by Hakim Bellamy (Op-Ed)
I never wonder if those fatally labeled by the school district as “bad” kids are being hurt by the label, as much as I worry about them being hurt by the actions that accompany those labels. For the few of those that accurately belong under the umbrella labeled “bad”, before self fulfilling the prophecy, I reserve very little wonder or pity. However unfair the labeling is, it is nothing compared to the open umbrella which is symbolic of a Pandora’s Box…open. Guns don’t protect people, umbrellas protect people. Guns don’t shield, don’t play defense, guns play offense. Their defense lies in who “plays” offense first, who is quicker to be offensive. Looks like Albuquerque Public Schools is the winner. So, I suppose through reasonable deduction measures, that makes the other team, “the losers”. Let’s have a look at the other team.
I do, however, typically wonder about those who dress the part, look the part and act the part of “good” kid. Those that get aptly labeled by the school district as “inside-the-box-fitters”, “inside-the-line-colorers”, the well behaved. Sometimes the geniuses are all the above, many times the geniuses are none of the above. I say this as an impending father. One who hopes his kid is called genius once the label of “critical thinker” is added, even if it is at the expense of the label “well behaved”. I digress, I do wonder about the “good” kids because they are the ones who are being guilty until proven innocent by the decision to welcome armed police officers into schools. They are the ones who are now profiled by association, guilty by Gestapo. You just met the “other” team.
El Cajon, California. March 22, 2001. Granite Hills High School – Three students and two teachers were wounded as gunfire erupted at a high school less than three weeks after two students were killed at a nearby school. Yes, seventeen days earlier, four miles north, in the same school district at Santana High School, a 15-year-old student killed two classmates and injured 13 others. The Santana High School tragedy was followed by the placement of full-time armed police officers at each of the Grossmont Union High School District Schools, which included Granite Hills. According to Mike Nelson, Director of Keys to Safer Schools, “Administrators and teachers reviewed crisis plans, and students were encouraged to report the slightest threat or rumor.” Times of crisis or post-tragedy are a perfect time to fear-monger and systematically eliminate civil liberties, as though it prevents future deviance rather than just make certain sub-groups feel safer. It is a prerequisite to fascism, but what ubiquitous contemporary authoritarian model would these school districts be following in the footsteps of? Does “Uncle Sam, I learned it by watching you,” ring familiar? Sort of like anti-drug campaign commercials in the ‘90s, and perhaps just as effective. Anyway, all innuendo and poetic license aside, Nelson went on to write, “In the aftermath of Thursday’s attack, school and city officials wonder if there is anything they can do to prevent campus violence.”
Let us not use this as an excuse to do nothing, as I am sure the supporters of armed police in schools would attempt to argue. We certainly cannot use the futility of arming officers in schools as a loophole to activism, when episodic research and statistical research do not support the idea that schools are safer because of the presence of guns. That is not what is being said here. Though, we could argue the point that children mimic what they see, and if they see guns in school, then…show and tell. In just the same way our school districts learn how to use a tragic event to create more opportunities for surveillance and intrusion. They didn’t make that up, they learned it by observation.
I think some observations from the “other” team are in order here. Sean Connacher from Granite Hills, an 18-year-old senior at the time of the shooting, said, “I don’t think the administration is to blame. He was an angry kid. What are they going to do?” Ronald D. Stephens, executive Director of the National School Safety Center said, “You don’t want to turn the teachers into the Gestapo. And yet at the same time, it’s difficult for a student to focus on decimal placement in math class if he or she is worried about being shot before the day is out. So it’s a question of how do you strike a balance.” Maybe not a “strike” at all Mr. Stephens, perhaps some defensive tactics or preventative tactics are in order. You don’t have to apply pressure to a wound if you avoid getting cut altogether. We must go back to the idea that there are “good” and “bad” kids as classified by their teachers, counselors, culturally insensitive standardized tests and our society as a whole. Believe it or not, some of these “good” kids just go to school in “bad” districts, “bad” areas where schools are more likely to have armed police officers or security guards. These same areas are more likely to have a higher police officer-to-people ratio. These same areas have more liquor stores and check cashing spots. These same areas have more bi-lingual signage and less urban beautification money from city and state agencies.
"A lot of children know absolutely nothing about guns other than what they see on T.V., and those are the wrong things." –Marion Hammer
What a lot of the children where I grew up know police officers as, is not the same thing as someone who grew up in the North East Heights of Albuquerque. When you say “police officer” in South Jersey and South West Philadelphia, “protect and serve” don’t necessarily come to mind. Not to label all cops as “bad” cops, though this is the posture that we are adopting towards our “good” kids by arming officers in schools, but two wrongs don’t make a right or a very productive discussion for that matter. The “good” kids in these bad situations are now being punished, in a sense, psychologically bullied into a code of conduct, which sometimes gets perverted by a few bad apples at the expense of the bunch. But for the sake of a rare tragic few, should we rot the brain of our healthy, well-adjusted “good” kid majority by surrounding them with symbols that they may associate with death, suffering, pain, guilt and sometimes, injustice? Should we jade them, make them insecure, make them feel guilty until proven innocent, “bad” until proven “good” by arming the officers in the schools. Many of us already know that there is no difference between those that get government contracts to build schools and those that get contracts to build prisons. Why don’t we just merge them and cut our losses, we are already carrying ourselves as though there’s really no difference now anyway.
Billy Ditzler, a 16-year-old at Granite Hills at the time, said “I’m supposed to feel safe at school. If I come to school thinking I’m going to be shot, what’s that going to do? I’m just afraid it’s going to happen again.” Is he a “good” apple or a “bad” one? It’s hard to tell, I guess it depends on where he goes to school. A parent in the district, Mike Cook said, “Brick-and-mortar schools will cease to exist if this continues. If we can’t stop it, home-schooling will start and Internet education will take over.” Some parents in the hood have adopted this same opinion when their respective districts decided to arm its officers. It’s not just children who distrust the guns, regardless of who has them, in the schools.
At a $2 million price tag just to get a stand alone police force up to code, Albuquerque Public Schools could be more proactive than reactive. Perhaps we should arm students in self-defense? Charles “Andy” Williams is now 21-years-old and currently serving 44 more years to life in prison for his fatal rampage at Santana High School. He was tried as an adult. Aren’t we just trying our “good” kids as adults? After his arrest he told investigators “he was tired of being bullied”. His mother was in the US Army and deployed in the Middle East when he was 3. His dad raised him, first in Maryland, then in 29 Palms, CA. Just before his 15th birthday, he found out his best friend was killed in a bus accident. Before stealing his father’s Arminius .22-caliber revolver and killing two people, he had two skateboards stolen from him that day. Did he get therapy after his friend was killed? How much would that have cost? Perhaps we’re not securing anything, or protecting anything by arming officers, just throwing salt in open schoolyard wounds?
Jason Hoffman offered little emotion and no explanation for his non-fatal rampage at Granite Hills, neither before nor during his hearing. In all fairness, he was wounded mid-rampage by school resource officer, Rich Agundez. One shot to the face of Hoffman shattering his jaw, and one to his buttocks. The officer was not hurt, just teachers and students. Who are the guns protecting again? Anyway, the “other” team has some bad apples that don’t fall far from the tree. According to Union-Tribune staff writers Karen Kucher, Joe Hughes and Alex Roth, Hoffman lived with his father after his mother moved out of the house in 1983 shortly after his birth. The mother accused the father of tossing 1-year-old Jason into the deep end of a pool and urinating on him in the shower when Jason was 7. According to court records Ralph Hoffman was a parent who struggled with alcohol and once spent time in jail on a child-endangerment charge. With $2 million, how many endangered youth can we arm against negligent parents? Hoffman took a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol to school the day he wounded five people. It was a day after he was rejected for Navy enlistment. He was disqualified for being overweight, a skin condition and having been convicted of assault and battery for hitting another student in the head with a racquetball racket in gym class three years prior. He said he was sorry. On October 29th, 2001, a week before his sentencing, he hung himself in a downtown jail cell after being taken off of suicide watch.
I don’ feel sorry for the “bad” kids who might be deterred by the presence of an armed officer in the school. They’ll find other ways to create havoc, mayhem, tragedy and change other people’s lives for the worse. Schools are no safer than the homes these children come from, they will be a product of their environment. What kind of environment are we creating in our militarized-prison-industrial-“we gotta gun”-complex school systems? I worry about the “good” kids, who will be demoralized, dehumanized and depressed by the presence of guns, where books should be…for about the same price. The presence of punishment where encouragement should be. The presence of fear where comfort should be. So yeah, I worry about the “other” team. Maybe they aught to have a say in the matter
© Hakim Bellamy September 12, 2007.
Showing posts with label APS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label APS. Show all posts
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, December 14, 2007
APD Officers Pair With Needy Children for Meal, Movie and Wal-Mart Trip
Monday, December 10, 2007
By Jack King, Journal Staff Writer
In the toy aisle of a Northeast Heights Wal-Mart on Sunday, one little girl stood up in a shopping cart lined with clothes and shouted at the flurry of shoppers blocking her way, "Beep, beep."
In the clothing department, another little girl laid her face against a pair of velour pants and purred, "Whoa, I want these."
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Castillo surveyed the fairly well-controlled pandemonium and said, "It makes the job worth it all the rest of the year."
For the last 13 years, area police and sheriff's departments have held Cops for Kids. Children from low-income families are recommended by their school counselors. On a day before Christmas, the officers show up at their doors in squad cars, take them to breakfast, then on a shopping trip using $100 gift cards paid for by private donations, said Albuquerque Police Department Detective Patricia Paiz, who coordinates the program.
This year, 102 officers were paired off with 102 students from elementary and middle schools throughout Albuquerque and Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
Ten of the students came from Sandoval County, four of them from Bernalillo. Many of the rest came through the Albuquerque Public Schools Homeless Project, and all are from homes with household incomes of less than $800 monthly, Paiz said.
"It's invaluable," said Bernalillo County Deputy Jessica Tyler, of Cops for Kids. "There's the interaction between the kids and the officers, and it gives these kids a Christmas they otherwise wouldn't have."
This year, the day began with a breakfast at Golden Corral that included— as Apache Elementary School third- grader Makayla Sulls firmly asserted— ice cream. Breakfast was followed by a cavalcade of police cars to the Academy NE Wal-Mart parking lot, where Santa Claus, actually Albuquerque Public Schools Police Chief Bill Reed decked in the traditional red and white suit and beard, arrived by helicopter. Later, there was to be a showing of "Enchanted" at the Century Rio 24 theater.
But first, there was serious shopping to be done.
Paiz said she visits the students' homes and gets a shopping list from their parents. They are required to buy a winter coat, shoes or a set of clothes, whatever they most need. But afterward, if there is anything left on their gift cards, they are free to buy toys.
Not all of them do. Some are like Chelwood Elementary fourth-grader Michael Romero, who told his escort, "No, I want to buy something for my dad now.
"He's really nice and he always gets me stuff. He's kind of like wasting his money on me, so I want to get him something."
Wal-Mart assistant manager James Short said Michael isn't the only unselfish student of the many groups he's seen in the 13 years the store has hosted Cops for Kids.
"That's the funny thing. When these kids come in, they always want to shop for their families," he said.
By Jack King, Journal Staff Writer
In the toy aisle of a Northeast Heights Wal-Mart on Sunday, one little girl stood up in a shopping cart lined with clothes and shouted at the flurry of shoppers blocking her way, "Beep, beep."
In the clothing department, another little girl laid her face against a pair of velour pants and purred, "Whoa, I want these."
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Castillo surveyed the fairly well-controlled pandemonium and said, "It makes the job worth it all the rest of the year."
For the last 13 years, area police and sheriff's departments have held Cops for Kids. Children from low-income families are recommended by their school counselors. On a day before Christmas, the officers show up at their doors in squad cars, take them to breakfast, then on a shopping trip using $100 gift cards paid for by private donations, said Albuquerque Police Department Detective Patricia Paiz, who coordinates the program.
This year, 102 officers were paired off with 102 students from elementary and middle schools throughout Albuquerque and Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
Ten of the students came from Sandoval County, four of them from Bernalillo. Many of the rest came through the Albuquerque Public Schools Homeless Project, and all are from homes with household incomes of less than $800 monthly, Paiz said.
"It's invaluable," said Bernalillo County Deputy Jessica Tyler, of Cops for Kids. "There's the interaction between the kids and the officers, and it gives these kids a Christmas they otherwise wouldn't have."
This year, the day began with a breakfast at Golden Corral that included— as Apache Elementary School third- grader Makayla Sulls firmly asserted— ice cream. Breakfast was followed by a cavalcade of police cars to the Academy NE Wal-Mart parking lot, where Santa Claus, actually Albuquerque Public Schools Police Chief Bill Reed decked in the traditional red and white suit and beard, arrived by helicopter. Later, there was to be a showing of "Enchanted" at the Century Rio 24 theater.
But first, there was serious shopping to be done.
Paiz said she visits the students' homes and gets a shopping list from their parents. They are required to buy a winter coat, shoes or a set of clothes, whatever they most need. But afterward, if there is anything left on their gift cards, they are free to buy toys.
Not all of them do. Some are like Chelwood Elementary fourth-grader Michael Romero, who told his escort, "No, I want to buy something for my dad now.
"He's really nice and he always gets me stuff. He's kind of like wasting his money on me, so I want to get him something."
Wal-Mart assistant manager James Short said Michael isn't the only unselfish student of the many groups he's seen in the 13 years the store has hosted Cops for Kids.
"That's the funny thing. When these kids come in, they always want to shop for their families," he said.
Friday, August 17, 2007
APS officers' sickout follows gun vote
By Susie Gran, Albuquerque Tribune
Almost all of the Albuquerque Public Schools police force failed to show up to work early today in an apparent sickout, but by mid-morning most were back at work.
The 26 officers' absence came after the Board of Education on Thursday refused to allow them to carry guns around the clock and didn't act on a recommended pay raise.
"Everybody's very concerned," said Albuquerque Public Schools acting Police Chief Steve Tellez.
Tellez said the sickout was not a union-sanctioned event and that he was not warned to expect a protest.
However, Tellez said he knows what the officers' issues are: pay and guns.
"We told them the safety of the students is more important than what they were doing," Tellez said. "They were trying to send a message.
"They realized their priority and came back to work. Their emotions got the best of them."
Tellez said he expected all the officers to be back at work today. The district has policies for violating sick leave, he said. Also, there is a "no-strike" clause in the police union contract with the district.
"If discipline is necessary, then we'll take that action," Tellez said.
The school district has 33 sworn officers who are allowed to carry their weapons before and after school hours. They have been pressuring the school board to allow them to be armed during school hours.
A pay raise also has been under discussion. APS police officers make $12 per hour compared with $19 to $21 per hour for city police and sheriff's deputies.
School board members this morning said they did not believe the officers' absence caused a safety crisis.
"There's no question our schools are very, very safe today," board member Robert Lucero said.
But Lucero said he's disappointed in the officers who didn't show up.
"It kind of reminds me of a child throwing a temper tantrum," he said. "The fact they could do this is incredibly childish."
Board member Marty Esquivel said he didn't agree with the sick-out tactic, although he can understand officers' frustration with the gun issue. School police should realize there will be more discussion about the gun policy, he said.
"It's not over, although they seem to think it's over."
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said plans were developed at an emergency meeting this morning to patrol the schools.
About 20 city police officers and sheriff's deputies on desk assignment were shifted to schools, wearing their guns and ready to respond to emergencies, he said.
"This is not a long-term service" to the schools," White said, although he left open the possibility of asking payment from the district for the police coverage.
The school police absences were "placing a burden on everyone," White said, although the morning was calm.
The school police protest followed a 4-2 vote Thursday by the school board's Policy Committee to make no immediate changes to the police force.
A commission formed by Superintendent Beth Everitt has met this summer to consider changes to the APS Police Department.
An audit this year identified various problems in the department, and longtime police chief Gil Lovato's contract was not renewed. Lovato has since sued the district for wrongful termination.
The commission, the Mayor's Office and White all support arming the school police, but the school board kept the status quo Thursday.
"We like what we have," said Dolores Griego, a South Valley board member who has opposed arming school police around the clock.
The committee vote left open the possibility of upgrading the department someday to an accredited, fully armed police force, but that could take as long as three years, board President Paula Maes said.
"They won't have a Police Department by then," Albuquerque Public Schools Sgt. Kim Murray said Thursday night. "This Police Department is about to disintegrate."
Officers are resigning over the gun issue and low pay, he said.
Everitt said Thursday she endorsed the commission's recommendations, which could be phased in over three years.
She said legislative or legal action would be necessary to create an accredited police force that meets national standards; that a police chief should be hired now; and that the department should be reorganized and salaries increased for officers.
Paul Broome, the mayor's education adviser, criticized the board for not resolving the gun issue and not endorsing the commission's work.
"This is a classic example of what the mayor has been talking about. This school board won't make the hard decisions. They put everything off. They don't take a stand," he said.
Broome served on the commission, along with principals, students, parents, law enforcement officials, a legislator and community members.
But board members Griego and Berna Facio said the commission did not represent all segments of the community. Several students complained that the student voice wasn't being heard.
Broome took issue with the criticism. "This was not a slanted commission," he said. "Quite frankly, that's an insult to the entire group."
Two students on the commission, from Cibola and Manzano high schools, favored arming school police.
Griego, Facio, Maes and Lucero voted for the status quo. Esquivel and Mary Lee Martin said they wanted to follow the commission's recommendations. Gordon Rowe left the meeting before the vote.
Maes said her vote "had nothing to do with guns" and that she was giving a vote of confidence to school police.
The committee vote is not final. The full board will consider the commission's recommendations at a later date.
At a news conference this morning, Maes said the board will vote to accept the commission recommendations.
"The first choice of this board will be to have a standalone Police Department," she said.
A standalone Police Department would require accreditation, armed officers and higher pay, the commission said.
Lucero argued that creating a full-fledged police force wasn't allowed by state law, based on a legal opinion by board attorney Art Melendres.
Lucero said the board should wait for an opinion from the attorney general before taking action.
Another discussion on the gun issue is inevitable, board members agreed.
"We'll rehash this issue when the next chief is on board," Lucero said.
Almost all of the Albuquerque Public Schools police force failed to show up to work early today in an apparent sickout, but by mid-morning most were back at work.
The 26 officers' absence came after the Board of Education on Thursday refused to allow them to carry guns around the clock and didn't act on a recommended pay raise.
"Everybody's very concerned," said Albuquerque Public Schools acting Police Chief Steve Tellez.
Tellez said the sickout was not a union-sanctioned event and that he was not warned to expect a protest.
However, Tellez said he knows what the officers' issues are: pay and guns.
"We told them the safety of the students is more important than what they were doing," Tellez said. "They were trying to send a message.
"They realized their priority and came back to work. Their emotions got the best of them."
Tellez said he expected all the officers to be back at work today. The district has policies for violating sick leave, he said. Also, there is a "no-strike" clause in the police union contract with the district.
"If discipline is necessary, then we'll take that action," Tellez said.
The school district has 33 sworn officers who are allowed to carry their weapons before and after school hours. They have been pressuring the school board to allow them to be armed during school hours.
A pay raise also has been under discussion. APS police officers make $12 per hour compared with $19 to $21 per hour for city police and sheriff's deputies.
School board members this morning said they did not believe the officers' absence caused a safety crisis.
"There's no question our schools are very, very safe today," board member Robert Lucero said.
But Lucero said he's disappointed in the officers who didn't show up.
"It kind of reminds me of a child throwing a temper tantrum," he said. "The fact they could do this is incredibly childish."
Board member Marty Esquivel said he didn't agree with the sick-out tactic, although he can understand officers' frustration with the gun issue. School police should realize there will be more discussion about the gun policy, he said.
"It's not over, although they seem to think it's over."
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said plans were developed at an emergency meeting this morning to patrol the schools.
About 20 city police officers and sheriff's deputies on desk assignment were shifted to schools, wearing their guns and ready to respond to emergencies, he said.
"This is not a long-term service" to the schools," White said, although he left open the possibility of asking payment from the district for the police coverage.
The school police absences were "placing a burden on everyone," White said, although the morning was calm.
The school police protest followed a 4-2 vote Thursday by the school board's Policy Committee to make no immediate changes to the police force.
A commission formed by Superintendent Beth Everitt has met this summer to consider changes to the APS Police Department.
An audit this year identified various problems in the department, and longtime police chief Gil Lovato's contract was not renewed. Lovato has since sued the district for wrongful termination.
The commission, the Mayor's Office and White all support arming the school police, but the school board kept the status quo Thursday.
"We like what we have," said Dolores Griego, a South Valley board member who has opposed arming school police around the clock.
The committee vote left open the possibility of upgrading the department someday to an accredited, fully armed police force, but that could take as long as three years, board President Paula Maes said.
"They won't have a Police Department by then," Albuquerque Public Schools Sgt. Kim Murray said Thursday night. "This Police Department is about to disintegrate."
Officers are resigning over the gun issue and low pay, he said.
Everitt said Thursday she endorsed the commission's recommendations, which could be phased in over three years.
She said legislative or legal action would be necessary to create an accredited police force that meets national standards; that a police chief should be hired now; and that the department should be reorganized and salaries increased for officers.
Paul Broome, the mayor's education adviser, criticized the board for not resolving the gun issue and not endorsing the commission's work.
"This is a classic example of what the mayor has been talking about. This school board won't make the hard decisions. They put everything off. They don't take a stand," he said.
Broome served on the commission, along with principals, students, parents, law enforcement officials, a legislator and community members.
But board members Griego and Berna Facio said the commission did not represent all segments of the community. Several students complained that the student voice wasn't being heard.
Broome took issue with the criticism. "This was not a slanted commission," he said. "Quite frankly, that's an insult to the entire group."
Two students on the commission, from Cibola and Manzano high schools, favored arming school police.
Griego, Facio, Maes and Lucero voted for the status quo. Esquivel and Mary Lee Martin said they wanted to follow the commission's recommendations. Gordon Rowe left the meeting before the vote.
Maes said her vote "had nothing to do with guns" and that she was giving a vote of confidence to school police.
The committee vote is not final. The full board will consider the commission's recommendations at a later date.
At a news conference this morning, Maes said the board will vote to accept the commission recommendations.
"The first choice of this board will be to have a standalone Police Department," she said.
A standalone Police Department would require accreditation, armed officers and higher pay, the commission said.
Lucero argued that creating a full-fledged police force wasn't allowed by state law, based on a legal opinion by board attorney Art Melendres.
Lucero said the board should wait for an opinion from the attorney general before taking action.
Another discussion on the gun issue is inevitable, board members agreed.
"We'll rehash this issue when the next chief is on board," Lucero said.
APS Board Tentatively Sticks to Police Plan
By Andrea Schoellkopf, Journal Staff Writer
The Albuquerque school board is considering keeping its police force status quo despite numerous recommendations for change.
A four-member majority of the board endorsed a plan Thursday to continue the current police arrangement— an unaccredited security force— overriding two recommendations by its administration and a community commission that spent the summer studying the issue.
Ultimately, some felt the lines were being drawn on the issue of whether to arm officers full time.
Currently, APS police officers are only allowed to carry guns after school hours, and must keep the arms locked in their vehicles. If there is an emergency requiring a weapon during school hours, the officer must first obtain permission from the APS superintendent.
Superintendent Beth Everitt— who recommended the change— said the current force already has commissioned officers, and city and county police now carry guns in the schools anyway.
"We're more liable for them not to be a police department because of the way it's already set up," Everitt said. "We need to either be fish or fowl."
The final vote will go before the school board in a regular meeting later this month.
"I feel, quite frankly, we wasted a whole lot of time," said Paul Broome, education adviser for Mayor Martin Chávez and a member of the commission, which was created after an APS audit found problems with the district's police department under former chief Gil Lovato.
Board members appeared close to supporting the committee's recommendation until Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White— a commission member who supported a fully authorized police department— told the board he didn't think legislation would be approved that would permit a school district police force.
Board president Paula Maes suggested that the district continue with its current force while pursuing other options.
"I don't think it's going to make much difference whether we (create a stand-alone police force) or continue the way we are," Maes said. "We had a police department that works. We had a leader that didn't work."
She said the board has already approved the commission's recommendation for upgraded police equipment, and other considerations for higher pay could go into effect with or without a certified department.
Maes said she felt compelled to stay with the current force after White said Thursday that APS may not be able to have a full police force until 2010. Her motion drew support of the anti-gun board members— Robert Lucero, Berna Facio and Dolores Griego— with Marty Esquivel and Mary Lee Martin voting against.
APS has asked the state Attorney General's Office to issue an opinion on the legality of a school district police force.
The policy committee meeting was moved into the main boardroom to accommodate the nearly 90 attendees, most of whom were there in regard to the police policy.
Opponents— waving hand-made posters arguing against any guns in the schools— argued that students should be consulted on the matter.
But those who supported the changes were not pleased.
"You will have my resignation by the end of the month," APS officer Simon Beltran said. "And there are probably two to three officers that will go with me."
The Albuquerque school board is considering keeping its police force status quo despite numerous recommendations for change.
A four-member majority of the board endorsed a plan Thursday to continue the current police arrangement— an unaccredited security force— overriding two recommendations by its administration and a community commission that spent the summer studying the issue.
Ultimately, some felt the lines were being drawn on the issue of whether to arm officers full time.
Currently, APS police officers are only allowed to carry guns after school hours, and must keep the arms locked in their vehicles. If there is an emergency requiring a weapon during school hours, the officer must first obtain permission from the APS superintendent.
Superintendent Beth Everitt— who recommended the change— said the current force already has commissioned officers, and city and county police now carry guns in the schools anyway.
"We're more liable for them not to be a police department because of the way it's already set up," Everitt said. "We need to either be fish or fowl."
The final vote will go before the school board in a regular meeting later this month.
"I feel, quite frankly, we wasted a whole lot of time," said Paul Broome, education adviser for Mayor Martin Chávez and a member of the commission, which was created after an APS audit found problems with the district's police department under former chief Gil Lovato.
Board members appeared close to supporting the committee's recommendation until Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White— a commission member who supported a fully authorized police department— told the board he didn't think legislation would be approved that would permit a school district police force.
Board president Paula Maes suggested that the district continue with its current force while pursuing other options.
"I don't think it's going to make much difference whether we (create a stand-alone police force) or continue the way we are," Maes said. "We had a police department that works. We had a leader that didn't work."
She said the board has already approved the commission's recommendation for upgraded police equipment, and other considerations for higher pay could go into effect with or without a certified department.
Maes said she felt compelled to stay with the current force after White said Thursday that APS may not be able to have a full police force until 2010. Her motion drew support of the anti-gun board members— Robert Lucero, Berna Facio and Dolores Griego— with Marty Esquivel and Mary Lee Martin voting against.
APS has asked the state Attorney General's Office to issue an opinion on the legality of a school district police force.
The policy committee meeting was moved into the main boardroom to accommodate the nearly 90 attendees, most of whom were there in regard to the police policy.
Opponents— waving hand-made posters arguing against any guns in the schools— argued that students should be consulted on the matter.
But those who supported the changes were not pleased.
"You will have my resignation by the end of the month," APS officer Simon Beltran said. "And there are probably two to three officers that will go with me."
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Safe Schools Are Gun Free Schools!
Hi SWOPISTAS, allies and supporters,
Just a friendly reminder that tonight the APS Policy Committee will be accepting or
rejecting the recommendations to the Safety Commission on creating their own armed
police force for APS.
We need all parents and supporters to come to the meeting today at 4:30pm to state
that we need a Comprehensive Safety Emergency Plan that focuses on our kids and not
on weapons.
The information is below. Please call the office if you have further questions.
There will be media present so we need to be visible. KOB-TV came to SWOP this
morning to interview Monica and will be reporting later tonight. Please show your
support.
Safe Schools are Gun Free Schools!
APS Policy and Instruction Committee Meeting on Thursday August 16, 2007 at 4:30pm
6400 Uptown Blvd NE (across from Coronado Mall) De-Layo-Martin Community Room. What
you can do: women@unm.edu
1. Meet us at SWOP at 3:30pm Thursday or show up at the meeting at 4:30pm to say:
Reject the recommendation of the Commission. APS should create an emergency plan
that prioritizes a comprehensive approach to safety without guns. Safe schools are
gun free!
2. If you cannot make it please call (505) 880-3739 or e-mail (click links below
to e-mail) the School Board members Wednesday and say: Reject the recommendation of
the Commission. APS should create an emergency plan that prioritizes a
comprehensive approach to safety without guns. Safe schools are gun free!
3. Come to the School Safety Focus Group to talk about alternatives Tuesday August
21, 2007 211 10th St SW @ 5:30pm.
For more information call SWOP at 247-8832 or e-mail Monica at monica@swop.net
E-mail your APS Board Rep by clicking their name below the flyer.
Paula Maes
President
(District 5)
Dolores Griego
Vice President
(District 1)
Gordon Rowe
Board Member
(District 7)
Martin Esquivel
Board Member
(District 4)
(
Mary Lee Martin
Board Member
(District 6)
Robert D. Lucero
Board Member
(District 2)
Berna V. Facio
Secretary
(District 3)
Mónica Córdova
Youth Coordinator
SouthWest Organizing Project
211 10th St. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
505.247.8832 (phone)
505.247.9972 (fax)
Just a friendly reminder that tonight the APS Policy Committee will be accepting or
rejecting the recommendations to the Safety Commission on creating their own armed
police force for APS.
We need all parents and supporters to come to the meeting today at 4:30pm to state
that we need a Comprehensive Safety Emergency Plan that focuses on our kids and not
on weapons.
The information is below. Please call the office if you have further questions.
There will be media present so we need to be visible. KOB-TV came to SWOP this
morning to interview Monica and will be reporting later tonight. Please show your
support.
Safe Schools are Gun Free Schools!
APS Policy and Instruction Committee Meeting on Thursday August 16, 2007 at 4:30pm
6400 Uptown Blvd NE (across from Coronado Mall) De-Layo-Martin Community Room. What
you can do: women@unm.edu
1. Meet us at SWOP at 3:30pm Thursday or show up at the meeting at 4:30pm to say:
Reject the recommendation of the Commission. APS should create an emergency plan
that prioritizes a comprehensive approach to safety without guns. Safe schools are
gun free!
2. If you cannot make it please call (505) 880-3739 or e-mail (click links below
to e-mail) the School Board members Wednesday and say: Reject the recommendation of
the Commission. APS should create an emergency plan that prioritizes a
comprehensive approach to safety without guns. Safe schools are gun free!
3. Come to the School Safety Focus Group to talk about alternatives Tuesday August
21, 2007 211 10th St SW @ 5:30pm.
For more information call SWOP at 247-8832 or e-mail Monica at monica@swop.net
E-mail your APS Board Rep by clicking their name below the flyer.
Paula Maes
President
(District 5)
Dolores Griego
Vice President
(District 1)
Gordon Rowe
Board Member
(District 7)
Martin Esquivel
Board Member
(District 4)
(
Mary Lee Martin
Board Member
(District 6)
Robert D. Lucero
Board Member
(District 2)
Berna V. Facio
Secretary
(District 3)
Mónica Córdova
Youth Coordinator
SouthWest Organizing Project
211 10th St. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
505.247.8832 (phone)
505.247.9972 (fax)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Armed Albuquerque Public Schools police force costly, estimate reveals
Check Out SWOP's Blog
By Susie Gran, Albuquerque Tribune
Thursday, June 21, 2007
An armed school police department with patrol cars and higher wages will cost Albuquerque Public Schools an additional $1.8 million.
That's the estimate being provided on June 21 to the Community Safety Commission, a group that will propose changes to the district's police force to Superintendent Beth Everitt.
The estimate was prepared by Chief Business Officer Bill Moffatt, who cautioned the district would have to keep police salaries competitive with local law enforcement "which could provide a potential drag on funding to schools."
Moffatt said the current district budget for school police and campus security is $5.2 million.
The commission is considering several options: contracting for law enforcement services with local police agencies; upgrading the current school police force; turning the school police into an unarmed security department or contracting with a security agency.
Everitt is seeking recommendation for reorganizing school police in the wake of a critical audit and the ouster of School Police Chief Gil Lovato.
By Susie Gran, Albuquerque Tribune
Thursday, June 21, 2007
An armed school police department with patrol cars and higher wages will cost Albuquerque Public Schools an additional $1.8 million.
That's the estimate being provided on June 21 to the Community Safety Commission, a group that will propose changes to the district's police force to Superintendent Beth Everitt.
The estimate was prepared by Chief Business Officer Bill Moffatt, who cautioned the district would have to keep police salaries competitive with local law enforcement "which could provide a potential drag on funding to schools."
Moffatt said the current district budget for school police and campus security is $5.2 million.
The commission is considering several options: contracting for law enforcement services with local police agencies; upgrading the current school police force; turning the school police into an unarmed security department or contracting with a security agency.
Everitt is seeking recommendation for reorganizing school police in the wake of a critical audit and the ouster of School Police Chief Gil Lovato.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Police officers shouldn't carry guns, review team says
Check Out SWOP's Blog
By Susie Gran, Abq Tribune
Thursday, June 14, 2007
It's time to disarm the school police and let city and county cops carry the guns, the experts say.
Contracts with Albuquerque police and the Bernalillo County sheriff are the best law enforcement option for Albuquerque Public Schools, a review team from the Council of Great City Schools says.
The team's recommendation was reviewed on June 14 by the district's new Community Safety Commission, formed to help determine the fate of the embattled APS Police Department.
The council team also recommended overhauling the district's police department to create a new safety and security arm.
The team said the Albuquerque Board of Education and its administration don't seem to have the will or leadership to run an armed police force.
"Based on their past performance, it is not apparent that the Board of Education and the district's executive leadership team would provide the executive leadership, support and backing, and make the critical and difficult decisions that would be required to create a safety, security and professional, fully authorized law enforcement department," the report said.
The review team said the proposed safety and security department could concentrate on intervention and prevention in creating safe schools.
The commission will review the team's recommendation, then forward its own recommendation on to Superintendent Beth Everitt.
The goal is to have all changes in place by the time school starts in August, said district spokesman Joseph Escobedo.
The APS Police Department has a $3.1 million budget and 40 sworn officers, who are allowed to carry their weapons before and after school. Currently, there are 32 officers and eight openings.
Everitt called on the Council of Great City Schools to make recommendations on best practices for school police after the debate over arming officers heated up and audits verified problems in the department.
The chief for the last 16 years, Gil Lovato, has been on administrative leave since January amid allegations of misconduct and mismanagement of his department.
Everitt has said she will not renew his contract when it expires June 30.
Under Lovato, the district's school police operated as a police department with sworn officers. Many officers have urged the school board to allow them to carry guns around the clock.
The school board agreed to review its gun policy after the council review. Some board members also suggested the district consider disbanding its police force and asking the city or county to contract police services.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who is a member of the safety commission, said on June 12 that APS must decide whether it needs its own police department, an unarmed security force or a little of both.
"It's kind of like an identity crisis," White said of school police.
"The district needs to do a needs assessment to determine if they need sworn officers. If they do, then they need to be armed."
White said it's not his recommendation for the sheriff or city police to take over school police.
"We should have close coordination, and the head of school police should report directly to the superintendent," he said.
Meanwhile, the district and Lovato are preparing for a court battle over his contract.
Lovato's attorney, Sam Bregman, said he intends to sue the district on the grounds of wrongful termination, defamation and retaliation.
The district refused Bregman's offer of a $500,000 settlement to end the dispute, district spokesman Rigo Chavez said.
An internal audit of Lovato's department identified 20 infractions including poor evidence-room inventory
By Susie Gran, Abq Tribune
Thursday, June 14, 2007
It's time to disarm the school police and let city and county cops carry the guns, the experts say.
Contracts with Albuquerque police and the Bernalillo County sheriff are the best law enforcement option for Albuquerque Public Schools, a review team from the Council of Great City Schools says.
The team's recommendation was reviewed on June 14 by the district's new Community Safety Commission, formed to help determine the fate of the embattled APS Police Department.
The council team also recommended overhauling the district's police department to create a new safety and security arm.
The team said the Albuquerque Board of Education and its administration don't seem to have the will or leadership to run an armed police force.
"Based on their past performance, it is not apparent that the Board of Education and the district's executive leadership team would provide the executive leadership, support and backing, and make the critical and difficult decisions that would be required to create a safety, security and professional, fully authorized law enforcement department," the report said.
The review team said the proposed safety and security department could concentrate on intervention and prevention in creating safe schools.
The commission will review the team's recommendation, then forward its own recommendation on to Superintendent Beth Everitt.
The goal is to have all changes in place by the time school starts in August, said district spokesman Joseph Escobedo.
The APS Police Department has a $3.1 million budget and 40 sworn officers, who are allowed to carry their weapons before and after school. Currently, there are 32 officers and eight openings.
Everitt called on the Council of Great City Schools to make recommendations on best practices for school police after the debate over arming officers heated up and audits verified problems in the department.
The chief for the last 16 years, Gil Lovato, has been on administrative leave since January amid allegations of misconduct and mismanagement of his department.
Everitt has said she will not renew his contract when it expires June 30.
Under Lovato, the district's school police operated as a police department with sworn officers. Many officers have urged the school board to allow them to carry guns around the clock.
The school board agreed to review its gun policy after the council review. Some board members also suggested the district consider disbanding its police force and asking the city or county to contract police services.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who is a member of the safety commission, said on June 12 that APS must decide whether it needs its own police department, an unarmed security force or a little of both.
"It's kind of like an identity crisis," White said of school police.
"The district needs to do a needs assessment to determine if they need sworn officers. If they do, then they need to be armed."
White said it's not his recommendation for the sheriff or city police to take over school police.
"We should have close coordination, and the head of school police should report directly to the superintendent," he said.
Meanwhile, the district and Lovato are preparing for a court battle over his contract.
Lovato's attorney, Sam Bregman, said he intends to sue the district on the grounds of wrongful termination, defamation and retaliation.
The district refused Bregman's offer of a $500,000 settlement to end the dispute, district spokesman Rigo Chavez said.
An internal audit of Lovato's department identified 20 infractions including poor evidence-room inventory
Friday, May 4, 2007
Mayor would support arming campus cops
By Susie Gran, Abq Trib
Friday, May 4, 2007
If Albuquerque Public Schools were to dissolve its police department, the district would have $2.79 million to spend on contracted services. The 2006-07 school police budget includes:
$1.64 million for 51 salaried employees, including 33 certified officers.
$169,000 for secretarial, clerical and hourly employees.
$546,000 for employee benefits.
$77,177 for police chief salary.
$95,000 for supplies and materials.
$33,563 for furniture and equipment.
$15,530 for employee training.
Source: APS
Mayor Martin Chavez is siding with school police in the gunfight at Albuquerque Public Schools.
"Our kids will be better served if APS police are armed" at all times, Chavez said Thursday.
School police have long wanted to carry sidearms during school hours to react more quickly to emergencies. Current school policy requires them to keep their guns locked in their cars until they get the superintendent's permission to retrieve them.
The debate over arming school officers took a turn Wednesday when school officials said they wanted to explore the idea of contracting out police services rather than running their own police department.
The mayor also said he would support a merger of the school police with either the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department or the Albuquerque Police Department - but not all three.
The school district has 33 certified police officers who could be absorbed by the larger law enforcement agencies, which would then provide services to the schools.
"I'm receptive to it as long as it isn't a multiheaded creature," the mayor said of a possible merger.
Chavez said he recognizes that the school district could enter into a contract with the Sheriff's Department instead of the city.
If that were to occur, the city might pull its officers now assigned to high schools and middle schools, he said.
"That would be an option to look at," he said. "At the end of the day, whatever protects the kids is what we want."
The city currently assigns armed officers to all high schools except Rio Grande, which is located in Bernalillo County. Some of the middle schools also are assigned city police officers.
"If they (APS) ask us to come in, it would make very good sense," Chavez said. "We would be receptive to a request for a merger."
Albuquerque Board of Education member Robert Lucero said he and APS Superintendent Beth Everitt were going to meet with Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White this morning to discuss the possibility of a contract.
Lucero said he hopes Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz will also join the discussion and help change the focus from guns to an areawide safety plan.
"If truly safety is the issue, a safety plan is the way to go, not a gun plan," said Lucero, who opposes arming school police 24/7.
"We need to decide what would work covering all 130-some schools. That's impossible for our 33 officers," he said.
The only decision made by the school board Thursday was to hold a public hearing and continue the dialogue.
Board members invited the public, students, teachers and grass-roots organizations to a hearing, but no date was set.
Tom s Garduno of the SouthWest Organizing Project also weighed in Thursday with an anti-gun message.
"Arming security guards only perpetuates fear and violence," he said in flyers distributed in the board room.
Board member Gordon Rowe said he thinks the community wants the board to act, not spend months talking and listening.
"They expect us to do something," Rowe said. "We need to get out in front on this."
Friday, May 4, 2007
If Albuquerque Public Schools were to dissolve its police department, the district would have $2.79 million to spend on contracted services. The 2006-07 school police budget includes:
$1.64 million for 51 salaried employees, including 33 certified officers.
$169,000 for secretarial, clerical and hourly employees.
$546,000 for employee benefits.
$77,177 for police chief salary.
$95,000 for supplies and materials.
$33,563 for furniture and equipment.
$15,530 for employee training.
Source: APS
Mayor Martin Chavez is siding with school police in the gunfight at Albuquerque Public Schools.
"Our kids will be better served if APS police are armed" at all times, Chavez said Thursday.
School police have long wanted to carry sidearms during school hours to react more quickly to emergencies. Current school policy requires them to keep their guns locked in their cars until they get the superintendent's permission to retrieve them.
The debate over arming school officers took a turn Wednesday when school officials said they wanted to explore the idea of contracting out police services rather than running their own police department.
The mayor also said he would support a merger of the school police with either the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department or the Albuquerque Police Department - but not all three.
The school district has 33 certified police officers who could be absorbed by the larger law enforcement agencies, which would then provide services to the schools.
"I'm receptive to it as long as it isn't a multiheaded creature," the mayor said of a possible merger.
Chavez said he recognizes that the school district could enter into a contract with the Sheriff's Department instead of the city.
If that were to occur, the city might pull its officers now assigned to high schools and middle schools, he said.
"That would be an option to look at," he said. "At the end of the day, whatever protects the kids is what we want."
The city currently assigns armed officers to all high schools except Rio Grande, which is located in Bernalillo County. Some of the middle schools also are assigned city police officers.
"If they (APS) ask us to come in, it would make very good sense," Chavez said. "We would be receptive to a request for a merger."
Albuquerque Board of Education member Robert Lucero said he and APS Superintendent Beth Everitt were going to meet with Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White this morning to discuss the possibility of a contract.
Lucero said he hopes Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz will also join the discussion and help change the focus from guns to an areawide safety plan.
"If truly safety is the issue, a safety plan is the way to go, not a gun plan," said Lucero, who opposes arming school police 24/7.
"We need to decide what would work covering all 130-some schools. That's impossible for our 33 officers," he said.
The only decision made by the school board Thursday was to hold a public hearing and continue the dialogue.
Board members invited the public, students, teachers and grass-roots organizations to a hearing, but no date was set.
Tom s Garduno of the SouthWest Organizing Project also weighed in Thursday with an anti-gun message.
"Arming security guards only perpetuates fear and violence," he said in flyers distributed in the board room.
Board member Gordon Rowe said he thinks the community wants the board to act, not spend months talking and listening.
"They expect us to do something," Rowe said. "We need to get out in front on this."
Sunday, February 11, 2007
APS Top Cop Finds Himself on Hot Seat
By Colleen Heild, Journal Investigative Reporter
Nearly 17 years ago, Gil Lovato took the reins of a school police agency racked by controversy.
Now, as the veteran chief of the Albuquerque Public Schools police department, it is Lovato who finds himself on the hot seat.
He's been on paid leave since Jan. 6, pending an internal audit of the school police department that still isn't complete. Normally, such audits take two weeks.
Outside private investigators have also been called in.
The scope of the inquiry has broadened beyond the initial examination of whether evidence room money was mishandled.
Investigators in recent weeks have been questioning whether Lovato took liberties in running his department and whether he improperly directed APS resources to benefit one of his supervisors.
They've also been looking at several investigations he ordered.
Lovato, 60, has declined to comment publicly since being placed on leave.
"The only thing I can accuse myself of is working hard," he told the Journal last month.
The supervisor, Cynthia West, oversees the eight-person dispatch unit of the school police. She is a 20-year APS employee whose husband works as a school police lieutenant.
West referred questions to her attorney, Kari Morrissey, who said last week she wouldn't comment about specifics because of the ongoing investigation.
"What I can tell you is that I have talked to her (West) and she feels absolutely 100 percent confident that she has behaved professionally and ethically," Morrissey said. "She's never engaged in any type of misconduct, and we expect that this investigation is going to yield those results."
School district officials— who had been sweating out a mill levy election until last week's "yes" vote— remain tight-lipped about the department probe.
They have ordered police employees not to talk and say they don't know whether any aspect of the investigation results will ever be made public.
Journal interviews with current and former school employees, along with documents obtained by the Journal, provide insight into areas of inquiry.
For instance, during Lovato's tenure:
Nineteen people have contacted the school district's Equal Employment Opportunity office to complain about personnel issues in the police agency. Twelve of the complaints name Lovato as a respondent. Allegations include harassment, use of abusive language, sex discrimination and sexual harassment. APS won't say how any of those were resolved.
Hundreds of dollars seized as evidence were moved to the police agency's petty cash fund when the money should have been returned to district coffers.
No documentation exists for deposits into the petty cash fund and records are missing as to how money was spent.
West earned more than $5,000 in overtime last year. While on vacation, she was permitted to add to her paycheck by selling compensatory time back to APS.
During her monthlong vacation, Lovato made 91 calls to West on his APS cell phone, records show.
Lovato approved installing a high-tech surveillance camera at West's home and sent a team of APS detectives to Texas to investigate a suspect accused of harassing her on the telephone— a misdemeanor. No charges have followed.
West is the only civilian in the school district who has a take-home car. She drives an unmarked police car in an agency where a lack of vehicles has forced school police employees to double up or use personal cars to answer calls.
Taking over a 'mess'
Back in 1990, Lovato won out over 69 candidates who wanted to head what was then called APS school security.
Lovato had been a captain with the Albuquerque Police Department at the time— winding up a career that had its ups and downs.
He had a disciplinary record and was sent to "anger management," according to a newspaper account in 1985.
Lovato called it "conflict management" and noted he had 80 letters of recommendation in his personnel file.
Three days after retiring from APD, Lovato took over a school district police agency that outside auditors had characterized as a "mess" and "a disaster area."
The agency of 130 employees is now called the APS Police Department and handles security and law enforcement duties for an 89,000-student district of 131 schools, according to the APS police Web site.
Since Lovato took over as chief, his annual salary has jumped from $37,879 to $77,597. The agency's annual budget has nearly tripled and is now an estimated $2.7 million.
'Unethical activity'
APS documents show that, since the early 1990s, 12 of 19 people who contacted the district's EEO office about police department-related issues complained specifically about Lovato.
Of those who complained, one is a well-known high school principal; another is a high-ranking APS official.
APS spokesman Rigo Chavez wouldn't reveal the outcome of any of the complaints.
In November, a former school police campus service aide filed a lawsuit against APS alleging employment discrimination, retaliation and harassment.
Christine Apodaca alleges that Lovato denied her the opportunity to become a sworn law enforcement officer. She also accused him of belittling her in staff meetings, creating a hostile work environment and intimidating and threatening her.
At least two unsigned letters were sent to APS officials over the past six months alleging, in the words of one letter, "immoral and unethical activity that has been taking place in our police department."
The allegations weren't officially investigated until APS internal auditor Alan Wesson received information in January about problems with the school police evidence room.
Take-home car
Back in 1997, a member of the APS Board of Education asked during a public meeting why the school police dispatch supervisor needed a take-home car when district finances were tight.
Lovato, according to a news report at the time, replied that the dispatch supervisor also served as the evidence clerk and was on call to enter crime evidence, such as confiscated items.
School district spokesman Chavez said the APS police organizational chart currently shows West as having responsibility for evidence, "but she has not actually had that responsibility for the past three years."
More recently, employees say, Lovato has defended West's take-home car, describing it as a "mobile communications dispatch center."
Last year, APS budget cutbacks forced about three dozen district administrators to give up their take-home cars, according to news reports.
But West was allowed to keep her car. Chavez said APS officials concluded that West and school police were deemed to be "emergency responders" and needed cars.
A Journal survey of UNM police, APD and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department shows none of their dispatch supervisors is permitted a take-home car.
The shortage of APS police cars in recent months has forced some police officials to drive personal vehicles on the job.
Meanwhile, campus police aides have been doubling up or tripling in police vehicles because there aren't enough cars to go around.
Two new vehicles are expected to arrive later this month.
$5,100 in overtime
Investigators have also been looking into compensation issues.
West, who earns $46,597 annually, claimed more than $5,100 in overtime in 2006.
Nearly all of it was for working on Saturdays or Sundays.
Most of the overtime was claimed in the latter part of 2006, while West accrued more than 128 hours of compensatory time from June 2005 to May 2006.
Her reasons for the extra work were listed as "dispatch" or "dispatch shortage."
Lovato generally signed off on her overtime.
At times, her husband, Lt. Dave West, signed on Lovato's behalf.
Since Lovato was placed on leave Jan. 6, West hasn't claimed any overtime. She had two hours of compensatory time last month.
Last September, West announced in an internal e-mail that she would be on annual leave from Sept. 23 to Oct. 23 and an acting supervisor would take her place.
West used 80 hours of compensatory time for the first two weeks and then took two weeks vacation leave.
Investigators looked into a tip that she had paid overtime while she was on vacation.
West was paid $304.10 in overtime following the week ending Oct. 6.
But records show the overtime was for work she did in early September, before going on vacation.
Records also show West sold back 20 hours of her accrued compensatory time to APS last October.
Spokesman Chavez said he is not aware of any written policy allowing such a practice. He said it "is not a common practice," but added, that "it is not unheard of."
Cell phone calls
Investigators have also been looking at Lovato's cell phone calls.
A Journal review of APS phone bills shows 460 calls were placed from Lovato's APS-issued cell phone to West's private cell phone during a six-month period from June 11 to Dec. 12 last year.
During that time period, Lovato received 261 calls from West's private cell phone.
Roughly 60 percent of the calls occurred after 5 p.m., on weekends or while West was on vacation.
The dispatch office said West typically works days, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Dec. 4, records show 56 calls from Lovato's APS phone to West's. The calls were made between 5:14 p.m. and 11:56 p.m.
During West's vacation— which included a trip to Europe— 91 calls were made from Lovato's phone to West's.
More recent records weren't available from APS.
Surveillance camera
Last May, the school police dispatch office began receiving hang-up calls. Then an anonymous caller began targeting Lovato and West in calls peppered with insults and abusive language.
Before it was over, Lovato had put four different officers and a police computer technician on the case, which was a misdemeanor crime.
Two APS detectives traveled to Odessa, Texas, to interview a suspect, and Lovato ordered a low-light night vision surveillance camera installed at West's home.
The investigation was estimated to have cost more than $6,000 in overtime and travel.
No arrests related to the telephone harassment case have been made. The camera can still be seen outside West's far Northeast home.
Evidence room cash
The issue that triggered the current inquiry was whether money seized as evidence from students during campus drug busts ended up being improperly converted to the petty cash fund controlled by Lovato.
Lovato said in early January that his agency's petty cash fund amounted to only a few dollars a month, collected from copying charges for police reports requested by the public.
But APS could produce no ledger or accounting for the fund over the past three years. APS was also unable to produce any records of deposits, even from fees for copying police reports.
More than a dozen handwritten receipts APS turned over show Lovato tapped the fund to buy bottled water, soda for the office, and to get his patrol car washed in 2004 and 2006.
There were no receipts for the year 2005.
APS records show at least $300 was transferred to the petty cash fund after being seized as evidence and forfeited by a District Court judge in 2005.
Other records obtained by the Journal show $1,085 was placed in a police department safe in late 1998— only to be depleted by a series of withdrawals.
One document has handwritten entries showing six withdrawals of $165 or more at various times during 1999.
The withdrawals appear to have been made by Lovato or his secretary, and most carry his initials.
One handwritten note dated Sept. 23, 1999, states "$300 to Gil Lovato." Underneath that sentence is another handwritten note stating, "Returned $300 on 10/6/99."
Another note dated Dec. 30, 1999, states "$200 to G. Lovato for flashlight Y2K."
By September 2000, the last $165 was removed from the fund.
"New balance from evidence is 0," states a handwritten notation.
State law requires that money seized as evidence or "fruits of a crime" be returned either to the rightful owner or be forfeited.
If a judge had approved a forfeiture, the money should have been returned to the APS general fund where administrators could allocate it back to the police department, according to former APS business officer Michael Vigil.
Vigil said he would never have approved a loan from the fund.
Lovato has said the money was transferred appropriately and was used to buy office supplies.
Independent agency
When Lovato was tapped for the APS job, he faced a major public relations task.
His predecessor, security chief Daryl Harrell, had resigned in the wake of a Journal investigative report.
According to story published in February 1990, Harrell and his operations assistant, Roxie Joyner, had spent work time together in a Sandia Mountains cabin.
The story also reported Joyner had collected $25,000 overtime in a 30-month period. The Bernalillo County district attorney and the Albuquerque Police Department launched a joint investigation.
No criminal charges were filed. But the APS-funded audit that followed was highly critical, citing a lack of accountability and professionalism within the department.
School board member Leonard DeLayo was quoted back then as saying his primary concern is "what kind of system do we have that lends itself to no accountability."
DeLayo, who didn't seek re-election and leaves the board March 1, said in a recent interview that he has heard nothing negative about the APS police agency with Lovato as chief.
He added, "I think one of the issues with that department is that it traditionally has been independent, and I think as a result of that independence things tend to get skewed."
Nearly 17 years ago, Gil Lovato took the reins of a school police agency racked by controversy.
Now, as the veteran chief of the Albuquerque Public Schools police department, it is Lovato who finds himself on the hot seat.
He's been on paid leave since Jan. 6, pending an internal audit of the school police department that still isn't complete. Normally, such audits take two weeks.
Outside private investigators have also been called in.
The scope of the inquiry has broadened beyond the initial examination of whether evidence room money was mishandled.
Investigators in recent weeks have been questioning whether Lovato took liberties in running his department and whether he improperly directed APS resources to benefit one of his supervisors.
They've also been looking at several investigations he ordered.
Lovato, 60, has declined to comment publicly since being placed on leave.
"The only thing I can accuse myself of is working hard," he told the Journal last month.
The supervisor, Cynthia West, oversees the eight-person dispatch unit of the school police. She is a 20-year APS employee whose husband works as a school police lieutenant.
West referred questions to her attorney, Kari Morrissey, who said last week she wouldn't comment about specifics because of the ongoing investigation.
"What I can tell you is that I have talked to her (West) and she feels absolutely 100 percent confident that she has behaved professionally and ethically," Morrissey said. "She's never engaged in any type of misconduct, and we expect that this investigation is going to yield those results."
School district officials— who had been sweating out a mill levy election until last week's "yes" vote— remain tight-lipped about the department probe.
They have ordered police employees not to talk and say they don't know whether any aspect of the investigation results will ever be made public.
Journal interviews with current and former school employees, along with documents obtained by the Journal, provide insight into areas of inquiry.
For instance, during Lovato's tenure:
Nineteen people have contacted the school district's Equal Employment Opportunity office to complain about personnel issues in the police agency. Twelve of the complaints name Lovato as a respondent. Allegations include harassment, use of abusive language, sex discrimination and sexual harassment. APS won't say how any of those were resolved.
Hundreds of dollars seized as evidence were moved to the police agency's petty cash fund when the money should have been returned to district coffers.
No documentation exists for deposits into the petty cash fund and records are missing as to how money was spent.
West earned more than $5,000 in overtime last year. While on vacation, she was permitted to add to her paycheck by selling compensatory time back to APS.
During her monthlong vacation, Lovato made 91 calls to West on his APS cell phone, records show.
Lovato approved installing a high-tech surveillance camera at West's home and sent a team of APS detectives to Texas to investigate a suspect accused of harassing her on the telephone— a misdemeanor. No charges have followed.
West is the only civilian in the school district who has a take-home car. She drives an unmarked police car in an agency where a lack of vehicles has forced school police employees to double up or use personal cars to answer calls.
Taking over a 'mess'
Back in 1990, Lovato won out over 69 candidates who wanted to head what was then called APS school security.
Lovato had been a captain with the Albuquerque Police Department at the time— winding up a career that had its ups and downs.
He had a disciplinary record and was sent to "anger management," according to a newspaper account in 1985.
Lovato called it "conflict management" and noted he had 80 letters of recommendation in his personnel file.
Three days after retiring from APD, Lovato took over a school district police agency that outside auditors had characterized as a "mess" and "a disaster area."
The agency of 130 employees is now called the APS Police Department and handles security and law enforcement duties for an 89,000-student district of 131 schools, according to the APS police Web site.
Since Lovato took over as chief, his annual salary has jumped from $37,879 to $77,597. The agency's annual budget has nearly tripled and is now an estimated $2.7 million.
'Unethical activity'
APS documents show that, since the early 1990s, 12 of 19 people who contacted the district's EEO office about police department-related issues complained specifically about Lovato.
Of those who complained, one is a well-known high school principal; another is a high-ranking APS official.
APS spokesman Rigo Chavez wouldn't reveal the outcome of any of the complaints.
In November, a former school police campus service aide filed a lawsuit against APS alleging employment discrimination, retaliation and harassment.
Christine Apodaca alleges that Lovato denied her the opportunity to become a sworn law enforcement officer. She also accused him of belittling her in staff meetings, creating a hostile work environment and intimidating and threatening her.
At least two unsigned letters were sent to APS officials over the past six months alleging, in the words of one letter, "immoral and unethical activity that has been taking place in our police department."
The allegations weren't officially investigated until APS internal auditor Alan Wesson received information in January about problems with the school police evidence room.
Take-home car
Back in 1997, a member of the APS Board of Education asked during a public meeting why the school police dispatch supervisor needed a take-home car when district finances were tight.
Lovato, according to a news report at the time, replied that the dispatch supervisor also served as the evidence clerk and was on call to enter crime evidence, such as confiscated items.
School district spokesman Chavez said the APS police organizational chart currently shows West as having responsibility for evidence, "but she has not actually had that responsibility for the past three years."
More recently, employees say, Lovato has defended West's take-home car, describing it as a "mobile communications dispatch center."
Last year, APS budget cutbacks forced about three dozen district administrators to give up their take-home cars, according to news reports.
But West was allowed to keep her car. Chavez said APS officials concluded that West and school police were deemed to be "emergency responders" and needed cars.
A Journal survey of UNM police, APD and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department shows none of their dispatch supervisors is permitted a take-home car.
The shortage of APS police cars in recent months has forced some police officials to drive personal vehicles on the job.
Meanwhile, campus police aides have been doubling up or tripling in police vehicles because there aren't enough cars to go around.
Two new vehicles are expected to arrive later this month.
$5,100 in overtime
Investigators have also been looking into compensation issues.
West, who earns $46,597 annually, claimed more than $5,100 in overtime in 2006.
Nearly all of it was for working on Saturdays or Sundays.
Most of the overtime was claimed in the latter part of 2006, while West accrued more than 128 hours of compensatory time from June 2005 to May 2006.
Her reasons for the extra work were listed as "dispatch" or "dispatch shortage."
Lovato generally signed off on her overtime.
At times, her husband, Lt. Dave West, signed on Lovato's behalf.
Since Lovato was placed on leave Jan. 6, West hasn't claimed any overtime. She had two hours of compensatory time last month.
Last September, West announced in an internal e-mail that she would be on annual leave from Sept. 23 to Oct. 23 and an acting supervisor would take her place.
West used 80 hours of compensatory time for the first two weeks and then took two weeks vacation leave.
Investigators looked into a tip that she had paid overtime while she was on vacation.
West was paid $304.10 in overtime following the week ending Oct. 6.
But records show the overtime was for work she did in early September, before going on vacation.
Records also show West sold back 20 hours of her accrued compensatory time to APS last October.
Spokesman Chavez said he is not aware of any written policy allowing such a practice. He said it "is not a common practice," but added, that "it is not unheard of."
Cell phone calls
Investigators have also been looking at Lovato's cell phone calls.
A Journal review of APS phone bills shows 460 calls were placed from Lovato's APS-issued cell phone to West's private cell phone during a six-month period from June 11 to Dec. 12 last year.
During that time period, Lovato received 261 calls from West's private cell phone.
Roughly 60 percent of the calls occurred after 5 p.m., on weekends or while West was on vacation.
The dispatch office said West typically works days, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Dec. 4, records show 56 calls from Lovato's APS phone to West's. The calls were made between 5:14 p.m. and 11:56 p.m.
During West's vacation— which included a trip to Europe— 91 calls were made from Lovato's phone to West's.
More recent records weren't available from APS.
Surveillance camera
Last May, the school police dispatch office began receiving hang-up calls. Then an anonymous caller began targeting Lovato and West in calls peppered with insults and abusive language.
Before it was over, Lovato had put four different officers and a police computer technician on the case, which was a misdemeanor crime.
Two APS detectives traveled to Odessa, Texas, to interview a suspect, and Lovato ordered a low-light night vision surveillance camera installed at West's home.
The investigation was estimated to have cost more than $6,000 in overtime and travel.
No arrests related to the telephone harassment case have been made. The camera can still be seen outside West's far Northeast home.
Evidence room cash
The issue that triggered the current inquiry was whether money seized as evidence from students during campus drug busts ended up being improperly converted to the petty cash fund controlled by Lovato.
Lovato said in early January that his agency's petty cash fund amounted to only a few dollars a month, collected from copying charges for police reports requested by the public.
But APS could produce no ledger or accounting for the fund over the past three years. APS was also unable to produce any records of deposits, even from fees for copying police reports.
More than a dozen handwritten receipts APS turned over show Lovato tapped the fund to buy bottled water, soda for the office, and to get his patrol car washed in 2004 and 2006.
There were no receipts for the year 2005.
APS records show at least $300 was transferred to the petty cash fund after being seized as evidence and forfeited by a District Court judge in 2005.
Other records obtained by the Journal show $1,085 was placed in a police department safe in late 1998— only to be depleted by a series of withdrawals.
One document has handwritten entries showing six withdrawals of $165 or more at various times during 1999.
The withdrawals appear to have been made by Lovato or his secretary, and most carry his initials.
One handwritten note dated Sept. 23, 1999, states "$300 to Gil Lovato." Underneath that sentence is another handwritten note stating, "Returned $300 on 10/6/99."
Another note dated Dec. 30, 1999, states "$200 to G. Lovato for flashlight Y2K."
By September 2000, the last $165 was removed from the fund.
"New balance from evidence is 0," states a handwritten notation.
State law requires that money seized as evidence or "fruits of a crime" be returned either to the rightful owner or be forfeited.
If a judge had approved a forfeiture, the money should have been returned to the APS general fund where administrators could allocate it back to the police department, according to former APS business officer Michael Vigil.
Vigil said he would never have approved a loan from the fund.
Lovato has said the money was transferred appropriately and was used to buy office supplies.
Independent agency
When Lovato was tapped for the APS job, he faced a major public relations task.
His predecessor, security chief Daryl Harrell, had resigned in the wake of a Journal investigative report.
According to story published in February 1990, Harrell and his operations assistant, Roxie Joyner, had spent work time together in a Sandia Mountains cabin.
The story also reported Joyner had collected $25,000 overtime in a 30-month period. The Bernalillo County district attorney and the Albuquerque Police Department launched a joint investigation.
No criminal charges were filed. But the APS-funded audit that followed was highly critical, citing a lack of accountability and professionalism within the department.
School board member Leonard DeLayo was quoted back then as saying his primary concern is "what kind of system do we have that lends itself to no accountability."
DeLayo, who didn't seek re-election and leaves the board March 1, said in a recent interview that he has heard nothing negative about the APS police agency with Lovato as chief.
He added, "I think one of the issues with that department is that it traditionally has been independent, and I think as a result of that independence things tend to get skewed."
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Court Limits Schools' Search of Students
By Amy Miller, Journal Staff Writer
Students can't be searched just because a school official has a hunch they have done something illegal, the state Court of Appeals has ruled.
The ruling upheld a district court decision that two Rio Grande High School campus security aides didn't have reasonable suspicion to search a student who was "acting a little nervous" when approached.
The student, identified only as Pablo R., was found in possession of a weapon and drug paraphernalia. The ruling grants the student's request to suppress evidence in his juvenile case.
Assistant Attorney General Arthur Pepin said his office was disappointed.
"We feel the safety concerns the school expressed are legitimate, and it (the ruling) makes it more difficult for the school to provide a safe learning environment," Pepin said.
The decision was filed in April, and the state Supreme Court declined to review it in June.
Assistant Appellate Defender Nancy Hewitt said the court case should not change how schools operate.
The U.S. Supreme Court has established that school officials must have a good reason to suspect that students have violated the law or a school rule before searching them.
That has been Albuquerque Public Schools' policy for several years, APS spokesman Rigo Chavez said.
However, he said APS police officers and campus security aides will be briefed on the decision and others that define reasonable suspicion during annual training sessions.
Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said the decision does "clarify the rights that students have against unwarranted, unjustifiable searches of their person by school administrators."
"We have such a problem in our public schools with misunderstandings about where students' constitutional rights begin and end," he said.
Reasonable suspicion
The court said school officials don't need a search warrant or even probable cause to search a student's belongings.
But students have a constitutional right to privacy, so "the search of a student must still be reasonable under the circumstances in order to withstand constitutional scrutiny," wrote state Appeals Court Judge Michael Vigil. Judges Cynthia Fry and Ira Robinson concurred.
The court said school officials must have reasonable suspicion based on specific facts, and there must be a connection between what they searched for and what they found.
What reasonable suspicion actually means on school grounds to school officials has been a gray area, legal experts agreed.
"Reasonable suspicion is a standard that inevitably will vary from case to case, depending on the circumstances school officials find themselves in at the time," said Chief Public Defender John Bigelow.
In this case, the student was walking down a Rio Grande High hallway on Dec. 15, 2003, without a pass. He said he had been late to class and been instructed by his teacher to go to the office for a late pass.
A campus security aide stopped him and thought "something was wrong" because he seemed nervous and fidgety.
The student was directed to the security office, where two aides frisked him and searched his jacket. They found a pipe containing what appeared to be marijuana residue and a pair of brass knuckles.
The campus security aide admitted that when he stopped the student, he did not suspect any criminal activity or smell marijuana. He became concerned the student "might have a weapon or anything else like marijuana," because the student appeared nervous.
The Appeals Court said that didn't meet the test to allow a search.
"This was nothing more than a hunch and insufficient as a matter of law to provide reasonable suspicion to conduct the search," Vigil wrote. "Reasonable suspicion must exist at the inception of the search; the State cannot rely on facts which arise as a result of the search, such as the discovery of the weapon and drug paraphernalia on Child."
Students can't be searched just because a school official has a hunch they have done something illegal, the state Court of Appeals has ruled.
The ruling upheld a district court decision that two Rio Grande High School campus security aides didn't have reasonable suspicion to search a student who was "acting a little nervous" when approached.
The student, identified only as Pablo R., was found in possession of a weapon and drug paraphernalia. The ruling grants the student's request to suppress evidence in his juvenile case.
Assistant Attorney General Arthur Pepin said his office was disappointed.
"We feel the safety concerns the school expressed are legitimate, and it (the ruling) makes it more difficult for the school to provide a safe learning environment," Pepin said.
The decision was filed in April, and the state Supreme Court declined to review it in June.
Assistant Appellate Defender Nancy Hewitt said the court case should not change how schools operate.
The U.S. Supreme Court has established that school officials must have a good reason to suspect that students have violated the law or a school rule before searching them.
That has been Albuquerque Public Schools' policy for several years, APS spokesman Rigo Chavez said.
However, he said APS police officers and campus security aides will be briefed on the decision and others that define reasonable suspicion during annual training sessions.
Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said the decision does "clarify the rights that students have against unwarranted, unjustifiable searches of their person by school administrators."
"We have such a problem in our public schools with misunderstandings about where students' constitutional rights begin and end," he said.
Reasonable suspicion
The court said school officials don't need a search warrant or even probable cause to search a student's belongings.
But students have a constitutional right to privacy, so "the search of a student must still be reasonable under the circumstances in order to withstand constitutional scrutiny," wrote state Appeals Court Judge Michael Vigil. Judges Cynthia Fry and Ira Robinson concurred.
The court said school officials must have reasonable suspicion based on specific facts, and there must be a connection between what they searched for and what they found.
What reasonable suspicion actually means on school grounds to school officials has been a gray area, legal experts agreed.
"Reasonable suspicion is a standard that inevitably will vary from case to case, depending on the circumstances school officials find themselves in at the time," said Chief Public Defender John Bigelow.
In this case, the student was walking down a Rio Grande High hallway on Dec. 15, 2003, without a pass. He said he had been late to class and been instructed by his teacher to go to the office for a late pass.
A campus security aide stopped him and thought "something was wrong" because he seemed nervous and fidgety.
The student was directed to the security office, where two aides frisked him and searched his jacket. They found a pipe containing what appeared to be marijuana residue and a pair of brass knuckles.
The campus security aide admitted that when he stopped the student, he did not suspect any criminal activity or smell marijuana. He became concerned the student "might have a weapon or anything else like marijuana," because the student appeared nervous.
The Appeals Court said that didn't meet the test to allow a search.
"This was nothing more than a hunch and insufficient as a matter of law to provide reasonable suspicion to conduct the search," Vigil wrote. "Reasonable suspicion must exist at the inception of the search; the State cannot rely on facts which arise as a result of the search, such as the discovery of the weapon and drug paraphernalia on Child."
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Tic Tacs Apology Offered
By Andrea Schoellkopf, Journal Staff Writer
An off-duty police officer was reprimanded for not following procedure when he searched a middle school student accused of having drugs on the bus.
It turned out that the student only had a box of Tic Tacs.
The family of Scott Mills, now a Taylor Middle School eighth-grader, also has received a written apology from Albuquerque Police Chief Raymond Schultz after an investigation by the city's Independent Review Office.
"A preponderance of the evidence convinces that the off-duty officer should have called dispatch and either requested an on-duty officer to handle this issue or informed an on-duty officer what he was doing," independent review officer Jay Rowland said in the Sept. 8 letter to Joan Waters, an attorney for the Mills family.
Scott Mills had been ordered off a school bus and searched by an off-duty, out-of-uniform police officer, Rudy Llamas, after another student accused him of having drugs, though he had been sharing candy with friends.
His parents filed a lawsuit after failed attempts to learn the identity of the officer and the circumstances surrounding the search. The lawsuit alleged unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force, negligent hiring and supervision, negligence and defamation.
The Mills family announced last week that they planned to drop their lawsuit after the city began cooperating with them. They had reached a settlement with the bus company, Durham D&M, earlier this summer.
Waters said Monday while the police investigation supports the family's claim, they have no wish to pursue litigation and she doesn't believe Scott's constitutional rights were violated.
"The system works," Waters said. "And as an attorney, I'm pretty jaded. I had heard good things about the police chief and they're all true."
Arlette Mills said Tuesday she was "elated" to receive the letters from the city— which had both been written and mailed prior to the family dropping the lawsuit.
"I am glad that somebody got it," Mills said, "and they're going to fix it so it doesn't happen to the next person.
"I basically got an apology, I never thought I would get."
Schultz had written a letter Sept. 7 to the Mills family, indicating the officer had been disciplined in the matter and it would be noted in his permanent record.
"I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," Schultz wrote. "It is unfortunate that you had an unfavorable experience with a member of the Albuquerque Police Department; however, I would hope that this one incident does not taint your total impression of the department."
Rowland's letter said the investigation was made based on the complaint and an interview by the officer.
"In my opinion, there was no probable cause for a search for drugs, even a minor stop and frisk for drugs," Rowland said. "But I do not believe the officer should be disciplined under these circumstances for an illegal search."
Such a search, he said, would be acceptable on school grounds where the rules are "quite relaxed" on searches of children.
But he recommended that the police— in the future— require reports of all searches, pat downs or any touching of a minor.
The Mills family also had written the city with a similar request.
Rowland's letter also detailed the circumstances of the search.
According to the letter, Llamas was off-duty but driving a marked car. The bus driver— who had driven toward the police car— motioned for him to help her, telling him that two boys had marijuana.
The officer patted down both boys— found no drugs— and removed a case of Tic Tacs from Scott's pocket when he suspected a possible weapon.
A middle school girl riding the bus told the officer the drugs were in the candy case, but the officer determined there were no drugs.
An off-duty police officer was reprimanded for not following procedure when he searched a middle school student accused of having drugs on the bus.
It turned out that the student only had a box of Tic Tacs.
The family of Scott Mills, now a Taylor Middle School eighth-grader, also has received a written apology from Albuquerque Police Chief Raymond Schultz after an investigation by the city's Independent Review Office.
"A preponderance of the evidence convinces that the off-duty officer should have called dispatch and either requested an on-duty officer to handle this issue or informed an on-duty officer what he was doing," independent review officer Jay Rowland said in the Sept. 8 letter to Joan Waters, an attorney for the Mills family.
Scott Mills had been ordered off a school bus and searched by an off-duty, out-of-uniform police officer, Rudy Llamas, after another student accused him of having drugs, though he had been sharing candy with friends.
His parents filed a lawsuit after failed attempts to learn the identity of the officer and the circumstances surrounding the search. The lawsuit alleged unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force, negligent hiring and supervision, negligence and defamation.
The Mills family announced last week that they planned to drop their lawsuit after the city began cooperating with them. They had reached a settlement with the bus company, Durham D&M, earlier this summer.
Waters said Monday while the police investigation supports the family's claim, they have no wish to pursue litigation and she doesn't believe Scott's constitutional rights were violated.
"The system works," Waters said. "And as an attorney, I'm pretty jaded. I had heard good things about the police chief and they're all true."
Arlette Mills said Tuesday she was "elated" to receive the letters from the city— which had both been written and mailed prior to the family dropping the lawsuit.
"I am glad that somebody got it," Mills said, "and they're going to fix it so it doesn't happen to the next person.
"I basically got an apology, I never thought I would get."
Schultz had written a letter Sept. 7 to the Mills family, indicating the officer had been disciplined in the matter and it would be noted in his permanent record.
"I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," Schultz wrote. "It is unfortunate that you had an unfavorable experience with a member of the Albuquerque Police Department; however, I would hope that this one incident does not taint your total impression of the department."
Rowland's letter said the investigation was made based on the complaint and an interview by the officer.
"In my opinion, there was no probable cause for a search for drugs, even a minor stop and frisk for drugs," Rowland said. "But I do not believe the officer should be disciplined under these circumstances for an illegal search."
Such a search, he said, would be acceptable on school grounds where the rules are "quite relaxed" on searches of children.
But he recommended that the police— in the future— require reports of all searches, pat downs or any touching of a minor.
The Mills family also had written the city with a similar request.
Rowland's letter also detailed the circumstances of the search.
According to the letter, Llamas was off-duty but driving a marked car. The bus driver— who had driven toward the police car— motioned for him to help her, telling him that two boys had marijuana.
The officer patted down both boys— found no drugs— and removed a case of Tic Tacs from Scott's pocket when he suspected a possible weapon.
A middle school girl riding the bus told the officer the drugs were in the candy case, but the officer determined there were no drugs.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Ex-City Cop Won't Be Retried on Sex Charge
Journal Staff Report
Bernalillo County prosecutors say they will not seek a retrial for a former Albuquerque police sergeant charged in 2001 with molesting a child.
Mike Garcia, 47, was tried last month, but the jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of criminal sexual contact with a minor. Jurors voted 11-1 in favor of acquittal.
Jurors acquitted Garcia on a lesser charge of tampering with evidence.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Trabaudo this week filed papers to drop the sexual contact charge against Garcia, saying the victim in the case did not want a retrial.
Mary Han, Garcia's attorney, applauded Trabaudo's decision Thursday.
"I know the district attorney is not going to regret doing this," Han said. "I'm grateful that Lisa Trabaudo made the right decision."
Garcia, an 18-year veteran of the force, had been a supervisor of APD's school resource officer program.
He was fired in October 2001 shortly after he was indicted by a Bernalillo grand jury for inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl who was staying at his family's Albuquerque home. He was fired less than two years before retirement.
Bernalillo County prosecutors say they will not seek a retrial for a former Albuquerque police sergeant charged in 2001 with molesting a child.
Mike Garcia, 47, was tried last month, but the jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of criminal sexual contact with a minor. Jurors voted 11-1 in favor of acquittal.
Jurors acquitted Garcia on a lesser charge of tampering with evidence.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Trabaudo this week filed papers to drop the sexual contact charge against Garcia, saying the victim in the case did not want a retrial.
Mary Han, Garcia's attorney, applauded Trabaudo's decision Thursday.
"I know the district attorney is not going to regret doing this," Han said. "I'm grateful that Lisa Trabaudo made the right decision."
Garcia, an 18-year veteran of the force, had been a supervisor of APD's school resource officer program.
He was fired in October 2001 shortly after he was indicted by a Bernalillo grand jury for inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl who was staying at his family's Albuquerque home. He was fired less than two years before retirement.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Suit Against City, Officer Dismissed
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer
The city of Albuquerque and a city police officer are the winners in an excessive force lawsuit brought by the father of a girl shot with a Taser gun in 2000.
After two days of jury trial this week in federal court in Roswell, Judge Bobby Baldock granted a judgment Thursday in favor of the city before the defense presented its case.
The lawsuit was filed in 2002 by Andrew Aragon on behalf of his daughter, Christina Aragon, a high school student who was planning to attend a party at a vacant house. APD Officer Jeff Ferner shot the student as she attempted to flee from the home.
Baldock, a senior judge on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, takes some New Mexico federal district court cases.
Baldock dismissed the lawsuit after ruling there was "no legally sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable jury could find for the plaintiff."
According to the lawsuit, Christina Aragon was with friends who "believed they were supposed (to) open the house for a band to set up their equipment."
The Oct. 21, 2000, party at a home in the 900 block of Solano NE had been advertised through a flier circulated at Sandia High School. A copy of the flier was faxed to the Albuquerque Police Department because of satanic references, said Luis Robles, who represented Ferner at trial.
The students did not have permission to be in the vacant house, and APD officers waited at the home to see if anyone would illegally enter, the defense said.
Officers saw several individuals in Hidden Park, which is behind the home, jump the fence and attempt to enter the home.
After Aragon was shot, she underwent emergency surgery to remove metal barbs shot by the Taser, the complaint states. The barbs are connected to a handheld unit by thin wires that pulse electrical current into the target.
"His intention was to hit her in the back (only with the Taser charge), but because she was running down steps one of the barbs hit her in the back," Robles said.
In dismissing the case, Baldock also ruled the city can recover its costs from the plaintiff.
The city of Albuquerque and a city police officer are the winners in an excessive force lawsuit brought by the father of a girl shot with a Taser gun in 2000.
After two days of jury trial this week in federal court in Roswell, Judge Bobby Baldock granted a judgment Thursday in favor of the city before the defense presented its case.
The lawsuit was filed in 2002 by Andrew Aragon on behalf of his daughter, Christina Aragon, a high school student who was planning to attend a party at a vacant house. APD Officer Jeff Ferner shot the student as she attempted to flee from the home.
Baldock, a senior judge on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, takes some New Mexico federal district court cases.
Baldock dismissed the lawsuit after ruling there was "no legally sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable jury could find for the plaintiff."
According to the lawsuit, Christina Aragon was with friends who "believed they were supposed (to) open the house for a band to set up their equipment."
The Oct. 21, 2000, party at a home in the 900 block of Solano NE had been advertised through a flier circulated at Sandia High School. A copy of the flier was faxed to the Albuquerque Police Department because of satanic references, said Luis Robles, who represented Ferner at trial.
The students did not have permission to be in the vacant house, and APD officers waited at the home to see if anyone would illegally enter, the defense said.
Officers saw several individuals in Hidden Park, which is behind the home, jump the fence and attempt to enter the home.
After Aragon was shot, she underwent emergency surgery to remove metal barbs shot by the Taser, the complaint states. The barbs are connected to a handheld unit by thin wires that pulse electrical current into the target.
"His intention was to hit her in the back (only with the Taser charge), but because she was running down steps one of the barbs hit her in the back," Robles said.
In dismissing the case, Baldock also ruled the city can recover its costs from the plaintiff.
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