"This is not a negotiation."

Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston cannot make himself clearer;
if the leadership of the APS wants
commissions for their "police",
they will sign his MOU
by the end of the month.

The School Board decided instead,
to write a letter to him asking for
another thirty days to plan their
next move.

The leadership of the APS wants to negotiate the terms of their surrender. Specifically, they want to "grandfather in" all of their current corruption. They want to continue to hide their cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators.

Houston is crystal clear on two points; police officers holding his commissions will not investigate their own corruption, and police officers holding his commission will not hold the evidence of their corruption. His MOU reads;

h. Any report of a crime which may be determined to be a felony offense, excluding property crimes, shall be promptly reported to and investigated by the BCSD or APD.

i. All crimes which may be determined to be felony offenses, including property crimes, shall be documented utilizing a New Mexico State Uniform Police Report and a copy shall be provided to the Sheriff within twenty-four (24) hours of the initial report.

j. Any evidence collected by APS police in relation to any crime that may be determined to be a felony, excluding property crimes, shall be submitted to BCSD or APD for tagging and safe keeping...

The instant the leadership of the APS signs the MOU, they will be obligated to surrender the evidence they are hiding.

Depending on the actual dates the crimes were committed, statutes of limitation will expire in the next few months. BCSO Legal Adviser and PIO Jennifer Vega Brown said there is too little time to prosecute the felonies before the statutes expire, but exposing the cover up before they do, would be significant.

Even if the APS senior administrators who committed the felonies will not face justice, they should at least face the people whose interests they betrayed. They should be identified.

APS wants to hide their names and crimes until after the statutes of limitation actually expire.

I would urge the Sheriff to stand fast on his deadline. I would further urge him, upon their signing, to demand their immediate surrender of the evidence of felony criminal misconduct by APS senior administrators and their subordinates.




photo Mark Bralley