www.abqraw.com/post/civilian-police-oversight-agency-board-chairman-eric-olivas-quits-post

A link to a related blog article is here:

External Force Investigation Team Will Deal With 660 APD Backlog Of Use Of Force Cases; EFIT Confirms APD Unable To Police Itself; Abolish APD Internal Affairs And Civilian Police Oversight; Allow Inspector General To Takeover Functions; Make EFIT Permanent

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Saturday, March 5, the New Mexico Democratic Party will be holding their State Convention in Roswell, New Mexico and will be nominating candidates for statewide offices and officially placing candidates on the ballot who have already secured the required number of nominating petition signatures.

On Monday, May 17, Democrat Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced that he is running for New Mexico Attorney General. He joins Democrat New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon who announced on May 14. Current New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is term limited and is finishing up his second term.

Both Colon and Torrez have secured enough nominating petitions and will appear on the June primary ballot. Gallup-based attorney Jeremy Michael Gay is seeking the Republican nomination for Attorney General. No Republican has been elected Attorney General since 1986.

TORREZ ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

In his announcement, Torrez, 45, had this to say:

“New Mexicans are looking for somebody who’s a fighter in the attorney general’s office and someone who has real experience to take on the job. If you look at the work that we’ve done inside the district attorney’s office, we’ve been able to secure additional resources, modernize that office, transform how it operates, bringing frankly new capabilities that no one had ever envisioned.

I think New Mexicans want bold leadership and tested leadership inside the AG’s Office. … I think they want someone who isn’t afraid to take on some of the toughest challenges we’ve got in the state.

Fundamentally, I believe we don’t have a system right now that provides adequate protections for the general public. … It’s undeniable that we’ve got a very serious public safety challenge in Albuquerque. … Violent crime is unacceptably high, murders are extraordinarily high.

But what we need right now are individuals with experience in different systems, and who have worked as prosecutors and police leaders, who can draw on ideas from around the nation and try and move this community in a new direction. And I think I bring that to the table.”

Links to news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/district-attorney-raul-torrez-to-run-for-attorney-general/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2391604/district-attorney-torrez-enters-race-for-ag.htmlbI

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

Raúl Torres was born and raised in Albuquerque. He is the son of long time Assistant United States Attorney for New Mexico Pres Torres. He is married to Nasha Torrez, who is also an attorney, and the couple have two teenage children.

Raul Torrez went to Sandia Preparatory School, graduated from Harvard University, went on to receive a master’s degree from the London school of Economics, and attained his law degree from Stanford University and went on to be a White House Fellow under President Barrack Obama before coming back to New Mexico to become an Assistant United States Attorney. In 2016, Torrez ran to for Bernalillo County District Attorney and succeeded District Attorney Kari Brandenburg who served as DA for 16 years. Torrez was elected to second term on November 5, 2020.

EXAMINNG THE RECORD OF RAUL TORREZ AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY

District Attorney Raul Torrez is very well known for his attacks on the criminal justice system to get elected to office proclaiming that it is “broken”,that he knows how to fix it and blaming others for his failures.

During his first term as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Raul Torrez attacked the New Mexico criminal justice system and judges on 3 major fronts:

FIRST: TORREZ BLAMED THE COURTS FOR “REVOLVING DOOR” HIGH VIOLENT CRIME RATES

Soon after being elected DA, Torrez began to blame the courts for the rise in violent crime rates saying that the “revolving door”is the courts fault. Four years ago, Torrez accused the District Court and the Supreme Court’s case management order (CMO) for being the root cause for the dramatic increase in crime and the dismissal of cases. The Supreme Court issued the order mandating disclosure of evidence within specific time frames and to expedite trial. Torrez challenged the case management order before the New Mexico Supreme Court and also took action against an individual judge claiming the judge was requiring too much evidence to prove that a defendant was too violent to be released with bond.

Less than six months after being sworn in as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Torrez had the DA’s Office issue a report that outlined the problems he perceived since the issuance by the Supreme Court of the Case Management Order (CMO). The main points of the DA’s 2016 report were that defense attorneys were “gaming”the systems discovery deadlines, refusing to plead cases, demanding trials or dismissal of cases when not given evidence entitled to under the law. The District Court did their own case review of statistics and found that it was the DA’s Office that was dismissing the majority of violent felony cases, not the courts.

SECOND: 65% COMBINED DISMISSAL, ACQUITTAL AND MISTRIAL RATES

In mid-2015 the Bernalillo County 2nd District Court began shifting from grand jury use to implementing “preliminary hearing” schedule. Raul Torrez was sworn in as District Attorney on January 1, 2017 and from day one he opposed the shift to preliminary hearings.

District Attorney Raul Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller wrote a joint letter to the New Mexico Supreme Court requesting it to intervene and stop the plans of 2nd Judicial District Court (SJDC) to shift away from the use of grand jury system to a preliminary hearing system.

The District Court provided an extensive amount of statistics, bar graphs and pie charts to the New Mexico Supreme Court to support the decision to shift from grand jury hearings to preliminary hearing showing it was necessary. The statistics revealed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raul Torrez had a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate with cases charge by grand juries. The data presented showed in part how overcharging and a failure to screen cases by the District Attorney’s Office was contributing to the high mistrial and acquittal rates.

The Supreme Court responded to the Torrez-Keller letter refusing to intervene but urging District Attorney Torrez to work with the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (BCCJCC) to resolve his concerns about ongoing cuts to the grand jury system.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/da-wants-nm-supreme-court-to-review-grand-jury-changes/5012558/?cat=500

THIRD: SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF PROOF

Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez proposed a constitutional amendment that would create a “presumption” that a defendant is a threat to the public when charged with a violent crime and that they should be jailed until pending trial without bond or conditions of release. The presumption would shift the burden of proving dangerousness from the prosecution and require defendants accused of certain crimes to show and convince a judge that they should be released on bond or conditions of release pending their trial on the charges.

According to Torrez, the cases where a defendant would be required to show they do not pose a threat to public and should be released pending their trial would include “the most violent and serious cases” such as murder, first-degree sexual assault, human trafficking, first-degree robbery, crimes involving a firearm and defendants who are on supervision or parole for another felony. Such a shift of burden of proof could conceivably require a defendant to take the stand during a detention hearing before their trial and a waiver of their 5th Amendment Constitutional Right against self-incrimination.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1318399/da-to-unveil-new-pretrial-detention-proposal-ex-some-defendants-would-have-to-prove-they-should-be-released-pending-trial.html

UNM STUDY OF “PRESUMPTION OF NO BAIL” CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

It was in July, 2019 that The University of New Mexico Institute for Social Research studied and reviewed the proposal by DA Torrez to change by constitutional amendment the way pretrial detention is handled in New Mexico. The final report was prepared by Paul Guerin the director of UNM’s Center for Applied Research and Analysis. The study called into serious question the effectiveness and outcomes to change the way pretrial detention is handled in New Mexico thereby discrediting the arguments made by District Attorney Raul Torrez.

The UNM study found no evidence that Torrez’s proposal would improve public safety. Based on a review of cases in which a defendant was released despite the DA’s requesting detention, Guerin found that preventive detention motions filed by the District Attorney’s office did not have “substantively” improved public safety as opposed to those cases in which no detention motions were filed.

Guerin’s study report recommends that the rebuttable presumption proposal be scaled way back by saying:

“If rebuttable presumption use is limited to cases in which defendants are charged with offenses punishable by life imprisonment, and other pretrial detention decisions are left to judges’ discretion and informed by risk assessment tools like the PSA, they can ensure reputation protection [for the criminal justice system] and align with national standards without undermining public safety. ”

Guerin cited research showing that a defendant’s current charge alone does not predict involvement in future dangerous crimes. He reported that some of the offenses or statutes the DA lists in his pretrial detention proposal “are arguably questionable indicators of dangerousness.”

The UNM study looked at more than 7,000 cases filed from July 2017 to August 2018 as part of the review. There were 1,500 cases that had preventive detention motions filed by the District Attorney’s Office. Of those preventive detention motions, 46% were granted and 54% were denied.

The review found no substantial differences in failure to appear and in new criminal activity rates between defendants for whom the DA did not request detention and those who were released despite the DA’s requesting detention. In all, the study found that 17% of those denied cases picked up a new charge. Only 2.9% more of those defendants in denied motions failed to appear in court, and only 2% more picked up new charges.

EMBOLDEN BY BEING ELECTED TO SECOND TERM

On November 2, 2020, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez was elected to a second term. He ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary and in the general election. Torrez became embolden with his election to a second term to the point of deciding to run for Attorney General. He also renewed his advocacy of a “rebuttable presumption of violence” system for pretrial detention. He lobbied heavily for the New Mexico legislature to enact enabling legislation and securing the support of Governor Michell Lujan Grisham and Mayor Tim Keller.

LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE REVIEWS “REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION OF DANGEROUSNESS”

In preparation of the 2022 legislative session, the highly influential Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) released a 14-page memo analysis of the proposed “rebuttable presumption of violence” system and pretrial detention. LFC analysts found that low arrest, prosecution and conviction rates have more to do with rising violent crime rates than releasing defendants who are awaiting trial.

The LFC report called into serious question if violent crime will be brought down by using a violent criminal charge to determine whether to keep someone accused of a crime in jail pending trial. According to the LFC report, rebuttable presumption is “a values-based approach, not an evidence-based one.” The LFC report said that while crime rates have increased, arrests and convictions have not. The LFC went on to say the promise of “swift and certain” justice has a more significant impact on crime rates that rebuttable presumption does not.

A major result of the Legislative Finance Committee report was that legislators rejected all “pretrial detention” legislation which would have created a “rebuttable presumption of dangerousness” for defendants charged with certain violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial . Rebuttable presumption shifted the burden of proof from state prosecutors, who must prove a case “beyond a reasonable doubt” to convict, to the defendant who would have to show they are not a danger to the public in order to be allowed to be released pending trial. The “rebuttable presumption of being violent” legislation was substituted with legislation and then incorporated in House Bill 68 and that focuses on ankle-monitoring data of defendants released from custody as they await trial.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2471031/tax-cuts-crime-package-sent-to-governor.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/2468840/pretrial-monitoring-bill-surfaces-in-house-advances-quickly.html

DISTRICT ATTORNEY TORREZ POUTS LIKE A CHILD NOT GETTING WHAT HE WANTS

During the 2022 New Mexico 30-day session that ended on Thursday, February 17, all legislation failed to enact the rebuttable presumption of being violent to permit jailing until trial. However, as a substitute, the legislature enacted a bill that requires the courts to turn over GPS monitoring data to police and prosecutors during a criminal investigation to allow better tracking of pretrial defendants on electronic monitoring. The goal of the GPS monitoring is keep close tabs on a charged defendant to prevent them l from committing another crime.

After the session ended, Torrez expressed no confidence in the bill. Torrez went out of his way to make the rounds with the media to say his biggest disappointments was the failure to pass the pre-trial detention bill. Torrez pouted like a child after not getting what he wanted and had this to say:

“The [legislature failed] to address the problem of the revolving door, specifically with regard to some of the most violent and dangerous defendants that we’ve got. People accused of murder, sexual assault, child abuse. Individuals who have been armed with firearms. … I’m concerned that we will once again see individuals who we have sought to have detained who have been released who will then go on to commit very serious crimes.”

The bottom line is the provision on GPS actually makes our jobs more difficult. It narrows the categories of defendants we can seek information on and it creates a privacy right for defendants who are considered to be in custody while they’re on GPS.”

When Torrez complains about the “GPS” monitoring system, he is complaining about the crime bill passed where the courts are required to turn over GPS monitoring data to police and prosecutors during a criminal investigation to allow better tracking of pretrial defendants on electronic monitoring in an effort to prevent a charged defendant awaiting trial from committing another crime. It mandates that prosecutors must prove “reasonable suspicion”, the very lowest burden required, before data can be turned over. Torrez and DA’s throughout the state demanded the the Governor veto the language in the bill.

The reaction of DA Torrez to the “reasonable suspicion” language contained in the enacted legislation, can only be characterized as “pathetic pouting” like not getting what he wanted in the first place. Instead of giving any effort to try and make it work, DA Torrez simply wanted the Governor to veto it, His lobbying effort is an acknowledgement that he does not know how to do his job. He was upset with the legislature’s refusal to enact his coveted “rebuttable presumption of violence” legislation.

Prosecutors like Torrez are always looking for ways to blame their failures on the courts and finding ways to allow them to ignore constitutional rights that will make their job the easiest without having to go to court. This coming from a supposedly experienced trial attorney whose primary job is to go to court. It’s obvious that the District Attorneys like Raul Torrez want to be able to conduct “fishing expeditions” on the whereabouts of any and all defendants on ankle bracelets and on any and all types of cases not just those charged with violent crimes. They do not want any court involvement as is required with “reasonable suspicion” language in the bill.

DA Torrez’s argument that the legislation “creates a privacy right for defendants” is about as bogus as it gets. The truth is that as written, no “privacy rights” are being created. What is being created is a system where prosecutors and law enforcement must give very bare minimum reasons why they want the information in the first place.

TORREZ FALSE CLAIMS OF LACK OF RESOURCES

The Bernalillo County District Attorney Office is the largest prosecuting firm in the State of New Mexico employing 315 full time employees including attorneys, paralegals, administrative assistants, victim advocates, investigators, IT managers and personnel and finance divisions. Since being elected District Attorney the first time in November, 2016 Torrez each year has strongly complained to the New Mexico legislature about the lack of resources his office has.

It was in August, 2018, DA District Attorney Raul Torrez strongly complained about and aggressively opposed reducing the grand jury time available by the District Courts and its shifting to more preliminary hearing arguing it would make launching new criminal cases far more challenging and far more resource intensive.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1202062/court-plans-major-cuts-to-grand-jury-system.html

According to Torrez, preliminary hearings are more financially and administratively burdensome for the District Attorney’s office and a drain on resources the office does not have to channel more cases through the process. District Attorney Raul Torrez’s went so far as to proclaim that his office simply did not have the resources to do preliminary hearings and said at the time:

“You’re still not tackling the fundamental resource question … This is not the time to mess with a good thing”.

The blunt truth is that Torrez was and has always has been a failure in tackling the resource problem himself, even after he secured significant funding increases for his office by shaming the New Mexico Legislature for not doing their part in adequately funding his office.

2018 FUNDING INCREASE REVISTED

During the 2018 legislative session, DA Torrez lobbied for and received a $4.2 million increase in total funding for the office with legislator’s buying into Torrez claims of lack of resources. Effective July 1,2018, Torrez was given a $21.5 million-dollar budget to run the office. The office was budgeted fully and funded 315 full time positions. At the time, more than half of the District Attorney’s $21. 5 million budget was dedicated to salaries with the budget for salaries at $13,523,842.35. The problem is of the 315 full positions funded, only 260 positions were actually filled by Torrez. Despite the spike in funding and DA Torrez’s constant complaining that his office did not have enough resources, Torrez had 55 fully funded vacant positions.

http://sunshineportalnm.com/sample/#section=Employee

2022 FUNDING AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES

Fast forward to January, 2022. As of January 11, 2022 Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez has a $27,778,800 million operating budget, a whopping $6.2 million more than in 2018. Of the $27,228,800, $16,890,059, well over half, is dedicated to salaries. The office employs attorneys, paralegals, administrative assistants, victim advocates, investigators, IT managers and personnel and finance divisions. As of January 11, 2022, the office is budgeted for 332 full time positions with 285 of those positions “active”, meaning filled, and with the office having an alarming 47 vacancies. The number of vacancies Torrez has in his office is larger than some other DA’s offices in the state that could use the resources.

All attorneys within the office are “at will” at serve at the pleasure of the District Attorney. As of January 11, 2022, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office employs the following number of attorneys:

27 Deputy District Attorneys paying $91,561.60 yearly
28 Senior Trial Attorneys paying $82,867.20
25 Trial Attorneys paying $75,004.80 a year
12 Assistant Trial Attorneys paying $67,891.210 a year

47 VACANCIES IDENTIFIED

According to the New Mexico State Government Sunshine Portal, there are 16 vacant attorney positions within the DA’s Office. Those fully funded, Vacant paying positions and salaries are as follows:

1 Chief Deputy District Attorney position paying $101,171 yearly
2 Deputy District Attorney positions paying $91,561 yearly
2 Senor Trial Attorney position paying $82,867 yearly.
8 Trial Attorney positions paying $75,004 yearly salary
6 Assistant Trial Attorney positions paying $67,891 yearly

In addition to the vacant attorney positions, other noteworthy positions fully funded but vacant are as follows:

1 Lead Investigator position paying $75,004 yearly
1 Program Administrator $67,891 yearly
2 Senior Investigator positions paying $56,929
1 Program Specialist $51,521
1 legal assistant supervisor $51,521
6 legal secretary positions vacant each paying $34,569

The link to the New Mexico State Government Portal to review all filled positions with names and salaries paid and all vacant positions is here:

https://ssp3.sunshineportalnm.com/#

http://sunshineportalnm.com/sample/#section=Employee

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/08/28/da-torrez-fails-to-tackle-resource-problem-for-preliminary-hearings/

MIXED REVIEWS ON CASE MANGEMENT

During his 5 years as District Attorney, Raul Torrez has had a number of major negligent management issues relating to cases his office has handled.

GETTING SCAMMED

According to a February 20, 2019 Channel 4 Investigates Report, an imposter “scammed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office” falsely claiming she was a victim in a case. The imposter demanded the charges dropped against the violent defendant and that he be released from jail. Below is the link to the Channel 4 report:

https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/4-investigates-imposter-tricks-bernalillo-darsquos-office-inmate-released/5253378/?cat=504

According to the news report, the Defendant Freddie Trujillo pled guilty in a 2017 aggravated assault case. Originally, Trujillo was placed on probation but in December 2018, Trujillo was jailed for violating his probation. Trujillo violated his probation when he physically attacked his estranged relatives, David and Mary Ann Baca. Trujillo was arrested after the attack on his relatives and jailed. One month later Trujillo was released from jail after the District Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against him.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE BACKLOG

According to a February 14, 2019 Channel 13 news story, an anonymous tipster within the District Attorney’s office sent News 13 pictures of stacks of domestic violence cases piled up on a table in the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.

Below is the link to the story:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/domestic-violence-victims-left-in-limbo-for-months-after-reporting-crimes/1776417417?fbclid=IwAR2h1vFytK-efAL-ldfY8TpC1iz-eVKDnDal0qB-Lv5jSM2pOrsUFjAltFY

The photos were of 3 stacks of roughly 500 domestic violence case reports. Each one of the domestic violence reports were linked to a domestic violence victim left waiting from 2 to 5 months without hearing anything after calling police reporting misdemeanor domestic violence crimes including assault, theft and restraining order violations. Torrez went on camera with Channel 13, but only after a week had passed giving him time to clear out the backlog. District Attorney Raul Torrez explained the stacks of reports were made up of “criminal summons” cases where police did not arrest anyone for various reasons such as suspects had already left the scene of the crime.

INDICTING AN INNOCENT MAN

In March, 2017, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez announced and took credit for his office indicting 15 young people, ages 20 to 28, on gang related racketeering and other charges in the spring 2017. The RICO indictment was based upon an investigation of an alleged gang which APD said had started out tagging the area around West Central and escalated to committing violent crimes. District Attorney Raúl Torrez held a news conference calling the defendants “members of one of Albuquerque’s more notorious street gangs.”

On Sunday, August 18, 2019 the Albuquerque Journal reported on its front page that one of the young men indicted was 20-year-old Adan Perez-Macias. It was reported he was not a member of the gang APD was investigating or any other gang. It turns out Adan Perez Marcus did not know and never met the others indicted. Perez Marcus was not even in New Mexico at the time the crime he was accused of committing.
District Attorney Raul Torrez labeled the wrongful indictment of Perez-Macias as “unfortunate” and said it could have happened in any case his office handled.

When discussing the wrongful indictment of Perez Marcus, Torrez said “We can be smart and be effective as institutions. We make mistakes and we learn from these mistakes and improve.” Torrez had no apology, no expression of empathy and no offer of help to 20-year-old Adan Perez Marcus. When DA Raul Torrez says it’s all about justice for victims, he apparently does not believe innocent people are entitled to justice nor any kind of an apology for being wrongfully accused by his office for crimes.

VICTORIA MARTENS MURDER

The most egregious mishandling of a prosecution case by District Attorney Raul Torrez involved the August 24, 2016 murder of ten-year-old Victoria Martens whose was killed and her body dismembered and then burned in the apartment bathtub where she was killed in an apparent attempt to dispose of her body. Initially, Jessica Kelly and Michelle Martens, Victoria’s mother, and Michell’s boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, were arrested and charged for the rape, murder and dismemberment of 10-year-old Victoria. District Attorney Raul Torrez personally took over the prosecution of the case.

On June 29, 2018 District Attorney Raul Torrez announced he negotiated a plea agreement where Michelle Martens plead guilty to child abuse of her daughter Victoria Martens. The plea agreement negotiated was to 1 count of child abuse, recklessly caused, resulting in the death of a child under 12. The plea agreement guaranteed a 12 to 15-year prison sentence and dropped the most egregious charges of murder and rape. With the plea deal, Michelle Martens faced a possible sentence of 12-15 years, and with good time she could be out of jail within 6 to 7 years.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1191031/michelle-martens-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse-faces-12-to-15-years.html

Torrez also announced several charges against Fabian Gonzales were dismissed. District Attorney Raul Torrez said that much of the initial facts of the case were “simply not true”, yet Torrez had previously persisted in holding news conferences. The murder charge was dropped, but Gonzales is still charged with child abuse and tampering with evidence. He was released from jail in November, 2019. The trial for Fabian Gonzales is now set to begin on January 3, 2022, according to court documents filed on May 17, 2021. His trial is expected to last three weeks from January 3 through January 21, 2022.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/fabian-gonzales-trial-set-for-january-2022/6112178/?cat=500

The initial APD police investigation and reports alleged that it was Jessica Kelley that stabbed 9-year-old Victoria Martens and that Fabian Gonzales strangled her while Michelle Martens watched the murder. During a press conference, Torrez stated that his office’s investigation found Michelle Martens falsely admitted to committing the crimes when forensic evidence revealed she and her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales were not even in the apartment at the time of the murder and did not participate in the murder.

Raul Torrez had held a press conference after press conference after press conference in the case, including private meeting with the Journal Editors and reporters at the Journal Center. He had more than 3 front page Journal stories on the case and was interviewed by Chanel 4 on the “Eye on Albuquerque” Sunday program on plea agreements he has negotiated in the case.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/09/da-torrez-political-damage-control-mission-accomplished/

District Attorney Raul Torrez in his various media interviews shared extensive details of the case and prosecution strategy on the pending criminal prosecution against two other defendants, two identified and one yet to be found. During a January 4, 2019 pretrial motion hearing, District Judge Charles Brown determined District Attorney Raúl Torrez had been “reckless” in his December 10, 2018 statement he made to the media about defendant Jessica Kelley’s absence of cooperation before her no contest plea.

On January 4, 2018, District Judge Brown said that Torrez should not have issued the December 10, 2018 statement at all. Judge Brown admonished Raul Torrez for the statement by stating from the bench in open court:

“I don’t know if it was [intentionally done] to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, or if the goal was to shift the light away from the District Attorney’s Office or to move light to the Albuquerque Police Department … I find it to be woefully inaccurate in its ambiguity. It could be interpreted in many ways – all of them positive to the District Attorney’s office, some to the detriment of others. The District Attorney also has an obligation to protect the due process right of the defendant. … [The District Attorney] … represents the state, which is everyone including the defendant and the defendant’s families … The District Attorney’s obligation is to the system.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/qanda-bernalillo-county-rauacutel-torrez-on-30-day-legislative-session/6402099/?cat=500

FEDERAL JUDGE FINDS PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT BY TORREZ

District Attorney Raul Torrez is constantly emphasizing that he is a career prosecutor and not a career Politian. He emphasizes that in addition to serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Mexico for 2 and a half years, he has worked a prosecutor in the Valencia County District Attorney’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office and served one year stint as a White House fellow. He repeatedly talks about the experience he has in both state and federal courtrooms.

One thing for certain is that Torrez avoids talking about is the fact that in 2012, United States Federal Judge Cristina Armijo accused him as Assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting a drug case of trying to “unfairly alter” a transcript of a recorded encounter between drug agents and an Amtrak train passenger suspected of carrying a large quantity of crack cocaine.

In ruling in the drug case Torrez was prosecuting, Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo found that the charged defendant had been “coerced” into submitting to a search by federal two drug agents. But heeding the U.S. Attorney’s Office request, she removed a paragraph that appeared in her original order:

“Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that the Government attempted to unfairly alter the content of the official transcript and thus the substance of what is purported to be represented on the audio recording in the case. Specifically, the Court finds that the Government attempted to take advantage of the obviously poor quality of the audio recording and the chaotic environment in the train car by having its witnesses … make substantive changes to the official transcription of the recording in a manner that favored the government’s case.”

She also deleted other language that faulted the testimony of the two drug agents during the suppression hearing as being “colored or influenced by the government’s efforts.”

The day after Armijo filed her amended ruling in January 2013, the United States Attorney office dismissed the felony drug possession case against the Defendant.

It is unknown if Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo referred the matter to the State of New Mexico Disciplinary Board in that such a referral is strictly confidential.

ALTERING A TRANSCRIPT

At the center of the transcript controversy was that Torrez asked 2 Federal law enforcement agents to review a transcript of a recording that was found “inaudible”. Instead of calling them as witnesses to testify under oath, Torrez asked the federal agents to make changes to the transcript based on their recollection of what was said and what occurred. Torrez then made a new transcript that combined their changes and informed the judge during the hearing that he wasn’t offering it as evidence but an “aid” for listening to the recording. Defense counsel objected, telling the judge “They’re trying to make an illegal search legal by making changes in the transcript.” The court agreed and entered the order. Torrez ultimately withdrew the revised transcript from consideration.

Torrez in a May 9, 2016 Albuquerque Journal report said he there was a “misunderstanding” of a transcript he initially offered at the hearing on a defense motion to suppress evidence. He said he never intentionally tried to mislead anyone. He had this to say:

“I could have done a better job … but I had no idea there were going to be any kind of findings [from Judge Armijo] … I was pretty surprised and upset [at Judge Armijo’s’ ruling] … I’m pretty protective of my professional reputation. I’ve worked extremely hard both in school and my professional life. And the idea that I would jeopardize all of that, and my law license, for a drug case? That, frankly … doesn’t make any sense.”

As for the problems in preparing the evidence, Torrez gave the excuse that he “had 50 other cases going on [at the time].”

UNCONFIRMED VOLUNTARY RESIGNATION OR TERMINATION

Torrez resigned six months after the incident in 2013 to work as a civil attorney in private practice in Albuquerque. Torrez then became a candidate in 2016 for Bernalillo County District Attorney. Torrez said he was never disciplined nor asked to leave the U.S. Attorney’s Office and said his departure was unrelated to the case.

The United States Attorney’s Office for its part has never disclosed the reasons why Torrez left and the office has declined to make any comment, saying it was a “personnel matter”.

Kenneth Gonzales, who was U.S. attorney in New Mexico at the time of the case and is now a U.S. district judge, referred the Journal to “the publicly-filed briefs” and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Steve Yarbrough, who was first assistant U.S. attorney and signed the court motion asking the judge to withdraw her remarks about Torrez, declined to comment. He became a U.S. magistrate.

One thing that is for certain is that if Torrez really wants to eliminate any and all questions regarding his departure from the Department of Justice, he could request a copy of his personnel records and then release his personnel records for examination by the public.

https://www.abqjournal.com/770736/candidate-for-district-attorney-drew-ire-of-judge.html

COMMENTARY

Every state elected official must take an oath of office that they “will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution and laws of this state, and that they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their office to the best of their ability”.

The Office of New Mexico Attorney General historically is considered by many as the “people’s attorney.” Elected Attorney Generals have gone onto higher office including Toney Anaya who was later elected Governor, Jeff Bingaman who was later elected United States Senator and Tom Udall who was also later elected United States Senator. All three emphasized and took great pains to look out for the little guy and especially the consumer and the less fortunate. Attorney Generals Paul Bardacke, Patsy Madrid and Hector Balderas during their tenures as Attorney General all took great pains to advocate for the general good of the public.

As the “people’s attorney”, an Attorney General must do all that is possible to “preserve, protect and defend” our constitutional rights including civil rights and voting rights among them. The Office of attorney general should never be used to undermine the rights of “presumption of innocence until proven guilty and due process of law”. An Attorney General must be fully committed and dedicated to proving guilt based on hard evidence and not speculation in order to put violent offender behind bars.

Raul Torrez advocating “rebuttable presumption” in order to hold a charged defendant in jail pending trial is nothing more than Torrez preying on the worst fears of the general public to get elected. Torrez ostensibly doe not see the problem that “rebuttable presumption” and his very biased advocacy is an affront to the oath of office he took. Torrez’s repeated attacks on the judiciary for the last 6 years and constant harping that the judicial system is broken reflects political opportunism at its very worse.

The criminal justice system in this country and this state has never been perfect, nor will it ever be, but it is not broken. The criminal justice system does have its flaws and a number of inequities, but to say that it is a broken system is just plain ignorance or political opportunism at its worst. The criminal justice system at all levels is only as good as those who are responsible to make it work and succeed. It is way too easy to declare the system “broken” when problems identified within the criminal justice system would go away if the stakeholders would just do their own jobs and concentrate on doing their jobs in a competent manner.

When it comes to Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez, he has been a failure at doing his own job as District Attorney not only in prosecuting cases but managing the resources he has been given. Torrez now says he wants to take his “blame game career” state wide.

Simply put, Raul Torrez is a very bad fit to be the next “people’s attorney” for the State of New Mexico.

On February 23, it was reported that 49-year-old Mario Perez was street racing in his white Ford Mustang, racing a blue mustang up Gibson at more than 100 mph when he slammed into the back wheel of the bus causing it to flip on its side. School officials said there was a camera inside the bus. Police said witnesses told them the blue Mustang kept on going after the crash.

APD reported that 11 people were hospitalized, including 9 middle school students and the driver of the car that hit the bus. According to an Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman, the bus driver, an employee of the school district, was also hospitalized.

It was reported that Mario Perez and at least 1 other person had “significant” injuries but none of the injuries are considered life-threatening. The school bus and car crash came just a few hours after Albuquerque police held a news conference announcing a proactive traffic enforcement plan to cut down on speeding and crashes after 2021 saw a record number of traffic deaths in the city.

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-man-street-racing-school-bus-flipping-abq/39213729

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-investigating-west-side-crash-school-bus-roll-over/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2472995/students-injured-after-school-bus-rollover-in-sw-abq.html

SOBERING STATISTICS

In 2021, there were 85 traffic deaths on the streets of Albuquerque, the highest number ever recorded. APD Deputy Chief Michael Smathers said recently there is “a recklessness and wanton disregard kind of came to light during COVID” adding that APD Officers have clocked drivers going 80, 90, 100 mph on residential streets. At the same time, APD’s perennial staffing challenges led fewer traffic citations.

APD Commandry Joseph Viers of the Traffic Division believes that there is a direct correlation between the drop in traffic citations from 55,819 in 2019 to 39,219 in 2020 to 36,431 last year and the rise in fatal traffic crashes from 55 in 2019 to 76 in 2020 to the record number of 85 last year.

APD Deputy Chief Smathers had this to say:

“We don’t want to set another [fatality] record. It really troubles us to have those numbers. [ APD officers have to] make those family notifications, [and it’s] really heartbreaking.”

According to annual reports from the Governors Highway Safety Association, New Mexico has also had the highest pedestrian death rate in the country 5 years in a row. Updated data from the N.M. Department of Transportation reveals that 100 pedestrians were killed last year. In the Albuquerque area, drivers struck at least 324 people in 2021, resulting in a record-high 49 fatalities. Twenty were the result of hit-and-run incidents.

The links to news source materials are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2473390/suspected-racerbus.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/2472280/traffic-enforcement-in-abq-gets-real-with-more-tickets.html

APD ISSUING MORE TRAFFIC CITATIONS

In response to the increase in fatalities, APD is picking up the pace over the last month to deal with traffic enforcement. According to an APD spokesperson, the department is focusing on problem areas like Central Avenue from 8th Street to Coors. It was the hit and run killing of 7-year-old Pronoy Bhattacharya in a crosswalk as his family left the River of Lights in December that in part prompted the crack down.

As APD continues to work on increasing the number of sworn police within its ranks, APD command staff in the field and traffic units are working together with other divisions within APD overlaying crash and crime data to identify problem areas for traffic enforcement and writing a lot more citations.

From January 1 to the first week of February, APD wrote 7,485 tickets 2,534 more tickets from January 1 to February 7 this year compared with last, for a total of 7,485.

The number of citations is up 30% from an average five-week span in 2019 when the department wrote 55,819 that year, before the pandemic. Still, it’s down from about a decade ago when the department was writing more than 10,000 tickets a month.

An APD spokesperson said they’ve been doing more targeted operations recently. A targeted operation on Central was considered successful. The APD spokesperson said it led to a change in drivers’ behavior and fewer calls reporting traffic violations. The department said it’s now bringing similar operations to other parts of the city in high traffic areas prone to speeding by drivers.

APD Deputy Chief Michael Smathers had this to say about targeted enforcement:

“Any traffic enforcement that we do is always intelligence driven, data driven. Any of the locations that we emphasize, any of the operations and the tac plans that we do, are always driven by data. [The data includes fatalities, speeding and DWI.] … we are breaking down our problematic corridors into more manageable sections [ and have] added a second squad of our motorcycle officers working in the mid- to late-evening hours to specifically address issues we’ve seen.”

The Traffic Division of 20 and Motors Unit of 7 DWI officers are making traffic citations a priority. On February 15, the Motors Unit ran a traffic operation at Montaño and Renaissance that resulted in 81 stops, 54 speeding citations and 135 other tickets, which included citations for no seat belt, no insurance, expired tags, talking on a cellphone, and other type of citations.

Motors Unit Lt. Nick Wheeler said since the beginning of the pandemic Coors is now known as “the racetrack of Albuquerque.” Wheeler reported that the speed limit is posting on Coors is 45 mph, but APD has seen vehicles traveling in excess of 80 mph. Wheeler said:

“Every day [we see cars] going 80, 90, 100 mph on Gibson, Paseo del Norte, Unser, Montgomery and even residential streets on a very regular basis.”

APD Police Commander for the traffic and motor units said speeding remains the No. 1 citation. However, Viers said racing and loud exhaust have become bigger issues since 2020, affecting safety and quality of life. Viers said:

“We’ve really stepped it up on enforcement [and] buckled down on traffic safety. We’ve also increased careless and reckless driving [citations].”

Links to quoted news source material are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apd-writing-more-traffic-tickets-so-far-in-new-year/mbers to having too few officers

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/apd-launches-operation-to-crack-down-on-dangerous-drivers/6402922/?cat=500

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/06/21/keller-wants-camera-vans-to-combat-speeding-kellers-apd-seriously-underperforms-in-traffic-law-enforcement-by-the-thousands-speeding-merits-criminal-charges-not-civil-fines-to-change/

METRO TRAFFIC COURT ARRAIGNMENT PROGRAM

Traffic citations are criminal misdemeanor citations and can only be given when a police officer actually witnesses the offense, such as speeding or running a red light. Traffic cases are “officer prosecuted”, meaning sworn police officers on their own have to present the case to the court.

In 2006, the Metropolitan Traffic Court Arraignment Program was created by an agreement between the City Attorney, the Bernalillo County District Attorney and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. Despite the historical and designated role of the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office as the chief law enforcement office for the prosecution of criminal cases, misdemeanor or felony cases, the City Attorney’s office was tasked with the program. Then Deputy City Attorney Pete Dinelli was given the assignment to create the program with the hiring of Assistant City Attorneys and paralegals and to manage and oversee the attorneys and para legals.

Two Assistant City attorneys and 4 paralegals were hired because of the volume of traffic cases. Assistant City Attorneys are cross deputized or appointed “special prosecutors” by the Bernalillo County District Attorney with the sole authority to negotiate plea agreements in traffic cases at the time of arraignments, thereby negating the need for sworn APD personnel to appear at arraignments.

The rationale for the city attorney’s office to be involved with traffic arraignments is twofold:

1. To provide a major accommodation to the Metropolitan Court
2. To eliminate the need of sworn APD officers to go to court for arraignments on traffic offenses.

The traffic court arraignment program reduces police overtime where APD sworn personnel are entitled to a minimum of 2 hours of overtime charged at time and a half under the union contract.

HOW IT WORKS

When a person is stopped and issued traffic citation, the citing sworn officer determines if the driver will contest the citations. If the driver wants to contest the citations issued, an arraignment date and time is immediately scheduled by the citing officer. The Metropolitan Traffic arraignment program streamlines the process, saves time and money and negates the appearance of police officers at arraignments.

There are upwards of 170 different traffic violation citations that can be issued by sworn law enforcement. The most common traffic citations include speeding, reckless driving, careless driving, failing to stop, improper lane change, no registration, no insurance, suspended driver’s license, failing to yield, and open container. On any given day, between 250 and as many as 500 cases can be negotiated, resolved and approved by the Metro Court. The average Metropolitan Traffic Court arraignment case results in court fees and fines anywhere from $65 to upwards of $250.

TRAFFIC ARRAIGNMENT CASES AND PLEA AND DISPOSITION

Review of the City of Albuquerque approved budgets for the last 12 years reveals just how effective the Metroplan Arraignment program has been, but also reflects the major decline in traffic citations by APD. The budgets approved for the City Attorney’s office contain performance measures and lists the number of traffic cases that went to arraignment as well as the percentages of cases disposed of by plea agreements. Following are the statistics:

MAYOR RICHARD BERRY YEARS

Fiscal Year 2009: 46,940 cases, 83 % disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2010: 55,750 cases, 82 % disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2011: 57,094 cases, 74 % disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2012: 51,222 cases, 72 % disposed of by plea agreements.
Fiscal Year 2013: 39,169 cases, 92% disposed of by plea agreements.
Fiscal Year 2014: 24,600 cases, 70% disposed of by plea agreements.
Fiscal Year 2015: 39,541 cases, 50 % disposed of by plea agreements.
Fiscal Year 2016: 34.077 cases, 59% disposed of by plea agreements.

MAYOR TIM KELLER YEARS

Fiscal Year 2017: 28,643 cases, 58% disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2018: 13,053 cases, 57 % disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2019: 26, 544 cases, 56 % disposed of by plea agreements
Fiscal Year 2020: 19,650 cases, 59% disposed of by plea agreements

NUTSHELL COMPARISON WITH FIELD SERVICES SWORN OFFICERS

Traffic citation cases in Metro Court dropped from 36,161 in Berry’s last fiscal year he was in office to 26,106 in Keller’s first fiscal year in office with the numbers dropping each year thereafter during the Keller years to a paltry 4,044 mid year in 2022 fiscal year.
From the foregoing, a nutshell comparison of the second term of Mayor Berry Compared to the Mayor Keller’s term is as follows:

MAYOR BERRY YEARS OF TRAFFIC ARRAIGNMENT CASES AND APD PERSONNEL:

Traffic Arraignment Cases Under Berry:

2014: 39,169
2015: 49,200
2016: 39,541
2017: 34,077
2018: 36,161

APD Sworn Field Services And Total Sworn Under Berry:

2014: 429 field
2015: 411 field
2016: 420 field
2017: 833 (total sworn)
2018: 861 (total Sworn)

MAYOR KELLER YEARS OF TRAFFIC ARRAIGNMENT CASES AND APD PERSONNEL

Traffic Arraignment Cases under Keller:

2019: 26,106
2000: 26,544
2021: 19,650
2022: 4,044 mid year with 47% pleas, 8,088 projected for year with 50% pleas

APD Sworn Field Services And Total Sworn APD Personnel Under Keller:

2019: 867 total sworn
2020: 972 total sworn
2021: 957 sworn police
2022: 1,100 total sworn budgeted.

APD STATISTCLY UNERPEFORMS IN TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT BY THE THOUSANDS

Review of the hard numbers during the last 12 years reflects that enforcing traffic laws has never been a major priority of APD under Keller’s appointed APD Chief’s Michael Geier and now Chief Harold Medina. Things deteriorated with APD performing a basic law enforcement function of patrolling the streets and issuing traffic citations.

In 2009, there were 86,175 traffic arraignment cases in Metro Court. In 2015 traffic cases dropped to 31,163, or over 55,000 fewer traffic citations. Between 90% and 95% of the traffic cases are APD cases with the remainder being BCSO and State Police cases, which is one reason city personnel were used.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2016/12/26/dwi-and-traffic-enforcement-dangerously-down/

In 2009 the City Attorney’s traffic court arraignment program consisted 2 full time Assistant City Attorneys and 4 full time para legal. As of June 18, 2021, the City Attorney’s traffic court arraignment program consists of just 1 Assistant City Attorney, 1 full time paralegal and 2 half time paralegals. The dramatic decline in city attorney personnel is directly attributed to the decline by the thousands of traffic citations.

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

It’s common driving the streets of Albuquerque to see others speeding, be cut off by another driver, see someone run a red light, watch drivers barrel through school zones, use corner businesses to drive into and out as a shortcut to avoid a red light, vehicles with cracked windshields or broken taillights, people using their cell phones while driving ignoring traffic in front or on the side of them. You can often see people driving without their seat belts on, drivers swerving in and out of lanes at high speeds and engaging in careless driving, driver’s looking in their rearview mirror checking out their teeth, hair or makeup.

Then there are drivers yelling at each other in road rage or drivers being totally oblivious to pedestrians and people on bikes or motorcycles, drivers that are obviously in a haze or driving under the influence based on their weaving in and out of traffic. You can also see drivers that have been in a car accident patiently waiting lengthy periods of time for a police officer to show up to take an accident report.

The real problem is that APD sworn police are seriously underperforming by choice and traffic enforcement was not a priority for APD. City Attorney statistics reveal a dramatic decrease by the thousand in the number traffic citations being issued by APD. When you review the City’s budget for each of the past 8 years, the statics reveal that thousand more traffic citations were issued with a smaller number of APD sworn police on the force during Mayor Berry’s second term compared to Mayor Keller’s years in office. A dramatic drop in the thousands of traffic citation began to occur in Keller’s first year in office, even when there were more sworn APD officers in field services patrolling the streets.

What you do NOT see are Albuquerque Police Officers (APD) making traffic stops all over the city, issuing traffic citations or warnings, at least until now. It’s the sure presence of police on the road that changes people’s driving habits. The only time you hear or see an APD mark unit on the streets of Albuquerque is when they are traveling far in excess of the speed limit with their red lights on and sirens blazing no doubt to get to the next homicide or violent crime scene.

One of the very basic functions of any municipal police department is traffic law enforcement. APD is the largest funded department with a $212 million budget with 1,678 full time positions that includes 578 civilian staff and funding for 1,100 sworn police.

According to the city budgets from the last 8 years, traffic court cases handled by the City Attorney dropped from 36,161 in Berry’s last fiscal year he was in office to 26,106 in Keller’s first fiscal year in office with the numbers dropping each year thereafter to a paltry 4,044 mid year in 2022 fiscal year.

POWER OF THE COURTS REASON THAT CRIMINAL TRAFFIC CITATIONS REDUCE SPEEDING

When a police officer issues a misdemeanor criminal citation for speeding or other traffic offenses, the crime must occur in the presence of the officer where the officer has witnessed the crime. Automated red light camera citations are civil because the crime is a recorded image.

There is a major reason that traffic citations are criminal misdemeanor charges with fines and not civil. It’s because traffic citations issued by police officers and backed up with the authority of the courts, it has a major impact on the general public to deter conduct and reduce speeding and other traffic violations.

In addition to the criminal aspect, there is also a civil aspect to the misdemeanor charges. Automatic driver’s license revocation can occur with traffic citations. The more citations are issued, the more impact it has to threaten the suspension of a person’s driver’s license because of points assessed. Auto insurance companies also monitor their client’s traffic record and will increase insurance rates or even cancel coverage.

FINAL COMMENT

Police presence and visibility on the streets is the most effective way to change people’s driving habits, especially with speeding. Now that APD is making traffic enforcement a priority, the citizens of Albuquerque should see safer streets so long as the effort is made permanent which would mean that APD is getting back to the basics.

EDITORS NOTE: Freelance reporter Charles Arasim contributed to this blog article regarding the Citizens Police Oversight Agency and locating the statistics reported herein. He is a citizen police oversight advocate, and as such was recognized by the Department of Justice when the Court Approved Settlement Agreement was negotiated. Mr. Arasim has scrutinized the process and usefulness of the Police Oversight Ordinance and Agency.

During the December 16, 2021 court hearing before Federal Judge James Browning on the Federal Monitor’s 14th Compliance Report, APD reported on the “rebuilding” of APD during the past 4 years by comparing APD staffing levels on December 7, 2017 to the December 6, 2021 staffing levels. Following are the statistics provided to the court:

DECEMBER 7, 2017 APD STAFFING LEVELS

Full Sworn Officer Count: 836

1 APD Chief
1 Assistant Chief
1 Deputy Chief
3 Majors
13 Commanders
33 Lieutenant
105 Sergeants
680 Patrol Officers

Note that the APD high command that worked directly out of the Chief’s Office in 2017 consisted of 6 sworn APD staff: APD Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and 3 Majors. The positions of management positions of Lieutenants and Sergeants and the Patrol Officers are all allowed to join the police union covered by the police union contract.

DECEMBER 6, 2021 STAFFING LEVELS

Full Sworn Officer Count: 917

1 APD Chief
1 Superintendent Of Police Reform (Created 8 months ago)
1 Deputy Superintendent Of Police Reform (Recently created)
6 Deputy Chiefs (3 new Deputy potions created and added)
1 Chief of Staff
12 Commanders
14 Deputy Commanders
44 Lieutenants
113 Sergeants
2 Sworn CSA’s
731 Patrol Officers

Note that the APD high command that works directly out of the Chief’s Office in 2021 consists of 10 full time employees: the Chief, the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent Of Police Reform, 6 Deputy Chiefs and one chief of staff. The positions of management positions of Lieutenants and Sergeants and the Patrol Officers are all allowed to join the police union covered by the police union contract.

TERMINATIONS, RETIREMENTS, RESIGNATIONS AND REPLACEMENTS

During the January 13, 2022 meeting of the Civilian Police Oversight Commission , Board member Eric Nixon requested information regarding APD staffing. The data request included the following:

New hires
Cadets in the APD Academy
Cadets graduating the Academy
Terminations
Retirements
Resignations

According to the January 13, 2021 minutes of the Civilian Police Oversight Board, Assistant United State Attorney Elizabeth Martinez from the Department of Justice provided the information. The information sent by the DOJ was “deemed too voluminous by board members”.

https://www.cabq.gov/cpoa/documents/finding-letters-for-january-13-2022_redacted.pdf

As a result, Civilian Police Oversight Agency staff was requested to distill the requested data into a visual report. The link to the information was provided to the board on January 26, 2022. Below is the link:

https://my.visme.co/view/8r0dxdnv-d3o26vovx867lgxw

Review of the minutes of the Civilian Police Oversight Board does not reveal why it was Assistant United State Attorney Elizabeth Martinez from the Department of Justice who provided the information. Requests for such information would normally be made to the City and then supplied by the city, yet the information came from the DOJ.

This is significate because the DOJ is suing the City. The question is how DOJ was made privy to the statistics. There is no indication why Citizen Police Oversight Board member Eric Nixon wanted with the statistics in the first place nor what they would be used for. Arguably the CPOA Board has no idea what the statistics mean nor how to apply and interpret them.

COMPARING 2017 STAFFING LEVELS TO 2021 STAFFING LEVELS

The APD Staffing level report slide presentation prepared by the Police Oversight Agency is dated January 21, 2021 and provides the following statistical information that was compiled by the APD human resources division:

A total of 101 sworn police officers joined the ranks of APD in 2021.

The APD Training Academy Commander reported 30 APD cadets in the 125-cadet class.

The APD Training Academy Commander reported Class Number 6 of the CNM community college had 12 lateral hires who graduated on February 3, 2021,

Total combined APD academy and CNM lateral hires that will be working with APD is 42. (NOTE: There is 1 additional Albquerquerqu Fire and Rescue Arson Investigator included in the 125 Academy Class.)

2017 TO 2021 TERMINATIONS, RETIREMENTS, RESIGNATIONS

The following terminations were reported by the Civilian Policed Oversight Board:

2017: 5
2018: 1
2019: 0
2020: 11
2021: 8

TOTAL: 25

The following retirements were reported by the Civilian Policed Oversight Board:

2017: 21
2018: 27
2019: 31
2020: 46
2021: 88

TOTAL: 213

The following resignations were reported by the Civilian Policed Oversight Board:

2017: 18
2018: 23
2019: 28
2020: 27
2021: 36

TOTAL: 132

2017 VERSUS 2021 APD PERSONNEL

The Police Oversight Agency Report dated January 21, 2021 compared the totals of APD sworn personal for the year 2017 to 2021 as follows:

APD Chief:

2017: 1
2021: 1

SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE REFORM

2017: 0
2021: 1 [Created in 2021]

DEPUTY CHIEFS

2017: 1
2021: 6

MAJORS:

2017: 3
2021: Potions abolished

COMMANDERS

2017: 13
2021: 12

DEPUTY COMMANDERS

2017: 0
2021: 14

LIEUTENANTS

2017: 33
2021: 44

SERGEANTS

2017: 105
2021: 113

PATROLMAN

2017: 680
2021: 731

CSA’s

2017: 0
2021: 2

TOTAL SWORN STAFFING

2017: 837
2021: 926

https://my.visme.co/view/8r0dxdnv-d3o26vovx867lgxw

COMPARING 2017 FIELD OFFICER STAFFING LEVELS WITH 2021 FIELD OFFICER STAFFING LEVELS

The APD Staffing report by the Police Oversight Agency also provides statistical information comparing APD area command levels for 2017 and 2021. Area residents and Albuquerque City Councilors are always concerned and ask questions about the number of field officers are assigned to their area commands. The total number of field officers assigned to each area command must be divided into 3 separate working shifts with the number assigned to each shift varying and depending on call volumes. Also, the number assigned to each shift is reduced by those officers that are on annual leave, sick leave, military service leave or in court. The statistics comparing the number of field officers in each area command for the years 2017 and 2021 are as follows:

FOOTHILLS AREA COMMAND

The Foothills Area Command is bordered by San Antonio NE to the north, the Sandia Foothills to the east, Kirtland Air Force Base to the south, and Eubank Boulevard to the west. This Command Area has some of the lowest crime rates in the City. Following is the field services staffing reported:

2017: 71
2021: 70

NORTHEAST AREA COMMAND

The Northeast Area Command is bordered by Albuquerque city limits to the north, Eubank Boulevard to the east, Interstate 40 to the south, and Interstate 25 to the west. This Area Command has a more recent history of increasing crime rates in the city, especially residential break-ins and robberies. Following is the staffing reported:

2017: 92
2021: 82

NORTHWEST AREA COMMAND

The Northwest Area Command is bordered by Albuquerque city limits to the west and north, the west bank of the Rio Grande to the east, and Interstate 40 to the south. This Command Area has some of the lowest crime rates in the City. Following is the field services staffing reported:

2017: 64
2021: 55

SOUTHEAST AREA COMMAND

The Southeast Area Command is bordered by Interstate 40 to the north, Eubank Boulevard to the east, Kirtland Air Force Base and Albuquerque city limits to the south, and Interstate 25 to the west. This Area Command has an extensive history of having the highest crime rates in the city. Following is the field services staffing reported:

2017: 116
2021: 94

SOUTHWEST AREA COMMAND

The Southwest Area Command is bordered by Interstate 40 the north, the Rio Grande to the east, the South Valley to the south, and Albuquerque city limits to the west. Following is the field services staffing reported:

2017: 75
2021: 65

VALLEY AREA COMMAND

The Valley Area Command is bordered by the Albuquerque city limits to the north and south, Interstate 25 to the east, and the Rio Grande, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, and the North Valley to the west. This Area Command has an extensive history of having the second highest crime rates in the City. Following is the field services staffing reported

2017: 82
2021: 80

A link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2019/08/08/apd-staffing-levels-970-sworn-police-300-more-needed/

POLICE UNION NEGOTIATED PAY INCREASES

On February 4, it was reported the Keller’s administration negotiated a new police union contract making APD the best paid law enforcement agency in the region by increasing hourly wages and longevity pay.

Under the signed contract, APD’s starting wage is well above cities and law enforcement agencies of comparable size including Tucson, Arizona, $54,517, and El Paso, Texas, $47,011. The negotiated hourly pay increases are as follows:

2-to-4-year service pay goes from $60,320, yearly, or $29 hourly, to $68,411.20 yearly, or $32.89 hourly.

5-to-14-year service pay goes from $62,400, $30 hourly to $70,761 yearly, $34.02 hourly

15 or more years of service pay goes from $65,520, or $31.50 hourly to $74, 297 A YEAR or $35.72 hourly.

Sergeant pay goes from $72,800, or $35 hourly, to $82,533 a year, or $39.69 hourly.

Lieutenant pay goes from $83,200, or $40 hourly to $94,348 yearly or $45.36 hourly.

OVERTIME PAY

The union contract allows the management positions of sergeants and lieutenants to be union members. Under the union contract, sworn police are entitled to overtime compensation at the rate of time-and-one-half of their regular straight-time rate when they perform work in excess of forty (40) hours in any one workweek. Time worked over 40 hours per week is compensated at time and a half of the officer’s regular rate of pay, or in the form of “compensatory time.” There is no contract provision placing a cap on the amount of overtime any officer can be paid.

At the beginning of each calendar year, City Hall releases the top 250 wage earners for the previous year. The list of 250 top city hall wages earners is what is paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. For the past 3 years, over 50% of the top 250 city hall wage earners have been APD sworn earning between $107,885.47 to $199,666.40 a year, two and at times 3 times their normal base pay.

In 2021, there were a total 109 sworn police officers on the list up through the rank of Lieutenant. This does not include sworn officers who are on the list and who have retired. There are a total of 27 Sergeants and 30 Lieutenants listed in the top 250 city wage earners for 2021 still working for APD. There are a total 52 sworn police officers in the ranks of Police Officer First Class, Senior Police Officer and Master Police Officer in the listing of the top 250 top city wage earners for 2021 who are still working for APD.

The link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2022/02/17/third-year-in-row-over-half-of-top-250-city-wage-earners-sworn-police-apd-police-union-contract-violates-federal-and-state-labor-laws-after-over-6-months-special-state-audit-has-not-reduced-apd/

NEGOTIATED LONGEVITY PAY

Under the union contract, longevity pay increases by 5% starting on July 1, 2022 at $2,730 per year with those who have 5 years of service and with incremental service years up to 17 years or more who will be paid $16,380. The negotiated longevity pay has an overlap of 3 fiscal years. The pay rate categories are as follows:

Fiscal year 2019 and 2020 longevity pay rates effective the first full pay period following July 1 are identical to fiscal year 2022. Fiscal year 2022 longevity pay scale bi-weekly annual amounts are as follows:

Beginning Year 5 through 5, $100 paid bi weekly, $2,600 annual amount
Beginning Year 6 through 6, $125 paid bi weekly $3,250 annual amount
Beginning Year 7 through 9, $225 paid bi weekly, $5,850 annual amount
Beginning Year 10 through 12, $300 paid bi weekly, $7,800, annual amount
Beginning Year 13 through 15, $350 paid bi weekly, $9,100 annual amount
Beginning Year 16 through 17, $450 paid bi weekly, $11,700 annual amount
Beginning Year 18 and above, $600 paid bi weekly, $15,600 annual amount

Fiscal year 2023 longevity pay scale bi-weekly annual amounts are:

Beginning Year 5 through 5, $105 paid bi weekly, $2,730 annual amount
Beginning Year 6 through 6, $131 paid bi weekly, $3,406 annual amount
Beginning Year 7 through 9, $236 paid bi weekly, $6,136 annual amount
Beginning Year 10 through 12, $315 paid bi weekly, $8,190 annual amount
Beginning Year 13 through 15, $368 paid bi weekly, $9,568 annual amount
Beginning Year 16 through 17, $473 paid bi weekly, $12,298 annual amount
Beginning Year 18 and above, $630 paid bi weekly, $16,380 annual amount

UNION REACTION TO UNION PAY INCREASE

Not at all surprising, Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association said he was “very happy with it” seeing as he was the one who negotiated the contract. Willoughby applauded the pay increases and said they would help in recruiting and retaining sworn officers and said:

“We had, I believe, over 175 officers … leave the department in 2021. We had 81 leave in 2020. … So we are definitely needing to continue to bring that competitive pay, and that competitive edge … so that we can compete in this region of the United States for the best and brightest that are interested in law enforcement.”

The link to the full Journal article is here

https://www.abqjournal.com/2467440/city-reaches-new-deal-with-police-union.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

On February 4, 2021 when the police union contract increasing hourly pay and longevity pay was reported on by the Albuquerque Journal an APD spokesman told the Journal “178 officers left in 2021 and 99 left in 2020.” This is not true.

Police Union President Shaun Willoughby applauded the pay increases and said they would help in recruiting and retaining sworn officers. Willoughby said:

“We had, I believe, over 175 officers … leave the department in 2021. We had 81 leave in 2020. … So we are definitely needing to continue to bring that competitive pay, and that competitive edge … so that we can compete in this region of the United States for the best and brightest that are interested in law enforcement.”

The APD spokesperson and Willoughby did not know what they were talking about when it came to the number of departures in 2020 and 2021 or they simply made up the information to embellish and garner sympathy from the public.

The statistics release by the Civilian Police Oversight Agency as provided by the Department of Justice dispute the numbers released by APD and Willoughby on departures. An APD spokesman said 99 left and Willoughby said 81 left in 2020. The Civilian Police Oversight Board reported 84 left in 2020. APD spokesman said 178 and Willoughby said 175 left in 2021. The Civilian Police Oversight Board reports 102 sworn left in 2021.

TURNOVER INDICATES NEW GENERATION OF SWORN POLICE BEING HIRED

The combined total number of terminations, retirements and resignations over the last 5 years is 370 sworn police who are gone and who have moved on. The significance of this number is dramatic. When you subtract the total 370 terminations, retirements, resignations from the total number of sworn of 837 in 2017 it results in 467 sworn police who remained. In other words, after 5 years there are 467 officers out of the current 926 sworn police in the year 2021 that have been with APD for at least 5 years or more. This translates into a 50.4% five-year turnover of experienced sworn police.

The lion’s share of the 50.4% turnover in APD sworn over the last 4 years are retirements for a total of 213. The “silver lining” to such a high turnover of experienced officers is twofold:

1. It indicates a new generation of APD Sworn police was recruited to get to the 926 number for 2021 and who were then trained in constitutional policing practices.

2. Experienced sworn police who have resisted the DOJ reforms or who helped create, did not stop or who contributed to the culture of aggression and the use of excessive force and deadly force have left but many still remain in 2021.

ACCURATE TURNOVER SINCE DOJ INVESTIGATIO UNKNOWN; IPRA REQUEST MADE

On April 10, 2014, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, submitted a scathing 46-page investigation report on an 18-month civil rights investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

The investigation was conducted jointly by the DOJ’s Washington Office Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

You can read the entire report here.

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

The DOJ investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems of APD. The DOJ investigation “determined that structural and systemic deficiencies — including insufficient oversight, inadequate training, and ineffective policies — contribute to the use of unreasonable force.”

Based on the investigation and the review of excessive use of force and deadly force cases, the DOJ found “reasonable cause to believe that APD engage[d] in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment … . and [the] investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems.”

The investigative report found a pattern or practice of use of “deadly force” or “excessive use of force” and found a “culture of aggression” within APD.

No one knows for certain, other than the City and APD, the names and rankings of who were employed by APD on April 10, 2014 when the DOJ investigation was released. Comparing the rosters of sworn APD in 2014 to those employed to date will provide the real answer to the extent of APD turnover and the number of new hires over the last 7 years.

On February 22, a Request for an Inspection of Public (IPRA) was sent to the city making the following two requests:

For the month and year of April, 2014, please provide the Albuquerque Police Department roster listing all sworn police officers by name, rank and hourly pay OR for the month and year of April, 2014, City of Albuquerque payroll records or personnel records providing the names of all sworn police, their ranks and hourly pay.

For the month and year of February, 2022, please provide the Albuquerque Police Department roster listing all APD sworn police officers by name, rank and hourly pay OR for the month and year of February, 2022 City of Albuquerque payroll records or personnel records providing the names of all sworn police officers , their rank and hourly pay.

Under state law, the city still has time to respond to the request for public records and the information will be reported upon by this blog.

TRAINING UNDER THE CASA

It was on November 14, 2019 that a full 5 years expired since the city entered into the CASA with the DOJ. From review of all the Federal Monitor’s reports, the City and APD completed the following mandated reforms of training under the Court Approved Settlement Agreement:

1.The new “use of force” and “use of deadly force” policies were written, implemented and all APD sworn received training on the policies.

2. All sworn police officers received crisis management intervention training.

3. APD created a “Use of Force Review Board” that oversees all internal affairs investigations of use of force and deadly force.

4. “Constitutional policing” practices and methods, and mandatory crisis intervention techniques an de-escalation tactics with the mentally ill have been implemented at the APD police academy with all sworn police having received training.

7. APD adopted a new system to hold officers and supervisors accountable for all use of force incidents with personnel procedures implemented detailing how use of force cases are investigated.

8. APD revised and updated its policies on the mandatory use of lapel cameras by all sworn police officers.

COMPLIANCE LEVELS

Before the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) can be dismissed, APD must come into a 95% compliance in 3 compliance levels and sustain those levels for 2 years. Fast forward to November 12, 2021 and the 14th Independent Monitors Report . The Federal Monitor reported the 3 compliance levels as follows:

Primary Compliance: 100%
Secondary Compliance: 82%
Operational Compliance: 62 % (An increase 3% points)

Of the 3 compliance levels, Operational Compliance has always been the most important and most difficult to achieve for APD. Operational compliance is attained at the point that the adherence to policies is apparent in the day-to-day operation of the agency. Operational compliance is where line personnel are routinely held accountable for compliance, not by the monitoring staff, but by the 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.

It is being projected that the city and APD will not reach the level of compliance as required for a least another 4 years, if not more.

APD SERGEANTS AND LIEUTENANTS RESIST DOJ REFORMS

All sworn police have been give the training mandated by the CASA, yet the city is still struggling to implement the reforms. The question is why? The likely answer is that even with the mandated training of sworn accomplished under the settlement, the 50.4% turnover has not been enough to eliminate the APD management who helped create, did not stop or contributed to the “culture of aggression”.

In 2021, there were 113 Sergeants, 44 lieutenants, 14 Deputy Commanders and 12 Commanders all with all having 5 or more years of service with APD. Many were likely employed on November 14, 2014 in some capacity or another when the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) was filed approving the 271 reforms and who were promoted after the report was released.

The Federal Monitor has found repeatedly it is APD sergeants and lieutenants who are resisting management’s implementation of the DOJ reforms. Sergeants and lieutenants are where the rubber hits the road when it comes implementation of the 271 reforms.

It was on November 1, 2019, Federal Court Appointed Monitor James Ginger in his Federal Monitors 10th audit report where the “Counter CASA effect” was fully identified. According to the Federal Monitor’s 10th report:

“Sergeants and lieutenants, at times, go to extreme lengths to excuse officer behaviors that clearly violate established and trained APD policy, using excuses, deflective verbiage, de minimis comments and unsupported assertions to avoid calling out subordinates’ failures to adhere to established policies and expected practice. Supervisors (sergeants) and mid-level managers (lieutenants) routinely ignore serious violations, fail to note minor infractions, and instead, consider a given case “complete”.

In his 11th Monitors report file on May 4, 2020, Ginger wrote:

[“APD personnel are] still failing to adhere to the requirements of the CASA found in past monitoring reports, including some instances moving beyond the epicenter of supervision to mid- and upper management levels of the organization. … some in APD’s command levels continue to exhibit behaviors that “build bulwarks” [or walls] preventing fair and objective discipline, including a process of attempting to delay and in some cases successfully delaying the oversight processes until the timelines for administering discipline had been exceeded. … “

APD HIGH COMMAND BIG PART OF THE PROBLEM

During the last 4 years, the APD high command that works directly out of the Chief’s Office went from 3 to 10 full time sworn staff. Those positions are Chief, Superintendent of Police Reform, Deputy Superintendent Of Police Reform, 6 Deputy Chiefs, 1 Chief of Staff. Although APD abolished the ranking of Major that existed 4 years ago, which there were only 4, it has created the new position of “Deputy Commanders” which there are 16.

Five of the 6 Deputy Chiefs, Joshua Brown (21 years) , Cecily Barker (17 years), Cori Lowe (16 years), Eric Garcia (21 years), J.J. Griego (20 years) came up through the APD ranks and have a combined 95 years of experience with APD. When you add the additional 24 years of experience APD Chief Harold Medina has with APD, the total years of experience of the 6 high command staff have with APD is 119 years.

Normally, it would be a cause for great celebration to know that 119 years of law enforcement experience is in charge of running APD. But it simply cannot be when it comes to APD that is under a federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA). The settlement mandates 271 reforms that was the result of an 18-month Department of Justice civil rights investigation that found a pattern of “excessive use of force” and “deadly force” and a “culture of aggression” within APD. Simply put, 6 of the 7 APD Chief’s executive staff contributed, should have been aware of or did not stop the culture of aggression within APD. Now the 6 are fully in charge of APD.

There is no doubt that APD Chief Harold Medina was and still is part of the problem with APD’s failure to implement the reforms. Medina has a nefarious past of first killing a 14-year boy banishing a BB gun in a church and years later gave the authorization use deadly force that resulted in APD’s killing of a veteran threatening suicide and having a psychotic episode. A jury verdict of $10 million was awarded in the killing of the veteran with the court finding that the veteran was only a danger to himself and not APD. What was truly amazing is that Medina actually promoted his nefarious past with the 2 officer involved shootings as making him qualified to be Chief in that he learned the lesson of the need for constitutional practices.

FINAL COMMENTARY

No doubt it is alarming to many that there are so many experienced sworn police leaving APD and there is a need to pay them more for retention. APD command and the union are seriously mistaken to think that an 8% pay increase phased in and a 5% increase in longevity pay is going to make any difference in retention of experienced officers. It will not and the hemorrhaging of sworn police leaving in droves still continues. Ten officers supposedly retired in January and many more are preparing for retirement in 2022.

In the long run and for the end game, the many personnel departures are probably good thing. Any sworn officer, including police union membership, and especially those who hold management positions now from the ranks of sergeant to Chief, and who are not committed to constitutional policing practices or feel they cannot adhere to them or who resist the DOJ reforms should probably move on.

A 100% turnover of APD sworn and command staff from the year 2014 when the federal court settlement was approved to the present, especially in the ranks of Sergeant all the way to the rank of APD Chief is likely required to achieve DOJ compliance levels. Such a turnover will likely once and for all eradicate the “culture of aggression” within APD and ensure constitutional policing practices and a 100% compliance of all the reforms. It’s too bad, because it did not have to be this way and it could have been totally avoided had the police union cooperated and supported the reforms instead of engaging in obstructionist tactics to undermine the reforms for the least 7 years