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.

Complaints Against APD Are On Rise

By Jeff Proctor, Journal Staff Writer

Citizen complaints against the Albuquerque Police Department are on the rise, according to a report compiled by the city's Independent Review Office.
The report also concludes that APD and the district attorney's office need to deal more swiftly with cases that involve police shootings and possible criminal wrongdoing by officers.
A record 25 citizen complaints were made to the Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission in June, bringing the yearly total to 136, according to the quarterly report.
The 220 complaints filed last year were the most in the commission's five-year history, and Rowland is convinced that record will be broken this year.
However, the rising volume of complaints doesn't reflect negatively on APD, said Independent Review Officer Jay Rowland.
"It means citizens have more faith in the system and they're more willing to come forward for resolutions," he said. "These complaints have (been) shown to benefit the department. This is what oversight is all about."
For example, the POC for months was inundated with complaints about inadequate staffing, medical care and other shortcomings at a prisoner transfer station, Rowland said.
The station was closed March 10 after an inspection by Rowland and an APD Internal Affairs commander.
Though the citizen complaint portion of the oversight process has improved each year, cases involving police shootings and officer wrongdoing are taking far too long to be resolved, the report shows.
Those cases begin with an APD criminal investigation, then go to the DA and Internal Affairs before Rowland reviews them.
Rowland said he knows of at least eight cases that are backlogged at APD and the DA's office, some of which have been pending longer than 18 months.
Several months ago, the POC sent letters to Mayor Martin Chávez and the DA's office requesting police shooting cases be dealt with faster, Rowland said.
Since then, the DA's office has completed five cases and sent them to the POC, he said.
Commissioners and police recently began researching ways to speed up cases involving criminal wrongdoing by officers, he said.
"We're starting to gather information about which cases are pending (with APD) so we can keep the system moving," Rowland said.
The POC has resolved 99 of this year's citizen complaints; 37 are pending, according to Rowland's report. In 17 cases, the oversight commission has sustained the complaint.
APD has disciplined 94 percent of the officers in sustained cases, the report shows.
Last year, officers were disciplined in 87 percent of sustained cases, as compared with 58 percent in 2002 and 60 percent in 2001, according to the report.

Muslim Mallgoers Detained by Police

By Olivier Uyttebrouck, Journal Staff Writer

Members of Albuquerque's Islamic community said police practiced racial profiling on Sunday by detaining eight people for up to two hours at Coronado Center.
Essa Dalloul, 20, said an Albuquerque police officer stopped him about 6 p.m. in the mall concourse, placed him in handcuffs and made him sit on the floor for nearly two hours before releasing him.
"I felt kind of embarrassed and humiliated," Dalloul said Friday at a news conference at the Islamic Center of New Mexico. "I just went shopping, and I find myself on the floor in handcuffs."
Albuquerque Police Department Chief Gil Gallegos said officers were summoned by mall security after two Middle Eastern men were seen praying outside the mall. Dalloul, who was not one of the men praying, was cuffed and detained for about 45 minutes, he said.
"He was not arrested and he was not mistreated," Gallegos said of Dalloul. "There was no racial profiling."
Police have remained on heightened alert since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he said.
"We responded to (mall) security's call," he said. "Doing anything less would be a disservice because of security concerns since 9/11."
Ahmad Assed, Dalloul's attorney, said the report of Islamic men praying near the mall did not justify police detaining and cuffing Dalloul, an Albuquerque resident and U.S. citizen.
Muslims pray five times a day and the two men had found a grassy place near the mall to pray, Assed said. Police brought the two men into the mall but did not cuff them, he said.
Five of Dalloul's friends and relatives asked police why they were holding Dalloul, Assed said. Police responded by seizing their identification cards until about 8 p.m., he said.
"We strongly recommend that (Albuquerque police) make an effort to educate its personnel on Islamic practices and that it make an effort to reach out to our Islamic community," board members of the Islamic Center said in a written statement.

APD Oversight Bill Passes

By Lloyd Jojola, Journal Staff Writer

A bill aimed at beefing up Albuquerque police oversight has been approved by the City Council.
"There were a lot of issues about the (Police Oversight Commission) and the (Independent Review Officer) not having enough teeth," said City Councilor Brad Winter, who sponsored the amendment of the city's police oversight ordinance. "What these amendments did is give the POC some teeth."
The oversight commission and independent review office were formed under a bill passed in 1998 to enhance civilian oversight of the city's police department. Winter said the oversight commission and the police chief agree on citizen complaint and police excessive force cases the vast majority of the time. How the disagreements are dealt with raised issues.
The nine-member council unanimously passed the bill Monday. It will be forwarded to Mayor Martin Chávez.
The Police Oversight Commission will increase in size from seven to nine members, or one from each council district, under the measure. Training requirements are also added for commissioners.
Some of the changes are more significant than others, said Jay A. Rowland, the city's independent review officer.
"Our big, significant one is the POC is now going to make all the findings, not me," Rowland said. "This gives them the opportunity to really get their fingers in it if they want to. Before, they really didn't have that choice. But I felt it was more important to transfer whatever authority I had to them so that they are the guys that have to make the decisions."
In addition, the POC findings will go into the officer's record even if they disagree with the chief, he said. The POC, chief or officer also can appeal to the city's chief administrative officer if there is a disagreement on findings.
Rowland said the measure also clarifies the police chief cannot change findings.
A system will be put in place "where if anybody feels it's appropriate to change findings that there is now a standard for review and a procedure that it's got to go back to the POC and the POC decides," Rowland said.
While the bill was tweaked somewhat after representatives of the POC, IRO, the police department, police union and the administration met, people seemed satisfied with it.
"What I'm happy about is we met with all the players ... and we worked things out," said POC Chairman Joe T. Gutierrez. "We gave in a little and they gave in a little, and I feel very comfortable with the outcome."
Said Winter, "I really think that this is democracy at work, and this is a great bill. And, you know, maybe down the road in a couple of years we might try to make it a little stronger."

Changes May Be in Store for Rules on Police Oversight

By Lloyd Jojola, Journal Staff Report

Changes could be in store for the ordinance that governs police oversight.
"We needed more teeth," Police Oversight Commission Chairman Joe T. Gutierrez said. "Not only to oversee but to make sure that the process works."
The City Council is scheduled at its 5 p.m. Monday meeting to consider the bill to amend the existing ordinance.
The bill, as it was initially proposed, has forced discussion between the police department, officers union, the oversight commission and the independent review officer. Those groups have suggested additional changes.
The oversight commission and the independent review office were created under a bill passed in 1998 to enhance civilian oversight of the city police department.
"It is absolutely critical for these amendments to pass to give the POC the authority that goes along with the responsibility that the city has placed on them," said Jay Rowland, the city's independent review officer.
According to a council analysis, one change would clarify that, when the review officer and chief of police agree on findings, the findings would be considered final. In addition, the findings could not be changed without first notifying the POC, review officer and individuals involved in the complaint.
The change addresses a situation that arose when Police Chief Gil Gallegos changed some findings that were previously decided on by the review officer and POC, the analysis states.
"Without making this change, findings can be changed for any reason by the chief and are never really 'final,' '' the analysis reads.
Gallegos said there have only been two instances in which that has occurred, "and they were not citizen complaints, they were internal complaints."
Gutierrez said the biggest issue of contention seems to be an amendment that would require findings of the review officer to be placed in the police officer's record.
Another amendment deals with disagreements between the oversight commission and chief, Rowland said.
"The POC wanted an ability to resolve that by taking it to the (city's chief administrative officer)," Rowland said.

Misconduct Allegations Try APD

By Chris Vogel, Journal Staff Writer

It's been a rough 10 months for the Albuquerque Police Department.

As Gilbert Gallegos enters his third year as police chief, the department faces allegations of corruption, officer misconduct and use of excessive force.

There are also union problems, staffing shortages and criticism from the city's independent review officer, who investigates citizen complaints.

But Mayor Martin Chávez said the jobs of Gallegos and Nick Bakas, chief public safety officer, are safe.

Chávez, in a recent interview, saluted APD for lowering the city's crime rate.
He said the department is on track.
"That doesn't mean (Gallegos and Bakas) have not been taken out to the woodshed a couple times; they have ... " he said. But, he added, "overall, the police department is doing very well."
Among APD's problems:

A high-ranking officer was disciplined for giving the mayor's wife a break on a parking ticket.

An officer was indicted last summer after he was accused of detaining people for no reason at traffic stops, and another resigned after he was accused of forcing a woman he had stopped to expose herself.

After a surprise inspection, the department's jail transfer station was shut down this month because of possible mistreatment of prisoners.

And potentially the most damaging: allegations that civilian employees stole thousands of dollars in money and property from APD's evidence unit, and that top officials covered it up.
Jay Rowland, the city's Independent Review Officer, has at times clashed with Gallegos over complaints of officer misconduct.
"The department clearly has some problems and needs civilian oversight," Rowland said recently.
Gallegos and Bakas acknowledge that APD has its troubles.
"I know we have a lot of issues we're addressing right now, but we have a good department," Gallegos said in an interview earlier this month. "It's a very professional department."
Said Bakas, "When we talk about corruption, I remember the days when officers were accused of murder and burglary— that in my mind is corruption. I've seen corruption, I know corruption, and we are not where we were many years ago. In perspective, we're doing very well."

Top brass under fire
The leadership of Gallegos and Bakas was questioned when the allegations of evidence theft surfaced.
In early March, an anonymous memo alleged that the two men at one point turned a blind eye to the accusations. They deny they delayed investigating the evidence unit and said the department should be recognized for locating, then investigating possible internal crime.
Evidence-handling problems are not new for APD. A 1999 city audit found improper storage of money, lax security, problems with evidence and inventory procedures and discrepancies between accounts.
As a result, cash is now kept in a vault behind a locked gate, according to a followup 2003 audit.
"Apparently, we had some ongoing problems with the evidence room," Gallegos said. "Why wasn't something done in 1999? It was me who initiated the (recent) internal investigation to find out what in the hell is going on, and some people seem to forget that.
"To let the unit go to what it was in 1999 and earlier would be irresponsible, but to do the things this department did was the common sense and professional thing to do, and I'd do it all over again."
He said the internal investigation was launched when a routine inspection in August uncovered possible misconduct by unit employees. Along with the internal probe, APD asked the Attorney General's Office to conduct an inquiry.
"I've heard all the rumors, and all I can say is that I hope the department acted as quickly as possible," said Jeff Remington, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association.
Chávez said he was pleased that the AG's Office was brought in. Its findings will determine whether Gallegos and Bakas acted quickly enough, he said.
The parking ticket break for first lady Margaret Aragón de Chávez resulted in disciplinary action for APD Capt. Conrad Candelaria.
An internal investigation determined that Candelaria broke department procedures when he used his discretion to reduce the ticket to a warning. Candelaria has said that neither the mayor nor his wife had contacted APD.
Last summer, officers Christopher Chase and Duane Currell were indicted for allegedly abusing people during traffic stops.
Chase was fired for detaining people for no apparent reason, according to an indictment. In all, the indictment alleges that 11 people were victims of numerous crimes, including sexual assault.
In an unrelated incident, Currell resigned after he was accused of coercing a woman into exposing herself, then grabbing her during a traffic stop, according to an APD investigation.
Last fall, the department's emergency line came under scrutiny when residents failed to reach an operator after dialing 911. APD hired more operators after an internal review and a visit by Chávez to the dispatch room.
The prisoner transfer station near the Big I was closed after a surprise inspection by Rowland and internal affairs officers uncovered understaffing and possible mistreatment of prisoners. That means arresting officers must drive prisoners more than 20 miles to the new West Side jail.
Rowland reported a lack of medical care, an erratic toilet and a prisoner handcuffed outside the station without shoes and pants.
The fate of the station highlights what has been a thorny relationship between Gallegos and Rowland.
Rowland independently investigates citizen complaints and forwards his findings to the Police Oversight Commission, which makes a ruling. But it is up to Gallegos to decide if an officer is disciplined.
Rowland said Gallegos agrees with him on about 97 percent of his findings. But their most common disagreements are over cases involving excessive force.
In the past 18 months, Rowland said he has determined that officers used excessive force in 10 complaints, only one of which Gallegos sustained.
"Our non-concurrence rate is low, but it concerns me that it's in the use of excessive force (cases)," Rowland said.
One case in which he found excessive force was during an anti-war protest near the University of New Mexico in March 2003. Gallegos didn't agree, and the officer was not disciplined.
Earlier this month, the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild filed a civil rights lawsuit claiming excessive force and free speech violations.
Despite APD's problems, Gallegos said his cops are taking care of the most important one— crime.
He pointed to national FBI crime figures, saying they show that crime dropped 10 percent in 2002 and 6 percent in 2003.

Goals for APD
Gallegos has a number of goals for APD, including installing a computer system that would allow officers to write reports online in their cars.
He has also started to replace the department's fleet of vehicles every five years as opposed to every eight years.
Remington said items like new cars help keep officers productive, but the greatest strain on morale is the lack of a contract. He said officers have not been given a raise or their promised pay step increases in more than two years.
In late February, Remington and other officers camped outside Civic Plaza for several nights to protest pay and what they say is a lack of leadership.
"In the past, APD was a very prestigious law enforcement agency, and hits like the evidence unit and not getting the (pay) steps damage morale," he said. "It hits the perception that we're working at a quality agency."
Gallegos said he was "very supportive regarding pay raises. I think our officers deserve them, and I am confident they will get something new in their paychecks in the next few months."
Chávez set a goal of staffing 1,000 officers by 2005, and the department failed to reach its intermediary goal of 955 in February. APD says it has 937 officers, while the union contends that the number is lower.
Bakas and Gallegos agree with the union that APD does not have enough officers.
"Yes, we are short," Gallegos said. "We know that, and that's why we're trying to beef up the force size."
Bakas acknowledges that a retiree who had a criminal record was hired and another was fired after failing a drug test, which was taken after the officer was assigned to full-time duty.
Regarding questions about his leadership, Gallegos mused during a recent interview about how public perceptions can change.
Thirty years ago, he was known as an Albuquerque police union advocate and became a national union leader as president of the national Fraternal Order of Police. He is still a board member.
"In 1975, I was mentioned in an Albuquerque Journal editorial as one of seven city heroes and leaders," he said. "Several years later, I'm a bum."
But Gallegos said he doesn't believe that about himself, and neither do Bakas and Chávez.
"I advise the chief on our preference on situations, but all the directors are expected to run their departments and the chief is doing a very good job," Bakas said.

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.