This may be helpful in understanding some of this mess we find ourselves in. HOW WE GOT HERE Private investigator Michael Corwin, who for a time ran a PAC critical of the Governor, has long experience with police shootings, dating back to Los Angeles in the 80s and continuing with investigations of some of the many police shootings that have plagued ABQ since 2010. He recounts how we arrived at the crossroads we are at today: The seeds of this crisis began in 2007 during Mayor Chavezs push to expand APD to 1,100 officers and with it a failure to scrutinize officers coming from other police departments. Either the city didnt do its research, or simply turned a blind eye to officers with a history of problematic conduct. However, the pattern of shootings in ABQ did not begin in earnest until 2010. . . Mayor Berry won election in 2009 thanks in large part to Democrats splitting their votes between two of their candidates and the work of Jay McCleskey, now known as the Fifth Floor because of his Svengali like influence over Governor Martinez. One of Berrys first actions before taking office was to name Darren White, a close McCleskey associate, as the Public Safety Director, a position that under Chavez had been largely ceremonial . However, Berry made White the boss of the police chief, giving him full control of the department. Berry also brought into his administration another McCleskey/White insider, Rob Perry, now chief administrative officer. White came with a lot of baggage. As secretary for the Department of Public Safety, he was criminally investigated for using state resources to benefit the Imus Brothers, was given a resounding vote of no confidence by NMSP officers and was extensively involved in the politically driven firing of NM US Attorney David Iglesias. Iglesias once described White as, a “shoot from the hip kind of lawman” who “shoots first and asks questions later.” Many of the shootings involve mentally ill people. Rather than defuse situations, officers involved constantly escalated them, leading inevitably to the shooting, or in some cases simply shot the person within seconds of arriving on the scene. Shoot first and ask questions later. In response to the shootings, White held press conferences and went before the city council following shootings not just to support the shooters, but to praise them. Whites term at the city ended in disgrace over his involving himself at the scene of his wifes one car accident and his removing her from the scene before a genuine investigation could take place. Which came only a few months after improperly involving himself at the scene of an undetermined death of a business partner (attorney Mary Han) of a close political associate, which also came in 2010. He has since gone on to benefit yet again from his close ties to McCleskey However, the damage to the department was done, and a culture created that will take years to undo. Not surprisingly, Berry recently chose another White/McCleskey insider to lead the police department--Gorden Eden--a cabinet official from Martinezs administration. He did so despite interviews with out of state applicants that had much more experience running police departments. The shootings continue unabated despite the presence of a DOJ investigation. As the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different outcome. Until an outsider, and not a political crony, is hired to run the department, one who is capable of breaking the culture, the shootings will continue. Thanks, Michael. That is the best summation weve seen to date of what has happened to our police department. Other views? Send them in.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:55:44 +0000