APS "Police" Department To See Little Change

According to the Journal (sub req); "The Albuquerque school board is considering keeping its police force status quo despite numerous recommendations for change"; endorsing "...a plan Thursday to continue the current police arrangement— an unaccredited security force— overriding two recommendations by its administration and a community commission that spent the summer studying the issue."

"I feel, quite frankly, we wasted a whole lot of time," said Paul Broome, education adviser for Mayor Martin Chávez and a member of the commission..."

Welcome Paul, to the world of teachers; invest a lot of time and energy in devising a strategy to improve things; only to have the administration do what they want to anyway.

Board President Paula Maes said, "We had a police department that works."; a Praetorian Guard that reports to the leadership of the APS, and doctors statistics to deliberately mislead stakeholders. Her sentiments were echoed by Berna Facio and Delores Griego. Griego made it clear that she would vote against nasty guns in schools no matter what the feelings of those she "represents" on the board.

Berna Facio expressed her belief that she, and the board, had been deliberately mislead about the number of incidents involving weapons confiscated from students and others on school campuses.

This impression is consistent with the observation of the Council of Great City Schools which reported that crime statistics were routinely manipulated to make individual schools and the District look better.

Her realization came into being after a veteran APS Police officer described the confiscated weapons in the APS Police vault; thousands of knives, pistols, and shotguns.

What struck me as I listened to the discussion; was the lack of preparation by board members for the discussion. Gordon Rowe confessed on at least two occasions that he had little idea what was going on because he had chosen not to participate in the discussions of the Community Safety Commission. It was clear that other board members interest in the issue was limited only to the issue of arming police officers 24/7.

In contrast, Marty Esquivel was clearly prepared; asking a number of pertinent questions based apparently on notes prepared well in advance of the meeting. Despite the importance of the issue; it was clear that board members would not have the opportunity to discuss the issue to their satisfaction; those with legitimate questions repeatedly begged for time to additional time to ask them.

Robert Lucero spent much of his time deliberately misleading the audience. He repeatedly insisted that, according to APS lawyers, if APS created an accreditable police force; it would be in violation of state law. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White revealed the truth.

White reported that he asked Art Melendrez point blank; does NM law allow APS to set up its own police force? The answer; no. Does NM law prevent APS from establishing its own police force? The answer; no.

The fact that the law doesn't address the issue, is a far cry from Lucero leading people to believe that establishing a police force would violate state law.

Lucero continues to struggle to keep his mouth shut long enough for other board members to get a word in edgewise. He was reminded by other board members so many times that they were not finished and that he needed to wait his turn, that after a while their reminders to him began to draw snickers from the audience.

Several in attendance complained that the public at large was not adequately represented on the safety commission. I saw no indication that most board members were doing anything except voting their personal bias on the issue; with little or no regard for the feelings and interests of those that they represent.