Journal dips its toe back into BCSD Tellez investigation

Steve Tellez and APS COO Brad Winter

The Journal is no longer completely ignoring the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department investigation of APS' former Chief of Police and allegations made against him.

Their renewed coverage, link, is welcome.  I have long argued that their readers have a need to know what Tellez did, who enabled the corruption and incompetence, and what will befall the both of them for their corruption and incompetence.

I take issue with the accuracy of their headline;
APS Police Chief Inquiry is Close to Completion.
The headline is based on an assurance from Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston's PIO Sgt Aaron Williamson that they were two weeks from closure.

We are no closer to completion than we were the last time he told us that we were a couples of weeks away from seeing it done, and that was four months ago.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

I take issue with the  Journal's presentations of "the truth";

"... Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office began a criminal investigation ... in mid-March ..."

The statement is true but not honest.  If I was able to find out, link, that the BCSD investigation began on a date certain; March 11th, Journal reporter Jon Swedien could have found out too.  He should have asked; he should have printed the exact date. His use of "mid-month" is self-evidently less honest using the date.  So why?

In order to be able to write;

"Four months later the investigation remains open"

as opposed to;

Five months later the investigation remains open.

According to the Journal,

The sheriff’s office now expects to complete the investigation in the next two weeks “if all goes as planned,” spokesman Sgt. Aaron Williamson said in a recent email to the Journal.

BCSD PIO Aaron Williamson gave the Journal and Swedien information he refuses to give me.  He told them an estimate he refused to give me.  That only makes a difference because I have the same Constitutionally protected human right to be the press as the Journal.  He, the government, is not entitled to give government credentialed press more public information than he gives the rest of the press.

Trust that man in nothing
who has not a conscience in everything.

Swedien reports;

Capt. Edward Mims, who is the office’s spokesman this week, said he was not sure why the investigation has taken four months.

Journal readers are as well; unsure why the investigation has taken more than four months.

That politicians and public servants may have used public resources to deliberately impede a criminal investigation is something Journal readers should know about.

The investigation has been held up by somebody.  The Journal chose to not report that a mysterious third party is responsible, link.  This is important because the mysterious third party is likely a politician or public servant.  It is likely the leadership of the APS or someone who works for them.

The real story here is how the justice system fails to hold powerful people accountable for their corruption and incompetence.

Politicians and public servants are accountable to the law.
The law represents the very lowest standards of conduct.
They are what we have left after centuries of litigating personal exceptions to the law for as many powerful people, doing as many awful things as they possibly could, and without breaking "the law".

The law is the standards of conduct that every higher standard is higher than.

Trust me, there is no politician or public servant accountable to any higher standards of conduct than the law; no matter what else they may claim.  If in a court of law, they cannot be held accountable even to the law, it should come as no surprise that in a court of law, pols and public servants can not be held accountable to higher standards of conduct than the law, even if they did exist.

They are not accountable even to the law because they can afford to litigate exceptions for themselves.  Their cost is no object legal defenses are paid for by taxpayers, not by the corrupt and incompetent politicians and public servants themselves; even if they're convicted.

The resources the people have put in the hands of politicians and public servants to educate their children and police their streets is being used instead to allow public servants to hire unscrupulous lawyers and law firms to litigate their escape from any personal consequences of their squandering of the public trust and treasure in their own interests.

Take for example, the leadership of the APS.

One of the first things Marty Esquivel admitted to me years ago was, he was well aware of exorbitant amounts of money APS spends on protracted and unnecessary litigation; the kind he is involved in right now.  

He and the board intend to spend a million dollars from operational funds to conduct a cost is no object "legal" defense of Marty Esquivel and Kathy Korte's egos. Money that could be, and should be, spent in classrooms instead.  They can spend this kind of money in their self interests because their oversight is self-oversight, an oxymoron if ever there was.

The Journal and Swedien ended by reporting;

Steve Gallegos was hired as the new APS police chief on May 23. He had been the deputy chief under Tellez and was interim chief. 

They chose to not report on any of problems surrounding Gallegos' appointment, link.




photos Mark Bralley
Steve Gallegos by ched macquigg