The New Mexico Legislature 30-day session is scheduled to begin on January 18, 2022. A head of the upcoming legislative session, State Senator Jeff Steinborn, Democrat from Las Cruces, has “prefiled” legislation proposing that the State distribute free high-quality masks and COVID-19 test kits to the public under a $60 million plan.

The proposal would tap into the state’s allocation of federal funds to provide $10 million for KN95 or equivalent masks and $50 million for at-home tests. The legislation would draw on unspent federal relief funds already sent to New Mexico. According to a January 5 Albuquerque Journal report, Steinborn’s proposal would call for the Department of Health to distribute masks and at-home test kits with $60 million in funding. The agency would also launch a statewide education campaign on the importance and proper usage of masks.

According to the news report “the push for better masks and increased testing comes as New Mexico prepares for a spike in cases fueled by the omicron variant. The state’s test positivity rate for the last seven days reached 19.8% on Tuesday, about 8 percentage points higher than a week ago.”

Steinborn, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said it’s important for more New Mexicans to upgrade from cloth masks to N95 or KN95 masks offering more protection and had this to say:

“This funding can help provide some of the most powerful tools we have to limit the spread of COVID, and that’s high-quality masks, and convenient accessible tests.”

NEW MEXICO’S VACCINATION NUMBERS ARE STRONG

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, New Mexico’s vaccination rate is relatively strong ranking among the top 15 in some categories. Upwards of 76% of New Mexico adults have completed their initial vaccination series and upwards of 36% have received a booster shot.

According to the most recent United State census, New Mexico has a population of 2,117,522.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/new-mexico-population-change-between-census-decade.html

Other raw data provided by the New Mexico Department of Health as of Tuesday, January 5 is as follows:

NUMBER OF FULLY VACCINATED: 1,362,075 out of total population of 2,117,522
TOTAL DOSES RECEIVED: 3,733,035
TOTAL DOSES ADMINISTERED: 3,422,665
TOTAL NUMBER OF DEATH: 5,897
DOSES GIVEN IN LAST SEVEN DAYS: 42,406
POSITIVE TESTS: 359,117
NEGATIVE TESTS: 5,378,337

NEW MEXICO HOSPITALIZATIONS UP WITH 5,897 TOTAL DEATH TOLL

On Tuesday January 4, The New Mexico Department of Health on Tuesday reported 1,654 new COVID-19 cases and reported 493 patients hospitalized for the disease, a 4% increase over Monday. The state announced 31 more COVID-19 deaths, 20 of them in Bernalillo County with 23 fatalities happening in the last 30 days, and 8 happened earlier. The official statewide death toll is now 5,897 residents.

People who are NOT fully vaccinated have made up a disproportionate share of New Mexico’s infections. Those not faxinated comprised 70% of new cases, 84% of hospitalizations and 84% of deaths in the most recent four-week period with data available, according to a state epidemiology report released December 27, 2021.

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2458768/proposal-calls-for-free-masks-at-home-tests.html

OMICRON MAKES UP MORE THAN HALF OF THE COVID-19

On Wednesday, January 5, New Mexico Department of Health officials reported 2,514 additional COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths and that Omicron now makes up more than half of the COVID-19 cases in New Mexico. Dr. David Scrase, acting cabinet secretary with the New Mexico Department of Health, said Omicron cases currently make up about 50% to 60% of all new cases. He expects it will make up 100% of new cases in another week or two.

Scrase said hospitals are still struggling with just 9 intensive care units (ICU) beds and 40 surgical beds in the state. The shortage is due to 497 COVID patients in the hospitals. Over the last month, unvaccinated people made up about 66% of new COVID-19 cases, more than 83% of hospitalizations and 88% of deaths.

“New Mexico has also adopted the CDC’s recommendation to stay home for just five days after a positive test – as long as you have no symptoms.

• If you’re up to date on your vaccines, wear a mask for 10 days and test on day five if possible.
• If you’re not vaccinated, stay home for five days, then take a test, and wear a mask for five more days.”

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/omicron-makes-up-more-than-half-of-covid-19-cases-in-new-mexico/6350404/?cat=500

STATE RAMPING UP RAPID COVID HOME TESTING

On January 5, the New Mexico State Health Department announced will start giving out thousands of at-home COVID-19 tests for free. Starting Thursday, January 6, the Department of Health will be giving out 35,000 tests in zip codes where there are higher levels of social vulnerability and places with high case rates. Dr. David Scrase, NM Human Services Secretary, had this to say in justifying giving out the tests:

“We will be seeing a rise in cases, we’re very confident in the next two to four weeks.”

Dr. Laura Parajon, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health added:

“We are I think as a state ramping up as the whole United States as a nation trying to ramp up, but not quite catching up to omicron just yet.”

According to Parajon, if you take that home test and if you have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19, you need to stay at home for five days, per the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, whether you’re vaccinated or not. Dr. Parajon also said you don’t need an additional PCR test if you’re positive and said:

“Sometimes people are like, ‘oh I got my rapid home test, it’s positive, let me go look for a PCR test. … You don’t need to get that. If you’re positive, you’re positive.”

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-covid-vaccine-omicron-nmdoh/38680274

GALLUP POLL

A Gallup poll released in November 2021 found that 74% of U.S. adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which is virtually unchanged from what was found in October, roughly 10 months after shots were first widely administered to the general public. The total percentage either vaccinated or planning to be vaccinated is at 80%. Most of the 20% of U.S. adults who are not vaccinated and do not plan to be describe themselves as unlikely to change their mind. Just 16% of the vaccine-resistant group in October, representing about 3% of all adults, say they are likely to agree to be vaccinated in the future.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/356945/adults-covid-vaccinations-steady-teen-jabs-tick.aspx

CITY AND STATES THAT HAVE OFFERED CASH INCENTIVES TO GET VACCINATED

It was in December of 2020 that the COVID 19 vaccines became available. After a full year of availability, 20% of U.S. adults are still not vaccinated and don’t plan to be vaccinated. President Joe Biden urged state and local officials to offer $100 cash payments for COVID-19 vaccinations as the delta variant spread in the summer of 2021. Some have even suggested paying as much as $1,000 or more. Stephen L. Carter, a professor of law at Yale University, in a column for Bloomberg Opinion in the fall of 2021 wrote “Get a shot, get a check … Incentives work.”

https://www.today.com/health/should-people-be-paid-get-covid-19-vaccine-t201847

City’s and states have in fact offered financial incentives to people to get the vaccines. Following are 4 of the most notable as reported in an edited Forbes Magazine report on December 21, 2021:

“NEW YORK CITY

Governor Jim Justice is focusing on the opposite end of the spectrum. Only 26% of West Virginia’s 50 and over population has gotten a booster shot, leading the state to offer a $50 incentive for them to do so.”

The link to the full and unedited FORBES Magazine story is here:

https://fortune.com/2021/12/21/vaccination-incentive-booster-omicron-100-dollars-new-work-walmart/

OVER 100 YEARS OF VACCINE MANDATES UPHELD BY THE COURTS

“[Over a century] plenty have argued against the legality of vaccine mandates [even] reaching the Supreme Court many times. But the courts have routinely protected the rights of states to require vaccinations in the interest of public health.

In Zucht v. King, the high court ruled against the plaintiff, who used a due process 14th Amendment challenge to argue against city ordinances that excluded children from attendance if they failed to prove vaccination. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that “these ordinances confer not arbitrary power, but only that broad discretion required for the protection of the public health.”

The link to quoted news source material is here:

“History of vaccine mandates in the United States”

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/history-of-vaccine-mandates-in-the-united-states

The United States Supreme court has said in rulings that it is constitutional in a public health crisis for the government to require people to do certain things or to prohibit certain things that they normally would not do or could do.

In 1905, during the small pox epidemic, the United State Supreme Court case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws. The United States Supreme Court upheld the authority of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to require smallpox vaccinations when a Massachusetts minister, not on religious grounds, refused to get a vaccination for the disease.

The US Supreme Court’s decision was that the freedom of the individual must sometimes be subordinated to the common welfare and is subject to the police power of the state. The court ruled that the state did have a right to legally require the vaccinations. The United State Supreme Court came down in favor of state governments being allowed to mandate vaccinations so long as it is reasonable to protect the public health, safety and welfare of citizens.

It is also well settled United States Supreme Court constitutional case law that the legislative branch can give the executive branch the authority to issue executive orders in times of national emergency over private enterprise. In 1952, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) that the authority to issue executive orders is whatever authority the legislative branch gives to the executive.

The case involved President Harry Truman. Truman order seizing of the steel mills and directed the steel mill presidents to operate mills as managers for the United States during the Korean War. The Supreme Court found that Truman did not have the authority. The Supreme Court found that the President’s power, if any, to issue such an emergency order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself. Subsequent Supreme Court ruling have found that “executive power” of the President and by extension state governors to issue executive orders is whatever power the congress or the state legislators gives to them by enactment of legislation giving them those powers.

The link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/05/17/gov-mlg-orders-35-million-in-emergency-funding-to-deal-with-pandemic-republicans-act-boneheaded-about-gov-mlgs-pandemic-health-orders-gop-needs-to-let-her-do-her-job/

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is no doubt that State Senator Jeff Steinborn’s plan to spend $10 million on high quality covid masks and $50 million on covid tests is well intentioned. The state is also ramping up offering Covid 19 home tests. The pandemic has now been going on for a full 2 years and has been prolonged because of at least 3 variants and because people simply refuse to take the vaccines.

Way too many refuse to not believe the science and feel it is a violation of their constitutional rights to be ordered to be vaccinated which is absolute nonsense. For over a hundred years, it has been well settled United States Supreme Court law that government can mandate vaccines of citizens to deal with health care crises as was the case with the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. Further, vaccinations for children have been mandated for decades to attend public schools. Small pox and polio vaccination mandates have also been around for decades.

It would have made sense a year ago to spend $60 million of public funds for masks and tests before the vaccines. It does not make much sense now with 3 vaccines developed, offered for free, and with 70% of new cases and 84% of hospitalizations and deaths made up of people who are not fully vaccinated or who refuse to get vaccinated. It not at all likely if you refuse to be vaccinated that you will wear a mask let alone stick a swab up your nose for a Covid 19 test.

As odd as it may sound to some to pay hold outs to take the vaccinations, there are more than a few examples of people getting compensated in a health setting. Those examples include paying people to donating plasma or taking part in medical studies. Many companies also offer financial incentives for employees who take part in wellness programs, including reducing health insurance premiums or funding a worker’s health care account.

https://www.today.com/health/should-people-be-paid-get-covid-19-vaccine-t201847

After two years, making high end masks and Covid 19 tests available will have short term benefits. The long term goal is to get the states 755,447 remaining population vaccinated. (NM total population of 2,117,522 – number of fully vaccinated 1,362,075 = 755,447). Simply put, until everyone is vaccinated, the pandemic will continue.

What the New Mexico legislature should explore is to allocate funding to continue to educate the population on the safety of the vaccines. Further, cash incentives and gift cards to people to get vaccinated or receive booster shots need to be offered.

The blunt truth is, you have no constitutional rights if you are dead from COVID 19. You have no constitutional right to be reckless and intentionally catch and spread a contagious disease that results in death of another. Please do the right thing, get the damn vaccine so we can put an end to this pandemic.

On March 9, 2021, Mayor Tim Keller announced that Harold Medina had been selected as the new Chief of the Albuquerque Police Department replacing APD Chief Michael Geier who Keller had terminated. Keller also announced the appointment Sylvester Stanley as “Superintendent of Police Reform” and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer a newly created position. Stanley was placed in charge of the police academy, internal affairs including discipline and use of force review.

Stanley has a lengthy and distinguished career in law enforcement, but regrettably, has absolutely zero experience in implementing DOJ reforms and constitutional policing practices such as that mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement. It was believed by city hall observers that the Stanley appointment was nothing more than a political ploy by Mayor Keller to deflect criticism in an election year that APD has been a failure with the reforms.

Mayor Keller said of the Stanley appointment at the time:

“It was simply unrealistic and a real disservice to the realities of crime and reform to think that one leader can solve all of our challenges. … It just simply takes two in this case.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/mayor-keller-to-announce-new-leadership-for-apd/

On December 1, 2021, after a mere 8 months on the job, Interim Superintendent of Police Reform Sylvester Stanley announced his retirement at year’s end. Once Stanly announced his retirement, Mayor Tim Keller announced he was launching a “national search” for the position. Keller in his announcement had this to say:

“[We are looking for] an experienced professional to lead this cutting edge position [and] who is dedicated to police reform. … We developed this innovative position to bring about a new era for our police department. … Our Superintendent of Police Reform works hand and hand with our Chief so that each leader can focus on their core duties while supporting one another for the most benefit for the department and the community.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/2450956/interim-superintendent-of-police-reform-to-retire.html

If Keller’s history of national searches for an APD Chief is any indication, no one should hold their breath and nor expect an outsider to be appointed to the position Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. It likely applicants will be solicited and APD insiders will also apply, the city will go through the sham of interviews and Keller will appoint someone already with APD or who is retired APD and who is willing to come back.

PUBLISHED JOB DESCRIPTTION

The published city job description for the position of Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in and of itself makes an interesting read and for that reason merits publication in full. What is important to note is that the position will pay $155,001.60 to $185,016.00 annually, the position is an unclassified at-will position appointed by the Mayor and as a result subject to confirmation by the Albuquerque City Council.

The fact that the position will also be a Deputy Chief Administrative Officer dictates that whoever holds the position will be one of only 2 Deputy Chief Administrative Officers below Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair.

Following is the full job description with a link to the city page where you can apply:

JOB TITLE: Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer

Salary: $155,001.60 – $185,016.00 Annually

Job Type: Full Time

Department: Police

Job Number: 2200579

Closing: Continuous [until filled]

Position Summary

“The City of Albuquerque is looking for an experienced professional to lead a cutting-edge office dedicated to police reform. Overseeing discipline and training, the Office of the Superintendent of Police Reform sits at the heart of culture change at the Albuquerque Police Department. The Superintendent of Police Reform is an executive-level position, developed to ensure that constitutional policing reforms are transparent and effective. As a direct report to the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Superintendent will provide candid assessments of the Police Department’s implementation of reform initiatives. The creation of an independent position institutionalizes this role, so that reform measures will continue regardless of court or federal involvement.

• Plan and coordinate project work, timelines, roles and responsibilities; establish, evaluate and implement administrative/operational policies, practices and procedures; assess, develop and administer appropriate organizational and staffing structures
• Assess, procure and implement multi-user data collection and analysis systems.
• Supervise and direct multiple and diverse functions
• Prepare, develop and administer a large and complex budget system; negotiate and administer a variety of contracts; employ cost containment strategies
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with community leaders, organizations, businesses and staff; coordinate a variety of projects and activities inter-departmentally and with outside agencies; plan, organize, direct and coordinate a variety of functional specialties and activities with overlapping work areas
• Provide leadership and direction to staff; supervise and direct subordinate professional and support staff; interpret and enforce administrative/operational polices, practices and procedures; analyze and solve problems of a complex nature; maintain departmental and state safety standards
• Analyze complex technical, administrative information and/or telecommunications systems problems, evaluate alternative solutions and recommend or adopt effective courses of action
• Communicate effectively and persuasively; speak in large and small group settings; prepare and analyze comprehensive reports; conduct staff meetings
• Exercise sound independent judgment within general policy guidelines
• Establish and maintain effective work relationships with those contacted in the performance of required duties
• Work effectively with diverse community groups
• Encourage and leverage different perspectives, wisdom and experience of group members
• Develop inclusive solutions
• Cultivate shared responsibility and collective accountability
• Perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation”

The link to the Job Description and application is here:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/cabq/jobs/3325568/superintendent-of-police-reform-and-deputy-chief-administrative-officer-un

OUTSIDER NEEDED TO EFFECTUATE REAL CHANGE

It was during an April 15, 2021 hearing when Federal Judge Browning, who presides over the APD Court Approved Settlement Agreement that mandates 271 reforms, asked Federal Monitor James Ginger what his thoughts were on the appointment of Chief Harold Medina as the new APD Chief and Sylvester Stanley as Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.

Dr. Ginger’s response was less than enthusiastic. Dr. Ginger thought then, as is now, that APD needs an “external chief” or an “outsider” and in his words someone “nationally” with experience in DOJ reforms. Ginger expressed the opinion that such an outside person was needed to “effectuate real change” within APD.

On December 16, 2021 during the all-day hearing on the 14th Federal monitor’s report, Judge Browning asked Ginger “how deep are the leadership problems at APD” and what can be done to solve those problems. Ginger’s response was far more forthcoming than it has been in the past. Dr. Ginger stated that the problems with APD is “failed leadership”. According to Ginger the only thing that is going to change things and stop what is going on at APD is removing the existing leadership. Ginger told Judge Browning the leadership problems start from the top executive team and goes down through management to the rank file. Ginger testified that 80% of the issues APD is still faced with in the CASA can be dealt with by a change in leadership.

Federal Monitor Ginger has no management nor control over APD Personnel. He has no authority to hire nor fire. Ginger has repeatedly emphasized that all he can do is make recommendations. Ginger made it clear that Mayor Keller and the City were free to hire whoever they want as Chief, that he could not object, but only offer his opinion that APD needs someone from the outside.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The position of “Superintendent of Police Reform” was never a good fit for Sylvester Stanly in that he had absolutely no background nor understanding of the DOJ consent decree reforms and zero experience in implementation constitutional policing practices. The Stanly appointment was always considered interim which was the reason 2nd Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was appointed as “Deputy Superintendent of Police Reform” in that he has been working on the DOJ reforms from the get go. When you read the entire job description it reads like it was written with Deputy Chief Eric Garcia in mind for the job to replace Stanly.

DEPUTY CHIEF ERIC GARCIA

Deputy Chief Eric Garcia has been with the Albuquerque Police Department since June of 1990. He was a patrol officer from 1990-1993 then moved to the Domestic Abuse Response Team. From 1995-1998, Garcia was with the Gang Unit and was then promoted to Sergeant. In 2004, Garcia was promoted to Lieutenant working with the Field Services Bureau in what are now the Northwest and Southwest Area Commands. DC Garcia worked in Operations Review for some time then was promoted to Commander in 2007 over Property Crimes, Metro Traffic Division and the Special Investigations Division.

Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was first appointed a Deputy in December, 2017 when Mayor Keller was sworn into office for his first term . It was on June 30, 2021 that it was announced that APD Deputy Chief Eric Garcia would be both the 2nd Deputy Chief and would additionally take on responsibilities of the “Deputy Superintendent of Reform” to assist Superintendent Sylvester Stanly. DC Garcia oversees the Internal Affairs Division, both Professional Standards and the Force Division. Additionally, he is in charge of crisis intervention, peer support, and behavioral sciences.

https://www.cabq.gov/police/news/apd-names-promotions-to-deputy-chief-leadership-positions

After the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) was approved in November, 2014 by the prior Republican Administration, Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was assigned the task of implementing the reforms and did what he could under the critical eye of Chief Gordon Eden who often would interfere. Deputy Chief Eric Garcia, in addition to being a Deputy Chief under Harold Medina, also serves as “Deputy Superintendent of Police Reform”. Garcia survived the high command purge 4 years ago when Keller was sworn in and he was one of 3 Deputy Chiefs Keller essentially hand picked by giving his approval.

Given the amount of pay the “Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Office” earns, it is far more likely than not the 2nd Deputy Chief Eric Garcia will apply for the position. As was the case with his appointments of Chief Michael Geier and Harold Medina, and for a third time, Mayor Keller will go through the motions of a sham national search only to appoint another APD Insider to a high-ranking position. Mayor Tim Keller’s heavy reliance on APD’s past leadership and management practices with a department resistance to any kind of reform change no doubt is the primary reason the department after over 7 years of the consent decree is no closer to implementing the reforms.

A link to a related blog article is here:

Top Heavy APD High Command Staff Goes From 3 to 6 Deputies With 5 APD Insiders; New Level Of APD Bureaucracy Created With 16 “Deputy Commander” Positions; “Outsiders” Needed To “Effectuate Real Change”; 2 Sham National Searches For Chief; Sham Anticipated For “Superintendent of Police Reform”

The final tally of murders in the city for 2021 is in and it shatters the previous 2019 record by 36 murders. The total number of homicides that occurred within the city limits was 117.

Following is the raw data breakdown:

Total Homicides: 117
Number of “justified homicides” excluded from total: 10
Per Capita Number: 20.8 per 100,000
Number of homicides Involving guns: 97
Number of cases solve or closed: 40
Number of case solved from previous years: 10
Oldest victim: 66
Youngest victim: 2

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2458296/remembering-some-of-2021s-homicide-victims-in-abq-ex-total-

The first homicide of 2021 happened on January 8 and the last occurred on December 31. Not at all surprising is that it is believed that the dramatic increase in homicides and robberies is drug related.

MOST SHOCKING MURDERS NOTED

Although the murder of anyone is shocking, of the 117 murders, 3 stood out.

SERIAL KILLER

The most shocking murders of the year occurred on March 5 when four dead bodies were found inside a car at the Albuquerque International Sunport. Forty-seven-year-old Sean Lannon was eventually charged with the murders which included that of his own wife. He was arrested shortly after police found he allegedly killed a man in New Jersey. Three of the victims were identified as Matthew Miller, Jennifer Lannon and Jesten Mata, with all 3 from Grants and with all 3 disappearing around the same time since January.

APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said at the time:

“Our detectives, I can say at this point, when they were out there in New Jersey did learn that Mr. Lannon claimed to killed an additional 11 people in the Grants and Cibola County area.”

According to Gallegos, Lannon claimed at a court hearing the 11 other New Mexicans he killed were drug dealers.

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-confirms-four-victims-found-at-sunport-friday/35757463

KILLING AT A MIDDLE SCHOOL

Another shocking murder occurred on August 13 at Washington Middle School when Bennie Hargrove, age 13, was shot and killed by a fellow classmate, Juan Saucedo J.R., after Hargrove reportedly confronted him about bullying his friends. Juan Saucedo Jr. is facing a first-degree murder charge, but because of his age, Saucedo Jr. cannot be legally tried as an adult and he will be tried in juvenile court. But because of the offense, he would be subject to adult or juvenile sanctions, depending on the sentencing judge, but only if he is found guilty.

https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-middle-school-shooting-albuquerque/37976810

HOLLOWEEN PARTY MURDERS

A Halloween party turned deadly when a group of young thugs in hoodies and masks opened fire at the party killing two and wounding two others. Detectives with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department say a group of guys went to a party in Albuquerque and opened fire. When it was over, four people were shot and two of them died. Police body camera video released shows a deputy pulling up to the house on Pajarito Road where the party and shooting took place. A man was found in the front yard, not moving. Inside the house another man was found lying on the floor, not moving. A third gunshot victim was found still alive. In another room a fourth victim was found talking and breathing and he had a gunshot wound to the leg.

https://www.koat.com/article/bcso-body-camera-video-halloween-party-

FOUR APD OFFICERS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN LINE OF DUTY

In 2021, there was another shooting incident that must be noted involving 4 APD police officers. But for the grace of God no APD Officer was killed but 4 were seriously injured and could have died protecting the community.

On Thursday, August 19, four Albuquerque Police Officers were injured following a shooting in northeast Albuquerque. The shooting happened as officers responded to a robbery by the Dutch Bros. near Mountain and Juan Tabo. Two suspects were taken into custody related to the incident. The first suspect was wounded and taken into custody shortly after the shooting unfolded. The first suspect was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) for medical treatment. APD announced via Twitter at 12:34 a second suspect was taken into custody. APD believe there are no other outstanding offenders however several others were detained in the process of the investigation.

According to news reports, APD Police charged by criminal complaint in Metro Court a person identified as James Ramirez, 27, of Los Angeles with three counts of aggravated battery against a police officer, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon and resisting evading or obstructing an officer. Ramirez has no criminal history in New Mexico but, according to court records, is a convicted felon in California.

All 4 of the injured APD officers have each been with APD for more than 10 years. The 4 police officers are:

Officer Mario Verbeck: It was Verbeck who dispatched to the call. He was shot in the neck and arm. On Friday, August 20, he remained in critical condition at the University of New Mexico Hospital but was able to recover and released. Officer Verbeck is a a 17-year veteran with the department and joined the department in2004.

Officer James Eichel Jr.: Eichel was sent to assist Verbeck on the call. He was shot in the forearm and was hospitalized. He has been with APD since 2009.

Officer Harry Gunderson: He was struck in the eye by shrapnel. He has been with the department since 2004.

Sgt. Sean Kenny: He was shot in his bulletproof vest, sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital. He has been with APD since 1999.

Links to related blog articles are here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/08/20/officer-down-1-apd-officer-in-critical-condition-3-officers-wounded-2-suspects-arrested-with-1-injured-man-charged-with-felonies-chief-medina-blames-justice-system-union-blame/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/08/25/the-4-apd-police-officers-injured-in-line-of-duty-served-the-city-with-distinction-and-honor-apd-police-union-president-willoughby-gaslights-and-falsely-shouts-fire-in-a-crowed-th/

APD CHIEF MEDINA REACTS TO 117 MURDERS

APD Police Chief Harold Medina said after a very violent year it is time the courts hold repeat violent offenders accountable, so they don’t continue to terrorize the streets and he had this to say:

“I think court leadership from the very bottom all the way to the top needs to listen to what the people in Albuquerque want. They want us to be tough on violent criminals, and they want violent criminals to stay in jail.”

https://www.koat.com/article/deadliest-year-albuquerque-homicide-apd-2021/38652595?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&fbclid=IwAR3CPuo0sYd0K80NuQrlASuElI6f0balNQanorq5BoOAVTsDI_6oAisCKwoof-117-d.html

MEDINA’S PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PUBLIC

On Monday, November 8, APD Chief Harold Medina held a remarkable press conference to discuss the then 101 homicides for the year. Medina said APD is undertaking many initiatives and programs to bring down homicides but many of the initiatives take time. According to Medina, APD is seeing high numbers of homicides related to parties, motels and road rage. Medina’s advice to the public to help stop the spike in homicides was simplistic:

1. He urged members of the public to take steps to protect themselves by not posting on social media if they’re having a party so uninvited guests don’t show up and start fights.

3. Not to frequent certain motels in the middle of the night to buy or sell drugs.

Any police Chief who tells the public do not post a party on FACEBOOK, do not honk at people that may result in road rage, and do not to buy or sell your drugs at motels in the middle of the night as a solution to reducing homicides is a total embarrassment. Exactly what the hell was Medina thinking and what was Medina saying when he said:

“I mean, many times we’ve seen this; we have a rash.”

APD Chief Medina’s “rash” of homicides is more like a terminal crime cancer that Medina has been unable to deal with for the past 4 years working for Mayor Tim Keller.

The link to reported source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2444440/apd-chief-responds-to-100-homicides-in-the-city.html

FOUR YEARS OF HISTORICAL HIGH HOMICIDE NUMBERS AND FAILED PROGRAMS

In 2018 there were 69 homicides the first full year of Mayor Keller’s term. In 2019, during Mayor Keller’s second full year in office, there were 82 homicides. Albuquerque had more homicides in 2019 than in any other year in the city’s history. The previous high was in 2017 when 72 homicides were reported. The previous high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides. The year 2020 ended with 76 homicides, the second-highest count since 1996. The decline dropped the homicide rate from 14.64 per 100,000 people in 2019 to about 13.5 in 2020. 2021 has now ended with the city shattering the all time record with 117 homicides in one year and a per capita murder rate of 20.8 per 100,000.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1534762/homicide-numbers-high-despite-pandemic.html?amp=1

In 2019, Mayor Tim Keller reacting to the spiking violent crime rates, announced 4 programs in 9 months to deal with and bring down the city’s high violent crime rates . Those APD programs are: the Shield Unit, Declaring Violent Crime “public health” issue, the Metro 15 Operation, “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP Program). Based on the city’s historical 117 murders in 2021, all 4 programs can be described as failures as not having any real statistical impact on reducing crime.

METRO CRIME INITIATIVE

On Thursday, September 23, Mayor Tim Keller concluded a series of meetings with law enforcement and community partners to address what all participants called the “broken criminal justice” system. The conference was dubbed the “Metro Crime Initiative.” It concluded with a news conference at the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) Real Time Crime Center to announce the results of the meetings. During the September 23 concluding press conference, local leaders admitted they have not been providing enough protection and resources to keep people safe. A list of 40 action items were revealed with the hope that once implemented they will lower Albuquerque’s crime efficiently and quickly. A link to a blog article listing the 40 action items is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/09/27/its-not-a-broken-criminal-justice-system-but-the-failure-of-stakeholders-to-do-their-jobs-metro-crime-initiative-announces-40-point-action-plan-to-red/

The entire “Metro Crime Initiative” started with the phony proposition declared by Mayor Keller and all the participants that our criminal justice system is broken. It ended with a press conference with all the participants patting each other on the back for doing such a good job and asserting they have found the solution.

When you examine the “check list” of the 40 different proposals that were the result of the Metro Crime Initiative, the proposals are essentially what all the participants have been working on over the past 2 years and include many programs already announced and that are still failing. The list contains nothing new. The items listed are ones that the participants should have been doing in the first place. The 40 proposals are essentially an admission by many of the participants that they have not been doing their jobs effectively from the get go.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Now that Mayor Tim Keller has won a second four-year term, he probably is wondering exactly what the hell he has gotten himself into. It’s the very definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and to expect a different outcome. Mayor Keller is still faced with fact that the city’s homicide rate has now broken the historical high 3 times during his first term.

After 4 years in office, Mayor Tim Keller under his leadership still has a police department that is failing miserably to police itself, that is in a catastrophic meltdown and unable to bring down our historically high homicide rates. Getting second chances to get it right are few and far between. Keller winning a second term is a second chance. The downside to winning a second term for Mayor Tim Keller is that nothing is going to change much for him over the next 4 years and neither is APD nor is our high murder rates, unless he does things differently and makes dramatic changes at APD.

The link to a related blog article is here:

Top Heavy APD High Command Staff Goes From 3 to 6 Deputies With 5 APD Insiders; New Level Of APD Bureaucracy Created With 16 “Deputy Commander” Positions; “Outsiders” Needed To “Effectuate Real Change”; 2 Sham National Searches For Chief; Sham Anticipated For “Superintendent of Police Reform”

On Friday, December 8, 2017, one week after Tim Keller was sworn in as Mayor the first time, he announced he was eliminating several high-ranking executive positions that former APD Chief Gordon Eden had created. APD’s executive staff historically has consisted of only 4: the APD Chief and 3 Deputy Chiefs. Among the positions eliminated by newly elected Mayor Tim Keller were the position ranks of Major and the Assistant Chief position. Keller at the time said that APD was “top-heavy,” which was straining crime-fighting efforts of APD. At the time, Keller had this to say:

“Making these changes is an immediate step towards reforming the department to support more officers in the field for community policing efforts, while staying on top of the Department of Justice improvements … With a department that is stretched so thin, there’s no reason to have a top-heavy bureaucracy.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1104325/apd-to-drop-highranking-executive-positions.html

Fast forward to August 20, 2020. After two and a half years in office, Mayor Tim Keller created his own version of a “top-heavy executive staff bureaucracy” consisting of a Chief, First Deputy Chief, Second Deputy Chief, 3 Deputy Chiefs, an APD Chief of Staff and a Deputy Chief of Staff, doubling the size of the traditional APD Executive Staff from 4 to 8.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/08/20/mayor-keller-creates-his-own-top-heavy-apd-bureaucracy-paying-top-dollar-deputy-chief-harold-medina-given-9000-pay-raise-seeks-to-replace-geier-destruction-of-800000-work-art-considered/

On December 14, 2021 it was announced that APD Chief Harold Medina promoted 3 Commanders to the rank of Deputy Chief adding 3 more Deputy Chiefs. All 3 appointed Deputy Chiefs have a combined 54 years of experience with APD and coming up through the ranks. The 3 newly appointed Deputy Chiefs are:

1. DEPUTY CHIEF JOSHUA BROWN

Joshua Brown, a commander for the Valley Area Command, was appointed Deputy Chief for the Field Services Bureau. He is replacing Donovan Olvera, who was recruited for the position when Harold Medina was named Police Chief. Deputy Chief Josh Brown graduated from APD’s 82nd Cadet Class in 2000. During his career he has served in the Field Services Bureau, the K9 Unit, and with the SWAT Team. Brown was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2014 where he supervised the Albuquerque Police Department Auto Theft Unit. In 2018 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant where he oversaw Albuquerque Police Department Property Crimes Section. Deputy Chief Brown had been serving as the Commander of the Valley Area Command, prior to being Interim Deputy Chief.

2. DEPUTY CHIEF CECILY BARKER

Deputy Chief Cecily Barker is the new Deputy Chief of the Investigative Bureau. She joined APD in 2004. Prior to receiving her promotion to Deputy Chief of the Investigative Bureau, Barker served as the Chief of Staff. Prior to her time as Chief of Staff, DC Barker was the Northwest Area Commander. While in the Field Services Bureau, Barker was a Field Training Officer, Gang Suppression Officer and Crisis Intervention Officer. In 2012, she was promoted to Sergeant at the Violent Crimes Division, working in FASTT, Missing Persons and Cold Case. In 2017, she was promoted to Lieutenant of Property Crimes/Juvenile Division and Criminalistics Division and in 2020 was promoted to Commander.

3. DEPUTY CHIEF CORI LOWE

Cori Lowe was appointed to the newly created position of Deputy Chief of Accountability and Analytics Bureau. For the previous 5 months, Lowe was working as the acting commander of the Internal Affairs Force Division. Lowe was the commander over the Compliance and Oversight Division. She is the first woman to hold a Deputy Chief Position at the department in over a decade. Deputy Chief Cori Lowe joined the Albuquerque Police Department in 2005 as an officer with the Field Services Bureau. From Field Services she then spent several years in Violent Crimes as a robbery detective then became Sergeant with Armed Robbery. Lowe also spent time as a Lieutenant with the Narcotics Task Force. In December 2017, Deputy Chief Lowe was the Lieutenant with Compliance, then promoted to Commander. She had been on temporary duty with the Internal Affairs Force Division until she was Interim Deputy Chief over the Accountability and Analytics Bureau.

APD Chief Harold Medina had this to say about the 3 promotions:

“I’m incredibly proud to entrust three new Deputy Chiefs as part of our leadership team at APD. All three have proven themselves throughout their careers. They care about the community and they are committed to the department. They have my confidence as we work to fight crime and keep Albuquerque safe.”

https://www.cabq.gov/police/news/three-commanders-promoted-to-rank-of-deputy-chief

https://www.abqjournal.com/2405200/apd-announces-several-promotions.html

THE OTHER 3 DEPUTY CHIEFS

APD now has 6 Deputy Chiefs. This is the largest number in the history of the department. The 3 other deputy chiefs are Frist Deputy Chief Michael J. Smathers, Second Deputy Chief Eric Garcia, Deputy Chief John J. Griego.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Deputy Chief Arturo Gonzalez who oversaw the Investigative Bureau retired at the end of November, 2021 and Deputy Chief Donavan Olvera over Field Services retired in June, 2021.

DEPUTY CHIEF ERIC GARCIA

Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was first appointed a Deputy in December, 2017 when Mayor Keller was sworn into office for his first term . It was on June 30, 2021 that it was announced that APD Deputy Chief Eric Garcia would be both the 2nd Deputy Chief and would additionally take on responsibilities of the “Deputy Superintendent of Reform” to assist Superintendent Sylvester Stanly. DC Garcia oversees the Internal Affairs Division, both Professional Standards and the Force Division. Additionally, he is in charge of crisis intervention, peer support, and behavioral sciences.

Deputy Chief Eric Garcia has been with the Albuquerque Police Department since June of 1990. He was a patrol officer from 1990-1993 then moved to the Domestic Abuse Response Team. From 1995-1998, Garcia was with the Gang Unit and was then promoted to Sergeant. In 2004, Garcia was promoted to Lieutenant working with the Field Services Bureau in what are now the Northwest and Southwest Area Commands. DC Garcia worked in Operations Review for some time then was promoted to Commander in 2007 over Property Crimes, Metro Traffic Division and the Special Investigations Division.

https://www.cabq.gov/police/news/apd-names-promotions-to-deputy-chief-leadership-positions

DEPUTY CHIEF J.J. GRIEGO

On April 9, 2019 it was announced by then APD Chief Michael Geier that APD Deputy Chief J.J. Griego was promoted as Deputy the Support Services Bureau. Griego has been with the department since 2002. Deputy Chief, J.J. Griego was the Commander of the Southeast Area Command for APD. Griego started his career at APD working in the Field Services Bureau before later joining the Criminal Investigations Bureau and the APD Academy. Prior to joining APD, Deputy Chief Griego served in the Army as a Military Police Officer. He was a police officer in San Antonio Texas for 11 years reaching the rank of Sergeant. During his 20 years in law enforcement, Deputy Chief Griego has received specialized training at the FBI National Academy, Texas A&M University Leadership Command College for Law Enforcement, IACP Leadership in Police Organizations, FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development and International Crime Prevention Specialist.

https://www.cabq.gov/police/news/apd-names-new-leadership-to-command-positions

DEPUTY CHIEF MICHAEL JAY SMATHERS

On April 9, 2019 it was announced by then APD Chief Michael Geier that Deputy Chief Michael Jay Smathers, who was a Police Major with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina was hired. Smathers worked for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department since 1994. After 12 years as an officer and achieving the rank of Sergeant, Smathers was promoted to Captain where he led the Criminal Investigations Bureau, commanding the Armed Robbery/Sexual Assault Units; worked in Field Services, commanding the Eastway Division; and commanded the Special Operations (SWAT) team. He was promoted to Major in 2012, where he led the Transportation Bureau and a newly created bureau encompassing the Airport Division. During his tenure as Major, he worked with The Innocence Project, promoting best practices in policing to prevent wrongful conviction; led the Special Events/Dignitary Protection team; led Traffic Safety-Crash reconstruction and DWI enforcement; Northeast Service Area Patrol; Support Services, including lab/evidence bureau; and the Criminal Investigations Bureau.

https://www.cabq.gov/police/news/apd-names-new-leadership-to-command-positions

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-police-department-names-two-new-deputy-chiefs/

WHAT THEY WERE PAID IN 2021

At the end of each calendar year, City Hall releases the top 250 wage earners. The list of 250 top city hall wages earners is what is paid for the full calendar year of January 1, to December 31 of any given year. The City of Albuquerque updated the list for the year 2021. Following is the listed pay for the top 7 APD command staff who were all listed in the top 250 paid wage earners

1. Chief Of Police Harold Medina: $177,562
2. Frist Deputy Chief Michael J. Smathers: $149, 881
3. Second Deputy Chief Eric Garcia: $147,444
4. Deputy Chief Cecily A. Barker: $147,201
5. Deputy Chief John J. Griego: $144, 228
6. Deputy Chief Joshua M. Brown: $134,608
7. Deputy Chief Cori M. Lowe: $128,409

The fact that Deputy Chief Cori M. Lowe is being paid upwards of $20,000 less than her male counter parts should be a major red flag to the Keller Administration.

Commanders and Deputy Commanders can be paid between $114,000 and $120,000 a year as a result of overtime. The following are listed in the top 250 paid employees in 2021 with some retiring in 2021:

Commander Luke C. Languit: $120,000
Deputy Commander Richard Evans: $118,000
Commander Robert Mittleton (RETIRED): $116,843
Mizel Garcia (RETIRED): $116,830
Joseph Barke (RETIRED): $116,118
Christopher George (RETIRED): $116,793
Commander Elizabeth Armijo: $114,419
Deputy Commander Sean Waite: $114,107

The link to the top 250 wage earners can be found here:

https://publicreports.cabq.gov/ibmcognos/bi/?perspective=classicviewer&pathRef=.public_folders%2FTransparency%2FTop%20Earners%20of%20the%20City%20of%20Albuquerque%20List&id=i5AAD1EA752BA417099BA819E482F6642&objRef=i5AAD1EA752BA417099BA819E482F6642&action=run&format=HTML&cmPropStr=%7B%22id%22%3A%22i5AAD1EA752BA417099BA819E482F6642%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22report%22%2C%22defaultName%22%3A%22Top%20Earners%20of%20the%20City%20of%20Albuquerque%20List%22%2C%22permissions%22%3A%5B%22execute%22%2C%22traverse%22%5D%7D

APD STAFFING LEVELS REVEALS TOP HEAVY CHIEF’S OFFICE WITH NEW LEVEL OF “DEPUTY COMMANDERS” CREATED

During the December 16, 2021 court hearing before Federal Judge James Browning on the Federal Monitor’s 14th Compliance Report for the Court Approved Settlement Agreement, 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 consisted of 6 sworn APD staff : APD Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and 3 Majors.

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
731 Patrol Officers
2 Sworn CSA’s

APD BUDGET

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is the largest budget department in the city. APD’s approved general fund operating 2022 budget is upwards of $222 million, or roughly 4.5% higher than fiscal year 2021 existing levels. Ultimately, the City Council approved nearly all the APD funding the Keller Administration requested in the budget proposal submitted on April 1, 2021. Funding for 1,100 sworn positions and 592 civilian support positions for a total of 1,692 full-time positions. It also includes funding for new positions, including 11 investigators to support internal affairs and the department’s reform obligations under the Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement, and two communications staffers. Notwithstanding being fully funded for 1,100 full time sworn police, APD has only 917.

NEW LEVEL OF BUREAUCRACY AND PAY LEVELS CREATED

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. It was under the administration of Mayor Marty Chavez that the position of Captain was abolished and the position of Commander was created. The 16 “Deputy Commander” positions creates a whole new level of bureaucracy and management between Commanders and Lieutenants that is highly questionable as to duties and responsibilities other than “assisting” commanders, perhaps as the commander’s drivers and escorts around town.

The hourly pay rate for APD Lieutenants is $40.00 an hour or $83,200 yearly. Commanders and Deputy Commanders are paid upwards of $93,000 a year in base salary and with overtime they can easily earn well over $100,000 a year and as much as $120,000 as evidenced by those listed in the top 250 wage earners for the city. Therefore, with the creation of 16 Assistant Commanders, a least $1.6 million in line item salary has been added to an already bloated APD bureaucracy.

TWO SHAM NATIONAL SEARCHS FOR CHIEF, A THIRD LIKELY FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE REFORM

On November 28, 2017, then Mayor elect Tim Keller announced the appointment of Michael Geier “Interim APD Chief”. Geier served and retired as a Chicago Police officer after 20 years, then served in APD for 20 years and retired as an APD Commander before becoming Rio Rancho’s police chief for three years.

SHAM ONE

On May 1, 2018, the Keller Administration announced that a national search was underway to select a permanent APD Chief. Immediately after the national search was announced, Geier announced he was applying to be permanent APD Chief.

In announcing the national search Mayor Keller had this to say:

“We’ve got to have a chief that understands APD and Albuquerque. … That’s a general statement because I think that can come in numerous forms. I think that’s critical – they have to have some sort of experience with respect to our city, our state and the department. They also have to have some sort of outside perspective. We know that, coming in, we didn’t want someone that’s been solely in APD. They need to know a lot about community policing. It’s our administration’s priority and they’ve got to have expertise in that area.”

With the words Keller used in announcing a national search for a new APD chief, it was apparent that Michael Geier was the clear front runner. Confidential sources also confirmed that Keller had met with Geier before his 2017 election and committed to hire Geier as APD Chief for 4 years.

On September 10, 2020, it was announced that APD Chief Michael Geier was forced out as APD Chief for “not getting the job done.” Mayor Keller blamed Geier for his failure to implement the DOJ consent decree reforms and failure to bring down the city’s violent crime rates. To add insult to injury, Mayor Tim Keller immediately appointed First Deputy Chief Harold Medina, who had been brought back to APD to serve as a Deputy under Chief Gieir. Confidential City Hall sources reported that it was Medina with the support of CAO Sarita Nair that orchestrated the firing of Geier.

SHAM TWO

From September 10, 2020 to March 9, 2021, Harold Medina served as Interim APD Chief. Mayor Tim Keller for a second time announced that a national search would occur to find a new APD Chief even though 2021 was an election year when Mayor Keller was running for a second term with the election held on November 2. Interim Chief Harold Medina immediately announced he would apply for the position.

On January 21, 2021, the City announced it had narrowed its search for a new police chief from 18 applicants to 3 finalist candidates: Clinton Nichols, the Chief of Police in Commerce City, Colorado, Joseph Sullivan who served as Deputy Commissioner for the Philadelphia Police Department and Interim APD Chief Harold Medina. What has not been reported by local media outlets is that Nichols and Sullivan essentially withdrew from the application process after they were interviewed when they learned that the city would not enter a written contract and that they would be “at will” employees subject to termination by a new Mayor and they could not hire their own staff.

On March 9, 2021, Mayor Tim Keller announced that Harold Medina had been selected as the chief of the Albuquerque Police Department. Keller also announced the appointment Sylvester Stanley as “Superintendent of Police Reform”, a newly created position. Stanley was placed in charge of the police academy, internal affairs including discipline and use of force review. Stanley has nearly two decades of law enforcement experience, including serving as the police chief for Isleta Police.

Mayor Keller said of the Stanley appointment at the time:

“It was simply unrealistic and a real disservice to the realities of crime and reform to think that one leader can solve all of our challenges. … It just simply takes two in this case.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/mayor-keller-to-announce-new-leadership-for-apd/

EXPECT SHAM THREE

On December 1, 2021, after eight months on the job, Interim Superintendent of Police Reform Sylvester Stanley announced his retirement at year’s end. It was in March that Stanley was appointed the newly created role of Interim Superintendent of Police Reform as well as to the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. He was tasked with handling discipline of officers, overseeing the academy and the Internal Affairs division and working with the Department of Justice on the reform effort.

Once Stanly announced his retirement, Mayor Tim Keller launched a “national search” for his replacement. Keller in his announcement said:

“[We are looking for] an experienced professional to lead this cutting edge position [and] who is dedicated to police reform. … We developed this innovative position to bring about a new era for our police department. … Our Superintendent of Police Reform works hand and hand with our Chief so that each leader can focus on their core duties while supporting one another for the most benefit for the department and the community.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/2450956/interim-superintendent-of-police-reform-to-retire.html

“Superintendent of Police Reform” was never a good fit for Sylvester Stanly in that had absolutely no background nor understanding of the DOJ consent decree reforms and zero experience in implementation constitutional policing practices. The Stanly appointment was always considered interim which was the reason 2nd Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was appointed as “Deputy Superintendent of Police Reform”.

2nd Deputy Chief Eric Garcia, in addition to being a Deputy Chief under Medina, also serves as Deputy “Superintendent of Police Reform”. Garcia survived the high command purge 4 years ago when Keller was sworn in and he was one of 3 Deputy Chiefs Keller essentially hand picked by giving his approval. After the Court Approved Settlement Agreement was approved in November, 2014 by the prior Republican Administration, Deputy Chief Eric Garcia was assigned the task of implementing the reforms and did what he could under the critical eye of Chief Gordon Eden who often would interfere.

Given the amount of pay the “Superintendent of Police Reform and Deputy Chief Administrative Office” earns, it is far more likely than not the 2nd Deputy Chief Eric Garcia will apply for the position and for a third time Mayor Keller will go through the motions of a national search only to appoint Eric Garcia to the position.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

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 the 6 high command have with APD is 119 years.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Deputy Chief Smathers has been with APD for only 2 years and 8 months and for that reason his time is not included in the 119 years of combined experience referenced.

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 may have contributed, was aware of or did not stop the culture of aggression within APD. Now the 6 are fully in charge of the Department.

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 officer involved shootings as making him qualified to be Chief in that he learned the lesson of the need for constitutional practices.

OBSCENE SALARIES

It is difficult to see the need for two “Superintendent Of Police Reform” positions with one position alone paid upwards of $150,000 a year and then add 6 Deputies on top of that for a total of $707,570 for the 6 positions, not to mention paying the APD Chief $177,562. Simply put, the 6 Deputies appointed by Medina and approved by Mayor Keller are nothing more than a very, very big safety net to help and support a person who has no business being APD Chief in the first place.

OUTSIDER NEEDED TO EFFECTUATE CHANGE

It was during an April 15, 2021 hearing when Federal Judge Browning, who presides over the APD Court Approved Settlement Agreement that mandates 271 reforms, asked Federal Monitor James Ginger what his thoughts were on the appointment of Chief Harold Medina as the new APD Chief. Dr. Ginger’s response was less than enthusiastic. Dr. Ginger thought then, as is now, that APD needs an “external chief” or an “outsider” and in his words someone “nationally” with experience in DOJ reforms. Ginger expressed the opinion that such an outside person was needed to “effectuate real change” within APD. Federal Monitor Ginger has no management nor control over APD Personnel. He has no authority to hire nor fire. Ginger has repeatedly emphasized that all he can do is make recommendations. Ginger made it clear that Mayor Keller and the City were free to hire whoever they want as Chief, that he could not object, but only offer his opinion that APD needs someone from the outside.

On December 16, 2021 during the all-day hearing on the 14th Federal monitor’s report, Judge Browning asked Ginger “how deep are the leadership problems at APD” and what can be done to solve those problems. Ginger’s response was far more forthcoming than it has been in the past. Dr. Ginger stated that the problems with APD is “failed leadership”. According to Ginger the only thing that is going to change things and stop what is going on at APD is removing the existing leadership. Ginger has made it very clear over the last 7 years, he does not have command and control over APD nor of its personnel. Simply put, Ginger says “It’s not my job”, yet he knows damn well what can and should be done.
Ginger told Judge Browning the leadership problems start from the top executive team and goes down through management to the rank file. Ginger testified that 80% of the issues APD is still faced with in the CASA can be dealt with by a change in leadership.

Along with his appointment of Harold Medina as permanent APD Chief, Mayor Keller appointed Sylvester Stanley as “Interim Superintendent of Police Reform” in addition to the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO). Stanley has a lengthy and distinguished career in law enforcement, but regrettably, had absolutely zero experience in implementing DOJ reforms and constitutional policing practices such as that mandated by the CASA. It was believed by city hall observers that the Stanley appointment was nothing more than a political ploy by Mayor Keller to deflect criticism in an election year that APD has been a failure with the reforms.

After a short 8 months on the job, Stanley announced his retirement and left the city on December 31, 2021. The Keller Administration said that a national search will now occur to find a new Superintendent of Police Reform. If Keller’s history of National searches for an APD Chief is any indication, no one should hold their breath and expect he will appoint Eric Garcia.

SECOND TERM KELLER

Now that Mayor Tim Keller has been elected to a second 4-year term, there is little reason to think that things are going to get any better with APD. Things are likely to get worse with APD. Keller won a second term with a landslide vote even though he and his administration never “owned the police reforms” as Keller promised in open Court back in 2018 during a court hearing. Keller was not held accountable nor judged for his failings to implement the reforms. Sadly, Mayor Tim Keller has shown he lacks the insight, the courage nor maturity to do what is needed for change within APD. Keller also knows he has gotten away with it. In politics, it is better to look good than to be any good.

In 2017, all the directional indicators were that APD needed new leadership from the outside of the Department. Instead of doing what was needed, Mayor Keller conducted essentially a sham “nationwide search” and named APD insider Michael Geier as chief who had retired from APD after 20 years. It was his 3rd retirement from a police agency. (20 years with Chicago PD, 20 years with APD and 5 years with Rio Rancho)

It took Keller 3 years to realize that Geier was a disaster. Keller fired Geier knowing full well Geier was becoming an election campaign issue. After firing Geier, Keller immediately turned around and appointed yet another APD retread insider as interim Chief, Harold Medina. Deputy Chief Medina orchestrated Geier’s firing with CAO Sarita Nair. Keller again announced another national search for a police Chief that also turned out to be just another sham when two of the finalist essentially withdrew leaving Harold Medina.

After serving 3 years as Mayor, Tim Keller should have had wisdom and courage to recognized the need to keep an “interim chief” in place until after the election, at which time a substantive national search might have attracted candidates who might actually be qualified. What hampered applicant numbers is that Keller was running for a second term, his election was not a sure thing, and whoever became Chief could have been out of a job come election day. Only 3 finalists made it through Keller’s second national search and low and behold Harold Medina was selected after the other two finalists essentially withdrew.

APD Chief Harold Medina is part of the problem and always has been. Medina helped create, participated in and did not stop the culture of aggression within APD. What is truly amazing is that Medina actually believes he has done a good job as APD Chief as APD continues to disintegrate around him and to spiral out of control and as violent crime hits historic heights. A police union poll released in late October before the municipal election revealed that 94% of sworn police do not approve of Police Chief Harold Medina, 98% do not feel supported by Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and 89% do not feel supported by command staff speaks volumes for failed leadership, yet Medina thinks he has done a good job.

It’s also likely that Mayor Tim Keller thinks he has done a good job after winning by a landslide not realizing he was elected because voters did not have much of a choice between the lesser of 3 evils.

The link to related blog articles are here:

APD Command Staff Fail To Get Job Done With $227 Million Budget; Police Union Responsible For Failures Implementing DOJ Reforms

Dinelli Blog Articles On The DOJ Reforms, Federal Monitor’s Reports, APD And The Police Union

On Saturday, January 1, 2022, along with Mayor Tim Keller, four new Albuquerque City Councilors will be sworn into office making it the single largest city council transition in the last 20 years.

It was in 2001 that 5 new city councilors were sworn into office. Those Councilors were Democrats Michael Cadigan, Eric Griego, Miguel Gomez, and Republicans Sally Mayer and Tina Cummins. This year, the City Council went from a 6-3 majority Democrat to a 5-4 majority Democrat.

The 2022 new council is far more conservative as a result of the departures of progressive Democrats Lan Sena and Diane Gibson. The 4 new city councilors who will be taking their oaths of office on January 1, 2022 are:

District 1 Louis Sanchez, conservative Democrat
District 5 Dan Lewis, Conservative Republican
District 7 Tammy Fiebelkorn, Progressive Democrat
District 9 Renee Grout, Conservative Republican

The councilors they will be joining on the 9 member council are:

District 2 Isaac Benton, Progressive Democrat
District 3 Klarissa Peña, Moderate Democrat
District 4 Brook Bassan, Conservative Republican
District 6 Pat Davis, Progressive Democrat
District 8 Trudy Jones, Conservative Republican

Two current city councilors and one newly elected city councilor commented about the changes and what it means to the 9-member city council.

ISAAC BENTON

Longest serving and Progressive Democrat City Councilor Isaac Benton declined to characterize the incoming council as more “conservative ”. Instead, he describes it as “independent-thinking” and had this to say:

“[Independent thinking] … might be a good thing right now. … It’s a big reset. … It will be more different than any other transition than I can remember, and everyone has to get used to each other.”

TRUDY JONES

Northeast Heights Conservative Republican Trudy Jones, who has been in office for 14 years, said she is looking forward to the new city council turnover and said this:

“I think it will be a council that is more thoughtful about their legislation rather than just following their leaders. … It’s always beneficial to a council to have some new blood and new vision – people seeing the good and the bad of how things are running and perhaps some great new ideas. … I’m very optimistic about it.”

TAMMY FIEBELKORN

Newly elected Progressive Democrat District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn had this to say:

“I’m really heartened by the conversations I’ve had with [other councilors] on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from me politically. … We’re finding overlap and areas of interest we can agree on. … Talk to me again in three months and see if I’m still saying that.”

Fiebelkorn said she would spend her first month working to secure capital outlay funds from the Legislature and getting to know her peers better. She said she is taking office with “full confidence” in city leaders’ ability to come together to make Albuquerque a better place.

MAYOR TIM KELLER REACTS TO NEW CITY COUNCIL

Progressive Democratic Mayor Tim Keller for his part said he has a history of working with people across party lines both as a State Senator for 6 years and as New Mexico State Auditor for a year and a half and had this to say in a statement:

“This council will be no different just because the rhetoric and partisan landscape may have changed. … What it comes down to is this: we all got elected this cycle to work on our city’s challenges, not to point fingers or play the accountability blame game; we need proactive ideas and solutions to our problems. As long as the new Councilors follow that mandate from voters, we are going to have [a] great relationship.”

The link to news quotes is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2456775/city-council-undergoing-most-turnover-in-20-years.html

During the January 1, 2022 swearing in ceremony, Mayor Keller told the 4 new City Councilors:

“For the new Councilors, you are ABQ’s newest politicians whether you like that label or not. Now you’re in the crosshairs of accountability for results. It’s time to move forward, to put the election, the negativity, the talking points and the partisanship behind us, it’s time to govern. Here’s the thing about a governing, it takes commitment to real results, real progress; and all of that, takes real work.”

The YOU TUBE link to the swearing in ceremony is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbgQ5835qrQ

CITY COUNCIL RESISTANCE TO MAYOR TIM KELLER ALREADY SURFACING

Notwithstanding all the optimism expressed by 3 city councilors about the new city council, at least another 3 city councilors who will be be sworn in are already making it known things are about to change dramatically for Mayor Tim Keller.

DISTRICT 1 CONSERATVE DEMOCRAT LOUIS SANCHEZ DEMANDS TERMINATIONS

On November 2, 2021, conservative Democrat Louis Sanchez defeated progressive Democrat incumbent Lan Sena, who was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller to fill the vacancy and complete the term of long-time west side City Councilor Ken Sanchez who died on January 1, 2021. On November 15, a $110 million bond proposal resolution was formally introduced to the City Council and sponsored by outgoing progressive Democrat Incumbent Lan Sena.

Soon after the $110 million bond proposal was introduced, City Councilor Elect Louis Sanchez began to made a big stink that he should not have to wait until January 1, 2021 to join the city council. He demanded that he should be sworn immediately replacing Lan Sena so that he could participate in the December 6 city council meeting on the $110 bond package and saying the new 4 incoming councilors should be involved in such significant actions and said:

“This is a great deal of money. … It’s a big decision, and it’s a decision that shouldn’t be rushed.”

Sanchez went so far as to threaten to file a civil lawsuit, did news interviews and was interviewed on the Bob Clark morning radio program. Clark is decisively a right-wing Republican. Sanchez was no doubt emboldened when the Albuquerque Journal editorialized that he should file a lawsuit and get a definitive court ruling on the issue if he should be sworn into office immediately. The link to the editorial is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2452128/take-council-seat-to-court.html

Confidential City Hall sources have confirmed that City Councilor elect Louis Sanchez met with Mayor Tim Keller in the Mayor’s Office and a verbal confrontation occurred wherein Sanchez demanded that City Attorney Esteban Aguilar and City Clerk Ethan Watson both be fired over their refusal to swear him in as the new City Council for District 1. According to confidential sources, Keller declined to terminate them. Sanchez told Mayor Keller that he intended not to vote to confirm either of them if they were not fired.

DISTRICT 5 DAN LEWIS “RETREAD EXTODINARE” INTENDS TO BE DISRUPTIVE TO RUN FOR MAYOR IN 2025

District 9 Conservative Republican City Councilor elect and “retread extraordinaire” Dan Lewis previously served two terms on the City Council from 2009 to 2017. On November 2, Lewis defeated incumbent Democrat Cynthia Borrego who had replaced him 4 years ago.

Lewis ran unsuccessfully for Mayor against Tim Keller in 2017. Keller won the 2017 runoff by a decisive landslide by securing 60,219 votes or 62.20% against Dan Lewis who secured 36,594 or 37.8% of the vote.

LEWIS RESORTED TO FALSE AND MALICIOUS ATTACKS TO RETURN TO COUNCIL

A few days before the November 2 election day, Republican Dan Lewis authorized Mc Clesky Media Strategies to send out a political hit piece mailer against Incumbent City Councilor Cynthia Borrego. The hit piece is a major “red flag” as to what Dan Lewis intends to do once he is sworn in as city council. The flyer reflects to what lengths Lewis is willing to go to win a political dispute. For that reason, the hit piece merits review and is a prediction what Lewis intends to do once sworn into office.

The political hit piece arrived on November 1, the day before election day. The hit piece was replete with lies and innuendo. Borrego did not have the time nor funding to respond. The mailer states in bold black letters that Borrego “Supports Sanctuary City” and says “Borrego voted to pass Sanctuary City policy that protects illegal immigrants who commit crime even for rape and murder.” These statements are absolute lies by Dan Lewis, this coming from someone who professes to be a Christian Pastor.

There is no such sanctuary city policy “that protects illegal immigrants who commit crime even for rape and murder.” Albuquerque has never been a “sanctuary city” and it’s not at all likely it is ever going to be one. The truth is that in 2001, a full 10 years before Borrego became a city councilor, the Albuquerque City Council enacted a resolution that declared Albuquerque an “immigrant-friendly” city. The “immigrant-friendly” resolution is symbolic and was sponsored by then-Republican City Councilor Hess Yntema, whose wife is a naturalized United States citizen from Columbia.

On the other side of the flyer Dan Lewis proclaims he will “Fight crime by ending “Catch and Release” of criminals from jail. This too is another Lewis lie in that the City Council has no control over the criminal justice system, let alone the jails and the courts. This is the very same “bullshit” promise Lewis made when he ran for Mayor 4 years ago and threatened to plaster judges faces on billboards to supposedly hold them accountable for failure to hold those charged with a crime until trial.

LEWIS STAMEMENTS MADE AFTER ELECTED

Actions and statements made by Lewis after he was elected on November 2 also reveal “red flags” on what he will be doing once sworn in.

On November 17, it was reported that City Councilor elect Republican Dan Lewis, strenuously object to the outgoing city council considering and voting on $110 million in general obligation bonds with a mere few weeks left in the year. Lewis said at the time:

“Four city councilors who would make a decision on this won’t even be here in January. … For that reason alone we need to deal with this with a new council in January.”

On November 23 New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan reported that backers of Lewis who have spoken with him said he “will demand accountability” from the administration and shake up the council which they say “has been a joke.” Lewis has said he is in the running to be the next city council president. Lewis has said once he becomes City Council President, he will end all Zoom meetings started at the beginning of the pandemic and that he intends to aggressively question Keller’s department directors, including APD management and Mayor Keller’s representatives in person. Lewis is also making it know that he intends to run for Mayor again in 2025.

Lewis told www.PeteDinelli.com after he was elected “you better believe that this mayor will be accountable now” essentially saying he intends to be as disruptive as possible over the next four years.

DISTRICT 9 REPUBLICAN RENEE GROUT AND THE LIES SHE PROMOTES

District 9 Conservative Republican City Council Renee Grout, who replaced Conservative Republican Don Harris, had this to say about the new city council she is about to become a part of:

“There’s going to be more checks and balances [with the new council members. Mayor Keller’s] unchecked power is going to be different.”

Grout has said she will use her early days in office to research, ask questions and listen. This coming from a liar and the lies she told her constituents along with a promise made to get elected.

On December 1, Republican Renee Grout mailed out a false “hit piece” campaign mailer against her opponent Democrat Rob Grilley. The political hit piece proclaimed:

“Grilley supports Sanctuary City that protects violent criminals . … Rob Grilley supports Sanctuary City policy that forces police to hide illegal immigrants from federal authorities, even if they commit crimes like rape or murder! In bold, bright red letters appear the words: “Protecting Violent Criminals.”

Below these words appears the following text:

“Jaqueline Vigil, a mother of two New Mexico Police Officers, was murdered by Luis Talamantes-Romero, an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal history. Vigil’s killer should have been deported before, but the city’s sanctuary city policy forced police to hide him from immigration officials.”

The political hit piece attacking Democrat Rob Grilley was simply a pack of lies told by Republican Renee Grout who resorted to fear tactics and misinformation to distract voters. Simply put, Albuquerque has never been a “sanctuary city” and it’s not likely it is ever going to be one. The truth is that in 2001, the Albuquerque City Council enacted a resolution that declared Albuquerque an “immigrant-friendly” city. The resolution was sponsored by then-Republican City Councilor Hess Yntema, whose wife is a naturalized United States citizen from Columbia.

An “immigrant-friendly” city implements “welcoming city” policies and does not provide for city enforcement of federal immigration laws, and addresses only city services, including licensing and housing. The focus is to create inclusive, immigrant-friendly, and welcoming policies. Albuquerque’s “immigrant-friendly” designation welcomes immigrants to the city and is mainly symbolic.

The accusation in the flyer “Vigil’s killer should have been deported before, but the city’s sanctuary city policy forced police to hide him from immigration officials” is the most glaring lie. When the murder occurred, it was first believed to have been a retaliation killing against Vigils’ two state police officer sons. APD did NOT “hide her killer from immigration officials” because APD had no idea who her killer was, and a search had begun while APD was investigating the murder.

What the investigation found is that the killer was “casing” homes at 5:30 am in the area, he came upon Jaqueline Vigil pulling out of her driveway to go to the gym and he shot her. The truth is Jaqueline Vigil’s killer had already been deported by the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) a few months before the killing.

WHY IT MATTERS

The reason why the political hit piece is so important now before Renee Grout is even sworn in as the new District 9 City Councilor is that she made a political promise to her supporters at events. Grout promised that she would introduce a resolution calling for the repeal of the “sanctuary city”. Demands are already being made by constituents to see the legislation she intends to introduce but to no avail. Renee Grout is keeping her constituents waiting while she proclaims there will be more “checks and balances” on Mayor Keller. Then there is the matter of Renee Grout faced with the very embarrassing fact that she wants to repeal a nonexistent “sanctuary city” resolution.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The election for a new City Council President and Vice President will be held at the very first meeting of the City Council to be held January 18, 2022. The council president appoints all committee chairs. When the votes are taken on City Council President and Vice President, it will set the tone for at least the next 2 years.

Like it or not, the tone of the new city council will be more conservative with City Councilors Louis Sanchez, Dan Lewis and Rene Grout already showing their willingness to take on and get in the face of Mayor Tim Keller and to obstruct where they can under the guise of holding him accountable.

The challenges the new City Council face are very formidable and include:

1. Historical highs in violent crime rates and murder rates
2. Increasing homeless numbers
3. An ever deteriorating and spiraling out of control Albuquerque Police Department (APD)
4. A failure to implement the 271 mandated reforms of the Deaprment of Justice settlement agreement
5. The continuous problems posed by the pandemic

During the first year under the new city council, you can expect any number of initiatives and votes to setback progressive programs and policies promoted by Mayor Tim Keller over the last 4 years. Major issues that Dan Lewis an Renee Grout are no doubt champing at the bit to oppose Mayor Keller on include:

1.Repeal of the city’s immigration friendly policy that Lewis and Grout falsely label as sanctuary city.

10. Advocacy of increased criminal penalties as part of the city’s legislative package and bail bond reform measures.

MAYOR TIM KELLER

It is very difficult take Mayor Tim Keller serious when he says “…we all got elected this cycle to work on our city’s challenges, not to point fingers or play the accountability blame game”. It was also difficult to keep from laughing out loud On January 1 when Keller told the 4 new city councilors during the city inauguration ceremony “Here’s the thing about a governing, it takes commitment to real results, real progress; and all of that, takes real work.” These words coming from a Mayor who was first elected 4 years ago based upon his inflated public relations reputation as State Auditor and supposedly holding people accountable for “waste, fraud and abuse” by pointing fingers and playing the “blame game” himself to discredit people. These words coming from a mayor who during his first term got away with not being held accountable for breaking promise, after promise, after promise such as not raising taxes without a public vote, failing to increase APD staffing to 1,200 sworn police, failing to implement the DOJ consent decree reforms, and failing to bring down the city’s high violent crime rates and murder rates as he promised. During the last 4 years, Keller perfected the “accountability blame game”, especially blaming the city’s high crime and murder rates on the DOJ reforms and a national trend not to mention blaming his first appointed Chief of Police Michael Geier for APD’s failure to implement the reforms and firing Geier for it.

Mayor Keller’s claim of having a reputation of working with people across party lines and working and getting along with other elected officials is dubious at best. During his first year in office, he vetoed the “Top Golf” economic development funding allocated by the city council, and the council immediately overturn the veto despite being controlled by Democrats. It is well known at city hall that during the last four years, Keller has engaged in petty bickering politics with city councilors, including Progressive Democrats Pat Davis and Diane Gibson. Keller is well known for “snubbing” city councilors to the point of not inviting them to press conferences to announce initiatives held in their districts so that he can take all the credit. Things got so bad between City Councilor Diane Gibson and Mayor Keller that Gibson supported Sheriff Manny Gonzales for Mayor.

Keller said repeatedly when he ran for whatever office he was running for at the time how he would “take on the status quo” . Taking on the status quo was usually democrats. Keller’s former NM Senate colleagues would often complain behind his back about his “grandstanding” ways to seek higher office and his lack of interest in the State Senate process even after they elected him majority whip.

Keller has said that the biggest accomplishment he is the most proudest of as a State Senator is the naming of his Senate District the “International District” and claiming he cleaned up the area and it was no longer the “War Zone”. The truth is that it was under Mayor Marty Chavez that significant progress was made with nuisance abatement actions that cleaned up the area of crime, getting rid of violent bars such as the Blue Spruce and the Last Chance Bar and Grill. After he was elected NM State Auditor, Keller could not move fast enough out of his Senate District and move into the Albuquerque Country Club area. It is ironic now that after Keller became mayor, the International District has once gain become a “War Zone” and violent crime, drug abuse, property crime and murders have spiked in the area even worse than it was 15 years ago when Keller was the State Senator for the area.

RUNNING FOR A THIRD TERM?

Mayor Keller’s penchant for political opportunism and his eyes on much higher office is well known amongst political observers. When he ran for State Senate the first time, he moved into the Senate District to oppose long serving Democratic State Senator Shannon Robinson. After being elected to a second term as State Senator, he immediately ran for New Mexico State Auditor. Keller was elected to a four year term but during his first year as State Auditor, Keller announced he was running for Mayor. Once elected Mayor, Keller resigned having served less that half of his State Auditor term. Republican and former County Commissioner Wayne Johnson, who also ran against Keller for Mayor, was appointed to replace Keller as auditor. Brian Colon, who also ran against Keller for Mayor, later ran against Wayne Johnson and prevailed to become State Auditor. Colon is now running for New Mexico Attorney General.

Keller has said in the past he wants to serve two terms as Mayor and then run for Governor and could run in 4 years to replace Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, if she is elected to a second term in 2022. However, there are no term limitation for the office of Albuquerque Mayor.

There is one farfetched development that is already emerging from reliable sources. According to confidential sources, within a month after his landslide victory over Sheriff Manny Gonzales and Eddy Aragon, a person told Keller they were interested in running for Mayor in 2025. Keller quickly attempted to discouraged that person form doing so. According to the source, Keller said he intends to run for another term as Mayor in 2025. According to the source, Keller said he would announce sometime in 2023 believing the significant amount of federal monies the city will receive from the 2 trillion “Build Back America” bill will go a long way to allow him to take credit for infrastructure and get elected by another landslide.

CONLCUSION

During his first term as Mayor, Tim Keller had absolutely very little or no head winds getting the Albuquerque City council to go along with what he wanted. That is all about to change. Councilor Elect Louis Sanchez no doubt thinks is he is now the swing vote that can make or break Mayor Tim Keller’s progressive agenda. Keller will also have as a nemesis Dan Lewis, who has an axe to grind from 4 years ago, assisted by Renee Grout to do whatever they can to obstruct Keller’s progressive agenda.

Now that it has been determined that the City Council remains a 5-4 Democratic Majority, the biggest test for virtually all 5 of the Democrats is if they retain a working majority. 2022 is a mid-term election year where the Governor, the Attorney General the Secretary of State, all state house members as well as the State’s 3 congressional members are up for reelection. Should a Republican like Dan Lewis be elected City Council President, you can expect them to somehow try and exert influence over the midterms and push controversial policies like repealing sanctuary city, making abortions illegal, oppose pandemic restrictions and oppose mandatory vaccinations of city employees.

The argument that the City Council is nonpartisan, that it does not matter what party the President and the Vice President, is as bogus as it gets given the thousands raised and spent by measured finance committees to get the Republicans elected and to defeat Democrats. The votes for City Council President and Vice President will reveal exactly just what kind of a Democrats they really are or if they Democrats in Name Only (DINO).

Links to related blog articles are here:

$2.64 Million Paid In 2020 Senate Campaign and $450,734 Paid In 2021 ABQ Municipal Election to “McClesky Media Strategies”; McClesky Knows How To “Smear” Candidate Reputations And The Meaning Of “To The Victor Goes The Spoils”; McClesky Forced To Pay $375,000 For Defamation

Hypocrite Dan Lewis Objects To 4 Outgoing City Councilors Doing What He Did 4 Years Ago; “All That Crap” Nobody Reads And Getting “Your Ass Kicked”; Expect 4 Years Of Lewis Hypocrisy As Lewis Runs For Mayor In 2025

The Lies And The Liars That Tell Them; District 9 City Council Republican Candidate Renee Grout Resorts To Lies And Fears Over Immigrants; Republican Political Hit Man Jay Mc Clesky Back At It Again Spreading Lies For His Clients

The Christmas and New Year’s Holiday Season always brings with it a rise and calls to crack down on DWI offenders. 2021 has been no different. Since Christmas Eve, there have been 14 DWI’s in the metro alone, but frankly that is probably one of the lowest figures in years. In its heyday when the DWI unit was fully up and running, DWI check points would produce hundreds of citations.

Close to 1,800 DWI citations have been given out this year in the Albuquerque metro area . Many were first time offenses, but many were repeat offenders. The blunt truth is, APD is not doing its job on DWI enforcement and it is no longer a priority and neither are arrests in general. On of the biggest factors for this is that the number of sworn police patrolling the streets of Albuquerque is down by the hundreds.

A few of the more notable DWI arrests from this past year include 49-year-old Marlene Whitegoat who was driving 103 mph per hour down I-40 in May, and she was arrested for her 5th DWI offense. 59-year-old Steven Casias had 7 DWI arrests with the latest happening in March when he hit a concrete pillar. 42-year-old Jennifer Whitey has her 7th DWI arrests, with four happening within the past two years and with cases dismissed.

When you look at the outcome of Whitey’s case, one of the charges was dismissed because the officer failed to appear in court. Officer’s failing to appear in court has been a chronic problem for years, if not decades, where DWI cases and other types of cases are dismissed. The sworn police officer shortage has a lot do “failure to appear”.

People who have lost loved one’s in DWI tragedies are once again demanding changes to DWI laws. Jackie Copeline, whose father was killed by a repeat drunk driver offender when she was 7 years old has started a petition asking for stricter DWI enforcement and treatment laws. Copland had this to say:

Growing up without a dad is hard. … It has an effect on anybody. … I don’t think that DWI laws are being enforced. People are getting the minimum sentence, and I don’t think that’s okay.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/new-mexico-community-calls-for-change-for-repeat-dwi-offenders/6343209/?cat=500

CHRONIC PROBLEM

New Mexico continues to rank among the worst states for drunk driving. U.S. Drug Test Centers found New Mexico had 460 DWI arrests per 100,000 residents last year. That’s the sixth-worst rate in the country. The state has been in the top 10 every year since 2009. The Dakotas, Wyoming, North Carolina and Mississippi all ranked worse than New Mexico.

https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/new-mexico-ranks-among-worst-states-for-drunk-driving/

NEW MEXICO LAW ON DWI CONVICTION SENTENCINGS

When you look into the sentencing for DWI conviction, your first DWI could land you a minimum of 2 days behind bars. With an 8th DWI conviction, you could be facing 10 years in jail, but that does not translate into people spending all of the time a person is sentenced to in jail.

Then there is the problem of people doing the time but not getting the drug and intervention treatment needed. Prominent criminal defense attorney Ahmad Assed called it “people falling through the cracks” and put it this way:

“We’ve been talking about this topic for decades and quite frankly we still find ourselves almost in the same position. … The mandatory sentences can be completed through an ankle bracelet process or home arrest rather than actually serving out their time at Bernalillo County at MDC. A lot of time you are dealing with a medical issue [that no one gets treatment.]”

CITY 2022 ADOPTED APD BUDGET CONTAINS TOTAL ARRESTS FOR 2019 AND 2020

The City’s 2022 adopted budget for APD on page 151 contains APD’s arrests statistics for 2019 and 2020. APD’s budget is called a “performance-based budget” because each department is required to submit statistics to justifying its budget. Arrest numbers for felonies, misdemeanors as well as DWI are revealed in the APD budgets.

APD statistics for the budget years of 2019 and 2020 reflect that APD is not doing its job of investigating and arresting people. APD felony arrests went down from 2019 to 2020 by 39.51%, going down from 10,945 to 6,621. Misdemeanor arrests went down by 15% going down from 19,440 to 16,520. DWI arrests went down from 1,788 in 2019 to 1,230 in 2020, down 26%. The total number of all arrests went down from 32,173 in 2019 to 24,371 in 2020 or by 25%. Bookings at the jail have plummeted from 38,349 in 2010 to 17,734 in 2020. To have booking, there must be arrests, to have sentences, there must be convictions.

Following is the breakdown of arrest for the years 2019 and 2020 as gleaned from the city budget:

NUMBER OF DWI ARRESTS
2019: 1,788
2020: 1,230 (DOWN 26%)

NUMBER OF MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS

2019: 19,440
2020: 16,520 (DOWN 15%)

NUMBER OF FELONY ARRESTS

2019: 10,945
2020: 6,621 (DOWN 39.51%

TOTAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS FOR 2019: 32,173
TOTAL NUMBER OF ARREST FOR 2020: 24,371
DOWN 25%

(2022 APD Budget, page 151)

The link to the budget is here:

https://documents.cabq.gov/budget/fy-22-proposed-budget.pdf

NEW 911 PRIORITY CALL DISPATCH SYSTEM AN DWI

For decades, APD had a 3 priority 911 dispatch system. On March 7, 2019, APD announced a major change in the way it was dispatching police officers to 911 calls and expanded priority the list from 3 to 5 categories. Call priorities on the scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the highest or most important type of call.

A major goal of the 5-priority call system is to determine what calls do and do not require a police officer. The goal was to reduce the number of 911 emergency calls for service responded to by APD sworn police. The addition of 2 new priority call types did in fact result in the desired goal of reducing the number of sworn dispatch but also resulted in fewer felony, misdemeanor and DWI arrests.

For the Fiscal Years of F/Y 14 to F/Y 20 the total number of 911 calls for service were:

FY/14 # of Calls for service: 518,553
FY/15 # of Calls for service: 518,751
FY/16 # of Calls for service: 547,854
FY/17 # of Calls for service: 564,610
FY/18 # of Calls for service: 580,303
FY/19 # of Calls for service: 543,574
FY/20 # of Calls for service: 524,286

The sure volume of calls for service are staggering and always cited by APD upper command as to why they are overburden but the raw numbers are easily misinterpreted. Without clarification, the raw statistics imply that sworn police were sent to every single call where arrests could be made. The numbers must be tempered with the actual number of dispatches of police and the number of sworn and that in turn ultimately result in arrests in 3 major categories of felony, misdemeanor and DWI.

For the Fiscal Years of F/Y 14 to F/Y 20 the total number of calls for service compared to arrests in each of the 3 major categories and the sworn police who were employed in all capacities and positions are as follows:

FY/14 # of Calls for service: 518,553
FY/14: Arrests: Felony 9,507, Misdemeanor 27,127, DWI 2,704,
FY/14: Total Sworn: 913

FY/15 # of Calls for service: 518,751
FY/15 Arrests: Felony 9,049, Misdemeanor 22,639, DWI 2,213,
FY/15 Total Sworn: 879

FY/16 # of Calls for service: 547,854
FY/16 Arrests: Felony 8,744, Misdemeanor 19,857, DWI 1,720
FY/16 Total Sworn: 833

FY/17 # of Calls for service: 564,610
FY/17 Arrests: Felony 9,527, Misdemeanor 18,562, DWI 1,338,
FY/17 Total Sworn: 870

FY/18 # of Calls for service: 580,303
FY/18 Arrests: Felony 11,257, Misdemeanor 19,923, DWI 1,403,
FY/18 Total Sworn: 941

FY/19 # of Calls for service: 543,574)
FY/19 Arrests: Felony 10,945, Misdemeanor 19,440, DWI 1,788,
FY/19Total Sworn: 924

FY/20 # of Calls for service: 524,286
FY/20 Arrests: Felony 6,621, Misdemeanor 16,520, DWI 1,230
FY/20 Total Sworn: 1,004

The links to the approved city budgets from 2007 to 2022 that contain the statistics can be found here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/budget/annual-budget

There was a dramatic decline in the number arrests in 2019 to 2020, the same time when the new priority calls were added. APD felony arrests went down from 2019 to 2020 by 39.51% going down from 10,945 to 6,621. Misdemeanor arrests went down by 15% going down from 19,440 to 16,520. DWI arrests went down from 1,788 in 2019 to 1,230 in 2020, down 26%. The total number of all arrests went down from 32,173 in 2019 to 24,371 in 2020 or by 25%. In 2019 APD had 924 full time police. In 2020, APD had 1,004 sworn police or 80 more sworn in 2020 than in 2019, yet arrests went down during the first year of the pandemic and response times went up.

NEW MEXICO CRIMINAL DWI LAW

It is Section 66-8-102 of the New Mexico statute that defines “driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs” as well as defining “aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs”. The statute also outlines the penalties that can be imposed by the courts.

The statute is as straight forward as it gets and states:

“It is unlawful for a person who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor to drive a vehicle within this state.

“It is unlawful for a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle in this state if the person has an alcohol concentration of four one hundredths or more in the person’s blood or breath within three hours of driving the commercial motor vehicle and the alcohol concentration results from alcohol consumed before or while driving the vehicle.”

AGGRAVATED DWI

The statute also defines “aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs” as:

“1) driving a vehicle in this state with an alcohol concentration of sixteen one hundredths or more in the driver’s blood or breath within three hours of driving the vehicle and the alcohol concentration results from alcohol consumed before or while driving the vehicle;

(3) refusing to submit to chemical testing, as provided for in the Implied Consent Act and in the judgment of the court, based upon evidence of intoxication presented to the court, the driver was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.”

Eliminating the “lawyer speak” from the statute language Aggravated DWI can be charged under 3 circumstances:

1. When a person has a breath alcohol test (BAC) that reveals 0.16 percent or higher blood alcohol level.

3. When a person refuses to have a blood alcohol test.

The consequences of being convicted of Aggravated DWI in New Mexico and can be severe. In a nutshell the consequence can be as follows:

1st aggravated DWI/DUI offense: Mandatory 48 hours in jail
2nd aggravated DWI/DUI offense: Mandatory 8 days of jail time
3rd aggravated DWI/DUI offense: Mandatory minimum of 90 days in jail.

QUOTING THE LAW

The state statute for Aggravated DWI provides as follows:

“In addition to those penalties, when an offender commits aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, the offender shall be sentenced to not less than 48 consecutive hours in jail. If an offender fails to complete, within a time specified by the court, any community service, screening program, treatment program or DWI school ordered by the court or fails to comply with any other condition of probation, the offender shall be sentenced to not less than an additional 48 consecutive hours in jail. Any jail sentence imposed for failure to complete … within a time specified by the court, any community service, screening program, treatment program or DWI school ordered by the court or for aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

A second or third conviction … shall be punished … by imprisonment for not more than 364 days or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. If the sentence is suspended in whole or in part, the period of probation may extend beyond 1 year but shall not exceed 5 years.

“Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary for suspension or deferment of execution of a sentence:

(2) Upon a third conviction, an offender shall be sentenced to a jail term of not less than 30 consecutive days, not less than 96 hours of community service and a fine of $750. In addition to those penalties, when an offender commits aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, the offender shall be sentenced to a jail term of not less than 60 consecutive days. If an offender fails to complete, within a time specified by the court, any community service, screening program or treatment program ordered by the court, the offender shall be sentenced to not less than an additional 60 consecutive days in jail. A penalty imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall not be suspended or deferred or taken under advisement.”

CRIMINAL PENALTIES PROVIDED

Following are the penalties for DWI upon conviction as outlined in the statute:

“A first conviction … shall be punished … by imprisonment for not more than 90 days or by a fine of not more than $500, or both; provided that if the sentence is suspended in whole or in part or deferred, the period of probation may extend beyond ninety days but shall not exceed one year.

Upon a first conviction … an offender shall be sentenced to not less than 24 hours of community service. In addition, the convicted offender may be required to pay a fine of $300. The convicted offender shall be ordered by the court to participate in and complete an [alcohol treatment] screening program [and ordered] to attend a driver rehabilitation program for alcohol or drugs, also known as a “DWI school”, approved by the bureau and also may be required to participate in other rehabilitative services as the court shall determine to be necessary.”

FELONY DWI

“A fourth or subsequent DWII charge … constitutes a felony. The charge depends on the number of prior valid convictions the prosecution can prove to the court. A felony DWI results in significant mandatory incarceration time and felony probation requirements. In a nutshell, the following penalties apply to felony DWI:

A DWI EIGHTH or subsequent conviction is a second-degree felony, with a mandatory MINIMUM OF TEN YEARS incarceration and a maximum of twelve years.”

The state statute for Aggravated DWI provides as follows:

Upon a fourth conviction … an offender is guilty of a 4th degree felony and, shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 18 months, 6 months of which shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon a fifth conviction pursuant to this section, an offender is guilty of a 4th degree felony and … shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 2 years, one year of which shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon a sixth conviction pursuant to this section, an offender is guilty of a 3rd degree felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 30 months, eighteen months of which shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon a seventh conviction pursuant to this section, an offender is guilty of a 3rd degree felony and … shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 3 years, two years of which shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon an eighth or subsequent conviction pursuant to this section, an offender is guilty of a 2nd degree felony and … shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 years, 10 years of which shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon any conviction pursuant to this section, an offender shall be required to participate in and complete, within a time specified by the court, an alcohol or drug abuse screening program approved by the department of finance and administration and, if necessary, a treatment program approved by the court. The requirement imposed … shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon a second or third conviction pursuant to this section, an offender shall be required to participate in and complete, within a time specified by the court:

(1) not less than a 28-day inpatient, residential or in-custody substance abuse treatment program approved by the court;
(2) not less than a 90-day outpatient treatment program approved by the court;
(3) a drug court program approved by the court; or
(4) any other substance abuse treatment program approved by the court.

The requirement imposed pursuant to this subsection shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement.

Upon a felony conviction pursuant to this section, the corrections department shall provide substance abuse counseling and treatment to the offender in its custody.

While the offender is on probation or parole under its supervision, the corrections department shall also provide substance abuse counseling and treatment to the offender or shall require the offender to obtain substance abuse counseling and treatment.

Upon a conviction pursuant to this section, an offender shall be required to obtain an ignition interlock license and have an ignition interlock device installed and operating on all motor vehicles driven by the offender, pursuant to rules adopted by the bureau. Unless determined by the bureau to be indigent, the offender shall pay all costs associated with having an ignition interlock device installed on the appropriate motor vehicles. The offender shall operate only those vehicles equipped with ignition interlock devices for:

(1) a period of one year, for a first offender;
(2) a period of two years, for a second conviction pursuant to this section;
(3) a period of three years, for a third conviction pursuant to this section; or
(4) the remainder of the offender’s life, for a fourth or subsequent conviction pursuant to this section.

APPLICATION TO REMOVE IGNITION INTERLOCK

The state law also provides as follows:

“Five years from the date of conviction and every five years thereafter, a fourth or subsequent offender may apply to a district court for removal of the ignition interlock device requirement provided in this section and for restoration of a driver’s license.

… [I] f an offender’s sentence was suspended or deferred in whole or in part and the offender violates any condition of probation, the court may impose any sentence that the court could have originally imposed and credit shall not be given for time served by the offender on probation.”

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2018/chapter-66/article-8/section-66-8-102/

LOSING YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE

There is also a “civil side” to being convicted of DWI and it takes thethe form of losing your driver’s license and it is totally separate from criminal charge.

New Mexico has enacted an Implied Consent Act. Under the law, it is not a right but a privilege to be licensed to drive. As condition of being given a license to, a license driver is by law giving implied consent to be tested if stopped under the suspicion of driving while under the influence. If you refuse to take a breath test, or if your breath analyzer test is above the legal limit, the arresting officer is authorized to confiscate your license upon arrest. The arresting officer will provide a Notice of Revocation. The officer also sends the notice to the Motor Vehicle Division, which automatically revokes your driver’s license 20 days after your arrest.

AGE AFFECTING HOW LONG YOU LOSE DRIVER’S LICENSE

When your driver’s license is revoked for DWI, the length of time of license revocation will depend on your age and if you have previously had your license revoked.

Over 21 years of age with a blood alcohol at or above 0.08% results in the following:

1st offense: 6 months for failing a chemical test, or one year for refusing a chemical test

2nd or subsequent offense: One year for failing or refusing a chemical test

Under 21 years of age (at or above 0.02%):

1st and subsequent: One year for failing or refusing a blood alcohol test.

CONVICTION RESULTING IN REVOCATION

Under New Mexico law, if you are convicted of a DWI you can lose your license. The period for losing a license is also tied to criminal conviction history as follows

For a first offense, 1 year
For second offense, 2 years
For a third offense: 3 years
For a fourth or subsequent offense: permanent loss or lifetime.

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.granolaw.com/blog/what-are-dwi-or-dui-penalties-new-mexico/

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is often said that incarceration and warehousing criminals is not the solution to bringing crime down and there is a need to solve the root causes of crime of poverty, drug addiction, and joblessness. That is true, but that does not mean the solution is simply not to arrest, convict and sentence criminals for crimes they have committed. As it stands in Albuquerque, APD is simply not getting the job done in the arrest category.

DWI in New Mexico has been a chronic problem for decades. It is understood when families who have been affected by DWI and who have lost a loved one and want to increase penalties and try do more. Year after year the New Mexico legislature tries and tries again to deal with DWI and the state is still has some of the highest DWI rates in the country.

Based on the statistics, and the declining number of DWI arrests, increasing the penalties is not likely going to solve much of anything. What the real problem is law enforcement failing to make arrests, then failing to convict and then imposing the maximum sentences under the law.

Unless laws are actually enforced, there is really not much going to happen in bringing down DWI rates as well as any other crime rates.