Darren who?

Ben Franklin gets credit for articulating a simple truth;

"Power shites upon reason's back."

Everybody since, shares credit for articulating the corollary;

Shite rolls downhill.

Well, the city's top cop, Public Safety Director Darren White took a giant shite Wednesday, on the backs of "... 120-plus officers with the rank of sergeant and above." Journal- no link.

It took him two hours to get it out.

Later that day, or early this, every one of those 120-plus officers with the rank of sergeant and above, took a dump on everyone below the rank of sergeant.

Switch perspective now to the rank and file who are wondering; who is Darren White to be dumping on my back?

In an organization where there are clearly defined chains of command and power; the rank and file as a whole reflect their leadership. If there is bullying, it is because bullying is the example being set for them by their leadership. If they are corrupt, it is because their leadership is corrupt. If they are incompetent, it is because their leadership is incompetent.

Darren White will say at some point, because it's a great soundbite;

"The buck stops on my desk."

The buck may stop there, but the shite didn't.
It's already been dumped on those who have neither the power,
nor the resources, nor the ultimate responsibility to change the
culture of an organization to something better than the culture
the leadership has created, enabled, and maintained.

According to the Journal, White said;

"I don't think I'd day there's a cultural problem at APD, but there are a number of folks -and it's more than just a few - who don't live up to the values and ideals of the majority of the hard-working men and women on this department."

"More than just a few" means there is a culture that tolerates
their disregard for the values and ideals of their community.
Darren White and Police Chief Schultz are responsible for the
rot in the barrel; not the "more than a few" bad apples.

There is a fundamental flaw in thinking that requires sub-
ordinates to hold themselves accountable to higher standards
of conduct and competence than their bosses.
It is human nature to reject that hypocrisy out of hand.

Who is Darren White to be telling the rank and file that they
need to be setting a better example for the people they serve;

• his lack of character is manifest, link
• his corruption is manifest, link
• and, he is yet to survive a vote of confidence by his subordinates; he has failed two and by wide margins.

If you google Darren White and scandal, you get almost 21,000 hits, and not because he's famous for uncovering them.

Consider; if someone asks you to do something that is unethical,
illegal or immoral, the first thing you have to do is ask yourself
why that person thought you would say, yes. If the rank and
file of the Albuquerque Police Department have been behaving
inappropriately, what made them think they could get away
with it? If it is the culture, then those who create the culture
own the misconduct.

Who is Darren White to tell anyone else to set a better example?
He's the one with the power. He's a political appointee and he
can do whatever in the hell he wants to;
even shite upon the backs of others for the culture he owns.

Reason dictates that White and Schultz be held accountable
for the culture in the Albuquerque Police Department.
Their power in city hall, guarantees that they will not;
because power shites upon reason's back, almost every time.




photo Mark Bralley