BCSO says delay in Tellez investigation; not their fault

Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston, by and through his PIO, have indicated that the two month long investigation of allegations against former APS Chief of Police Steve Tellez is not taking such a long time because it works to the advantage of Houston in his upcoming election, but because;

As I (PIO Sgt Aaron Williamson) have previously stated, we are waiting for information from a third party before we can complete our investigation. Once we receive that information we will release our findings to the public.

That in response to my inquiries;

Sgt Williamson,
Is there progress to report on the Tellez investigation, or an estimated date of completion?
Will it be completed before the election?

In truth, Williamson had made no such statement to me.

Our previous exchange;

Sgt Williamson,
1. A simple yes or no, can you estimate a day for the conclusion of the investigation into the allegations against Steve Tellez?
2. You still have not answered my question; will you produce the findings of that investigation (pursuant to my previous and ongoing public records request) to me at the same time you produce them for the "media"?

 His responses made no mention of third party information;

1. No
2. Yes

Perhaps he has confused me with the credentialed press whose questions his addresses more completely. Williamson has not responded to my request for the reasoning that prevents him from being any more specific.

In the absence of information, speculation is about as good as it gets.

My speculation is that for some reason they are waiting for a copy of Caswell II; an investigation completed by APS in house private detectives, Robert Caswell Investigations, more than two months ago.  If so, then it would appear that Caswell is dragging his feet in producing information, out of respect for his cash cow, the leadership of the APS.

All of the confusion could be eliminated by a public information officer who was interested in sharing as much information as the law will allow, as opposed to as little information as the law absolutely, unequivocally requires.

Unfortunately of course, PIOs like that are about as abundant as unicorns.




photo Mark Bralley