Albuquerque top cops in free fall

Nearly the entire leadership of law enforcement for as far as the eye can see, is manifestly corrupt and or incompetent.

Today we find in the Journal, link, that top cop at the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department has joined the top cops at APS and the APD in their fall from grace. (APD Chief Ray Schultz in absentia, having gotten out while the getting was good.  The same can be said for the interim APD chief; got out while the getting was good).


Despite Sheriff Dan Houston's protestations of innocence and the fact that "the county admits no liability", taxpayers will be forking over around 3/4s of a million dollars because the complaints against Houston are justified.  He did defame the plaintiff (where have I heard that before).  He did discharge her in retaliation and in breach of her contract.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston admitted calling the complainant and another employee “a couple of whores.”

Not a big deal in his mind because he was just “repeating an allegation made by a third party” during a meeting he thought was in secret.

It was “hell” working as the attorney and spokeswoman for Houston.

The government did fail to release public records.

"A judge in November 2013 ordered the county to pay almost $140,000 for failing to quickly provide the public records under the state Inspection of Public Records Act. That figure continued to rise as the office continued to fail to produce the documents."

- Just like APS' failure to produce the findings of investigations of allegations of felony criminal misconduct in the leadership of APS' publicly funded private police force; the figure continues to rise as APS continues to fail to produce ethically redacted public records. -

Houston is quick to point out;

"... Vega-Brown agreed as part of the settlement to “dismiss me from the lawsuit she brought against me.”

Politicians and public servants have written into their contract with the people whose power they wield and whose resources they spend, an escape clause.

When they have been found to be, or are about to be found to be guilty of squandering the public trust and treasure, pols and public servant are allowed to cough up even more tax dollars to have their names scrubbed from the settlement. 

Settlement values increase in order that complainants will abandon their desire to see individuals held individually accountable for their individual misconduct. Public resources have been, are being, and will be spent to protect the personal reputations of corrupt and or incompetent politicians and public servants.

The people's trust and treasure are squandered in order to dissociate corrupt and incompetent politicians and public servants from their corruption and the incompetence and from the just consequences of their corruption and incompetence.

Public records violation fines are paid by taxpayers,
not by the politician or public servants
who tried to keep them hidden in violation of the law.

Politicians and public servants are allowed to redact their own records, and there is no consequence for individual politicians and public servants who redact their record in violation of the law; no matter how egregious.

Settlement values increase in order that pols and public servants can just "move forward".

According to the Journal, "the settlement agreement will be made public this week or next".

This despite the fact that the N M Inspection of Public Records Act clearly intends that immediately available records are to be produced immediately or as soon as practicable.

Not in accordance with politician's and public servant's own need to manage public perception.

Make that public outrage.

Reminiscent of a dog chasing its tail, the merry go round of good ol' boy justice has Houston's BCSD investigating allegations against APS'  former Chief Steve Tellez who might well ask Houston,

who in the hell are you to be investigating me?

Houston's investigation of Tellez is more than a month old, with no end in sight.




photo Mark Bralley