O.J. Simpson In Jail Again.

After a busy Saturday, I was watching E Hollywood True Story on Sunday, relaxing with my granddaughter when the show was interrupted for breaking news. O.J. Simpson was in jail again, this time the charges were not yet released but it was related to a reported armed robbery in Sin City. This case is very interesting in that O.J. and some acquaintances are accused of breaking into a hotel room at the Palace Station Hotel and retrieving some personal belongings he claims were stolen from him years ago. O.J. and accomplices are accused of taking these items at gunpoint.

He has made statements to police and the press and claims he did go to the room and retrieve items that were stolen from him, however he denies doing so at gunpoint. There seems to be no dispute that the items were stolen from him years ago. Therefor all he had to do was call the police and have them retrieve the items rather than engaging in his own sting operation. This will probably be a text book case for not taking the law into your own hands. What I have not seen happen yet is whether the alleged victims in the case will also be charged with possession of stolen items. The fact that the victims reported the crime seems to mean they are not afraid of being investigated.

Casino's are usually filled with camera's and O.J.'s trip from the lobby to the room is probably on film footage some where. That footage may or may not reveal some evidence. The fact that two weapons have reportedly been recovered and a previous arrest was already made means the noose is tightening around the case. Everyone remembers the first O.J. case and I am sure the D.A.'s Office in this case made sure they had a case before making the arrest.

The police department in this case is in a no win situation. The first line of defense will be to attack the police. Remind you of the last O.J. case? Police will be accused of "going after O.J." because he is a celebrity, because they wanted to get him after the last case, or just because.

O.J. will be made out to be the victim. Someone who could not rely on police, or did not trust the police so he had to take the law into his own hands in this case. In Sin City there is a good chance a jury will buy this argument. In one of the most liberal, do as you wish cities in America two wrongs just might make a right. I personally could never believe the verdict in the last O.J. Simpson case. As a police officer I have seen cases go awry when they go from the investigation to the courthouse. I have also seen local attorneys like Gary Mitchell make the police out to be the bad guys and in the process set a killer free. Don't get me wrong the defense attorney's were doing their job and in the battle of the courtroom they prevailed in the eyes of a jury. It is the system we call American Justice and most of the time it does work. None the less I still could not believe the O.J. verdict.

I can see the pavlov's dogs rushing to eat as the media hears O.J.'s bell being rung. It will be a long fall where my guess is we will see not much else on the news for the next few months. Of course maybe I am just as bad, I am here writing about it also.

Interesting comments on previous post

There has been some interesting comments on one of my previous posts. In the post I ended my ramblings with a comment on Eye on Albuquerque's thoughts on whether I will continue blogging now that I have announced a run for Lieutenant Governor. I ended my post with a the quote "you never have to remember what you said if you always say the truth".

This has sparked interesting comments and even a lesson from one reader on how to lie effectively. It's not the kind of thing I thought people would learn by reading my blog but they are some interesting comments.

Tips to prevent burglaries.

As reported first by the Santa Fe New Mexican's Jason Auslander and then picked up by all the rest of the media, the demographics have changed in residential burglaries during the last few months in Santa Fe County. One of the interesting notes in many of these burglaries is the fact that many of these homes had alarm systems which the owners did not activate before they left the home. This brings to mind the fact that this is a good time to remind everyone on some simple steps you can take to prevent burglaries at your home.

• Make your home look occupied, and make it difficult to break into.

• Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed. Even if it is for a short time, lock your doors.

• Leave lights on when you go out. If you are going to be away, connect some lamps to automatic timers to turn them on in the evening and off during the day. Use motion detector lights outside.

• Keep your garage door closed and locked.

• Don't allow daily deliveries of mail, newspapers or fliers to build up while you are away. Arrange with the post office to hold your mail, or arrange for a friend or neighbor to take them regularly.

• Push-button locks on doorknobs are easy for burglars to open. Install deadbolt locks on all your outside doors.

• Know who belongs or does not belong in your neighborhood. If someone looks suspicious, call the police to have them checked out.

• Keep your yard clean and bushes and trees trimmed. You don't want to give burglars a place to hide or remain concealed as they come in and out of your yard.

• If you have an alarm system, use it, even if you are only leaving for a short time. While they may not prevent burglary's they do reduce the amount of items taken and many times when the alarm goes off the burglar will leave with out taking anything. Whether you have an alarm system or not buy signs that say you have an alarm and place them around your home.
  

The thing about burglaries is that one or two people can do 5 or 6 burglaries in a day. A few days of doing this and the crime rate can rise dramatically in just a short time. When we catch these persons the crime rate drops just as dramatically. We will catch these people and things will return to normal. The most effective way to catch these burglars is through help from the public. Deputies can not be everywhere and most burglars are caught when someone calls in a suspicious person or vehicle or when a burglar is caught in the act. I ask everyone to be extra vigilant and be our eyes and ears, it is a cliche but its also very true that crime prevention begins at home.

Tribute to September 11, 2001 Victims.

Today we honor the sixth anniversary of those who died in the September 11, 2001 Attacks on America.

2948 Victims died on that day.

3251 Children lost a parent on that day. The youngest victim was 2 year old Christie Hanson, the oldest was 85 year old Robert Grant Norton.

333 Firefighters and 60 Law Enforcement Officers, and 125 members or our Armed Forces died that day.

How do we honor those heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice on that day? We raise a new generation of heroes. Ready to take their place. Years ago we had hundreds of applicants for Police and Firefighter jobs. Today across New Mexico we have hundreds of vacancy's for these positions. Parents, talk to your children about the honor and pride of serving your country and your community. Lets raise a new generation of heroes.

Below is my tribute to the victims of 9-11.

Alfred Gilles Padre Joseph Marchand- The only New Mexican to die in the September 11, Attacks. He was a retired Alamogordo Police Officer who wanted to be a pilot someday. He was working as a flight attendant on United Flight 175 which was crashed into the World Trade Center South Tower.

Names of those Killed in the September 11 Attacks.

Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics.

Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes.

Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

* Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819

* Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

* Number of NYPD officers: 23

* Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

* Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

* Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

* Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

* Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658

* Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22

* Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

* Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1

* Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39

* Bodies found "intact": 289

* Body parts found: 19,858

* Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

* Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

* Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

* Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

* Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

* Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661

* Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300

* Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

* Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

* Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

* Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

* Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

* Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

* Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

* Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26

* Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on
American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714

* Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

* Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

* Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million

* Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

* Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

* Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul
lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

* Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to
overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion

* Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to
NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

* Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25

* Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million

* Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9

* Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40

* Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50

* Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered "inappropriate" to play after 9/11: 150

* Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26

* Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000

* Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110

* Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans
from plane to train or car: 1.4 million

* Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress
disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

Albuquerque Public School Board Votes to Arm Officers

Earlier this evening the Albuquerque Public School Board voted 4-3 to create their own certified police force and to allow officers to carry guns on school campuses. At least half of this vote was a no brainer to me. When someone sees an officer in uniform they expect that if something goes wrong the officer is equipped and trained to handle and help. Whether the problem is on school grounds or across the street, when someone runs up to the officer for help he or she must be able to respond. If we just want someone to run up to an armed encounter and yell at the kids or run to the phone and call for help we might as well just let the gym teacher and principal patrol the school grounds.

In Albuquerque the majority of the A.P.S. officers are retired or former police officers with years of training and experience. You don't send a carpenter to build a cabinet with out his hammer. Police have many tools as well, the most important is common sense and what those in the profession call verbal judo. This is the ability to handle a situation through verbal skills and the ability to reason individuals into complying or using their police authority to obtain compliance. When dealing with unreasonable, deadly and armed individuals that is when an officer must reach into their tool belt, ( my son when he was young called it my batman belt), and use the other tools they have. Firearms are an unfortunate but necessary tool which can not just take a life but save one as well.

I am not sure why this vote was not 6 to 1 or 7 to 0 but at least they got it right. Yes training and certification costs will increase but so will the ability to take real action when and if the need arises. Can you just imagine your child running from a gunman and the officer running to the parking lot to get his or her weapon from the car trunk? The weapon might as well be at home in the dresser drawer. My daughter is a sophomore in high school in Santa Fe. Although we do not have full time officers in schools, when the officers are in the school I would not want one that has to run to their car to get their tool belt.

Bloggers vs Newspapers?

Among the 46 blogs I keep tabs on and regularly read is "Burque Babble". The blog is written by Scot Key a middle school teacher of humanities and film. In his latest blog titled "On Blogging, The Tribune and Wearing Really Tight Clothing" he discusses the expected demise of the Albuquerque Tribune and Bloggers. He talks about what a blogger is and then discusses how blogging needs to develop more credibility. In the below excerpt he lists what he feels bloggers are missing.

Unfortunately, what’s missing from even the most laudable of blog reporting is: A. a sense of what used to be known as “credibility”; B. a readership that goes beyond the micro-community. All blog news reading is filtered by an assumption of bias, and the fact that nobody is reading anyone from the other political side. It reminds one of the old days where all newspapers were openly one-sided, only with fewer rich wingnuts running fewer newspapers and more geek wingnuts running more blogs.

I like to think there are many flavors of bloggers out there however, one of the things I like about reading blogs and writing them is the fact that they are biased. I don't read them for the news although Joe Monahan's and Heath Haussamen's blog among others contain news mixed with some slant or opinion of the news. I read them for the opinion pieces, I have to admit I read blogs that are completely opposite of what I believe although I favor those whom lean towards my beliefs. One thing I decided not to do was to promote blogs which do not agree with my philosophical and political beliefs. Therefor their are some blogs which I read however I do not list them in my links on my own blogs.

I listen to a lot of talk radio and from time to time, when I can stomach it, I listen to Rush Limbaugh and other left wing radical radio shows. It is good to see what the other side is saying and what their perspectives on the issues are. Each morning the first thing I do is make a quick run through the online editions of several newspapers and the 46 blogs I monitor. I use bloglines to keep track of all the blogs and recommend it to others.

I read the papers for news and the blogs for opinions, fun, and curiosity as well as some political news you wont find in the standard media. To be honest I like it that way. When bloggers move towards traditional news is when the real power and reasons to read blogs will go away. I write blogs because it allows my creative side to speak out and allows me to say to the world ( or at least my small readership part of the world) what I want to say in the way I want to say it.

The world according to Greg.

Sheriff Interviewed on Los Angeles Public Radio Station

The Kid Nation Story continues with interviews on CNN, TV-Guide, and People Magazine. The Latest was an Interview on Southern California Public Radio Station KPCC. You can hear the Interview here. (Real Player required)

Along with many media interviews on Kid Nation the New Mexican had an interesting article on Commissioner Harry Montoya's stance and press conference over the Medical Marijuana issue. The article garnered many comments which were interesting to read, at least when the comments did not go off topic. I received phone calls today from Medical Marijuana groups applauding my comments in the article. I described my stance on this issue in a blog post on July 2, 2007. One thing I was asked to consider by one of the national proponents who called today was a program where rather than the state being the distributor and grower the State would license and strictly regulate private companies to grow and distribute the drug. I asked them to email me more information and they said they would.

Besides the calls from organized proponents I spoke to or received calls from individuals who told me stories about their loved ones who suffered and whose symptoms were relieved by the drug. They told me about the embarrassment and fear of getting arrested as they asked around for someone who might know someone who could sell them the drug. Normally law abiding citizens were forced to choose between comforting a loved one and breaking the law.

Somewhere among all the hype and controversy is an answer that will work for most people. Notice I did not say everyone, one thing I have learned is you can't please everyone. I am still committed to keeping drugs, marijuana and other drugs, illegal for all but the very few ill people who have been certified by a competent physician as in need of the drug. I spoke at length about my view on legalizing drugs in this blog post. Also by clicking here you can see all my blog posts related to drug legalization and medical marijuana.

One final note, Eye on Albuquerque, the anonymous blogger from Albuquerque ponders whether my run for Lieutenant Governor will cause me to cease blogging.

He or she notes: "It will be very interesting to see if Sheriff Solano continues to blog during his campaign for Lt. Governor. Blogs are great for expressing opinions and while opinions can garner support they can also create enemies who will use his posts against him."

Not only will I continue to blog, I have even started a new blog which will detail the run for Lieutenant Governor in a personal and honest way that I believe has never been done in New Mexico politics. One thing I vowed when I first ran for office was that "politics will not change me, I will change politics".

I truly believe this and this is not some made up campaign slogan. I will not formulate an opinion based on what polls say or based on what might be best for the campaign. I had a job before politics and should the voters decide I am not right for the position I am running I will have a job and continue to serve my community in other ways. So come here and read my ramblings and yes I am sure my opponents will try and use these writings against me, the good thing is that "you never have to remember what you said if you always say the truth".

Efforts to Recall Sheriff Lee Baca a Bust.

Sheriff Lee Baca who released Paris Hilton from jail faced a recall effort which has gone nowhere after two months of gathering signatures.

Andrew Ahlering, a former county employee accused the Los Angeles sheriff of giving Hilton preferential treatment by allowing her to return home after serving less than four days of a 23-day jail sentence. The effort gathered a dismal 40 of the nearly 400,000 signatures needed by December to get a recall measure on the ballot. Ahlering, also said he had raised less than $100 for the campaign.

In the immense population of Los Angeles County either Sheriff Baca has amazing support or Andrew Ahlering is doing a horrible job of gathering signatures. The whole Paris Hilton case was way over publicized and the Judge in the case used Paris Hilton to make an example of celebrity's who get in trouble. It is highly debatable whether Paris served a fair amount of time in jail. One thing appears for sure, Sheriff Lee Baca is going nowhere.

Sheriff interviewed on CNN

Early this morning I was at the roundhouse taping an interview for CNN. The subject was the Kid Nation Reality Show and its continuing criticism from parents and others. The criticism is bieng covered by everyone from People Magazine to the New York Times and L.A. Times and now CNN. The show is to air at 6 pm New Mexico time on CNN's show "Out in the Open" .

Hitting the dusty trail again.

On Thursday afternoon I was off on my yearly ride in the Chama area, this time we were at the Quinlan Ranch for our three day trip. My friends and I arrived on Thursday night and I was greeted at the campfire by none other than former County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, Former Attorney General Candidate Geno Zamora, and Mayor Marty Chavez. For more on the political side of this trip see my other blog "The Road to Lieutenant Governor".

Upon our arrival at the ranch we unloaded the horses and gear and settled into our tents. We actually had pretty good cell service at the base camp and It was funny during the trip to read this story in the New Mexican on my blackberry while having my morning coffee. The story in the New Mexican was about people paying big bucks for luxury camping trips. As you can see by this photo our tent was not as luxurious.


The first night was spent settling in and saying hello to old friends and some new ones. After a great dinner there was campfire music and conversation until about 1am.
One of our hosts "Don" really likes to build a campfire and soon our campfire became a bonfire. As it grew and grew I swear I could hear Zozobra groaning in the background.

In my next post I will detail the first day of riding, Stay Tuned!

Lessons learned from the John Hyde Case?

The recent developments in the John Hyde case highlight a major problem with mental health care in New Mexico. A lack of in patient facilities to treat those in need of mental health care. Las Vegas Medical Center is the primary facility for mentally ill patients from all over New Mexico. The waiting list is long and most individuals court ordered to the facility spend months in jail before getting a bed in the facility.

Let's think about that for a second, people with mental health issues who need in patient treatment are awaiting that treatment in a jail. Those who do not mess up bad enough to get arrested and then have the courts send them to jail prior to getting a bed, roam our streets as members of our homeless population. Or they live semi normal lives until the day they snap. Take a look at the recent cases of John Hyde and Cho Seung-Hui the Virginia Tech Killer. Both had brushes with the mental health systems in their states and both states failed them and their eventual solution was mass murder.

New Mexico needs to expand our mental health system and provide expanded in patient care. The waiting lists are too long and continued outpatient care is lacking in resources and funding. those in need of constant care and monitoring need a system that provides that care as well as funds the care. Many mentally ill individuals are unable to hold down jobs especially with out assistance and monitoring to ensure they are taking their medications. Going back to the Johnson administration we have cut and underfunded mental health facilities and programs. New Mexico needs to invest in these programs and begin to be proactive in preventing these kinds of deaths.

A new blog!

I have started a new blog in which I intend to chronicle my race for Lt. Governor. Yes, I did announce today that I am running in the Democratic Primary for Lt. Governor. I intend to keep this blog going for local and Sheriff issues and use the new blog as a journal of what it is like to run for Lt. Governor. I really want the new blog to be more than your normal political advertising. I really want to give an honest accounting of what it is like to run for a state wide office. I will have a web site for all the political stuff. So I hope you will add the new blog to your blog roll or keep up with it in some way. In my next Sheriff Blog I would like to talk about the John Hyde case but for now I am going to hop over to my other blog and get the first post up.

News Conference Scheduled for August 21

I am getting a lot of phone calls especially since last nights 10 pm broadcast of KOB TV news in which they reported on a News Conference I have scheduled for Tuesday August 21, at 2:00pm in the State Capitol Rotunda. The rumor going around and reported on KOB TV is that I am announcing a run for Lieutenant Governor. I can neither confirm nor deny. The news media does not like it when one station or paper gets the jump on the other. Therefor it is good to announce things to all news outlets at once, keeps everyone on an even keel and no one gets hurt with you.

They still want to get the jump on each other so they are still willing to report first as long as they can get some kind of news story with some checks and balances. Thus they are now reporting on the rumor that my news conference is about the Lieutenant Governors race. Look for this in Monday morning's New Mexican. All I can say is you are all invited to the news conference. At that time I will announce my future political ambitions. I hope you all will support me as you have in the past.

In other news 770KKOB AM Radio will interview me at 7am ( I don't like interviews that early) to discuss the Kid Nation Story as reported in the New York Times. This blog is still receiving three times the number of hits per day than what is normally seen. Most is for the Kid Nation blog posts, the rest are for the memorial post for my friend Jeff Lane.

I also attended the Democratic Party Meeting in Santa Fe on Saturday morning which was a question and answer session for Democratic Party Chair Brian Colon. The meeting was well attended with about 75 attendees and many candidates and elected officials. It was a good rally for Democrats and Brian Colon is an excellent speaker. He was very candid with his answers even when it something someone did not want to hear. A lot of talk centered around the February Caucus and what Democrats need to do to defeat Pete Domenici. Democratic faithful seem very united around Pete's defeat. Perhaps the days of Pete getting elected with the help of Democrats is over. I certainly hope so.

Well see you all at the News Conference!

Kid Nation complaints make National News.

Last week Edward Wyatt of The New York Times called me and said he read about Kid Nation on my Blog. He requested copies of the complaints received by our office. I knew the story would be coming soon but AOL picked it up and have featured the New York Times Story on their web site and News Feeds. This has generated a lot of traffic to this blog as well as many emails. AOL has over 1100 comments and a Poll which showed the following results at the time of this post.












As I said in my last blog post on this subject, Should the show decide to try and film in Santa Fe County again the Sheriff's office will be on site and closely monitor the show, although my preference is that the producers go else where.

In Rememberance of a good friend, Jeff Lane.

I learned today that a great friend Jeff Lane passed away. Jeff was owner of Bell Ranch which is located East of Santa Fe in Harding and San Miguel Counties. It borders Conchas Lake and includes 290,000 Acres, 250,000 of which was for sale for 115, Million Dollars. The ranch includes over 3,000 herd of cattle and over 50 ranch horses, an airstrip, several homes and campgrounds as well as a corporate headquarters.

Those of you who read my blog in May of this year read about the trail ride and camp out I had after Jeff invited me to his yearly event. It was described in a two part post.

Riding the Bell Ranch

Riding the Bell Ranch Part 2

I took a few pictures and I went back and looked through them and found that other than his back I had neglected to take any of Jeff. I do have pics from other rides that he attended and I may go through those but in the meantime I borrowed the one above from Seanblackburn.com. In the picture above Jeff had just taken his horse through the hole in the canyon and was taking a bow. Jeff truly loved the ranch and was a great steward of the land. He enjoyed flying his own plane and had an airstrip on the ranch. Unfortunately his love of flying led to his untimely death. 57-year-old Jeff Lane, and 34-year-old Ryan Hartley died when Jeff's small plane went down on State Road 419 between the towns of Mosquero and Trementina.

I was looking forward to next years trip to Bell Ranch and I will never forget the few days I spent there in Jeff's hospitality. I met Jeff a couple of years ago on a trail ride at Gerald Peters Ranch and he instantly treated me like we had been friends for years. He played the wash Bucket Bass which was always fun to hear after a long day of trail riding. Its hard to imagine going on a trail ride and not hearing him picking on it at the end of the day.
















That's Jeff playing the wash bucket bass cut off on the left hand side of the picture.

I am going to miss Jeff and I wish his family and ranch hands find solitude knowing that such a great man is bound to be riding into heavens sunset on a horse with wings.

Santa Fe Muzik Fest is Over!

Everything went great but Thank God the Santa Fe Muzik Fest is over! being the first year and taking into account the high expectations of the promoters we really did not know what to expect and we prepared for the worst and prayed for the best. Every thing went great and those who attended (about 25,000) over the whole weekend had a great time. Kudo's to the private security, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputies, all the other Law Enforcement, Dispatchers, EMS and Fire and everyone elso who worked long hours and did a great job making sure everyone was safe.

The State Democratic Party is hosting a Breakfast in Santa Fe with Chairman Brian Colón who is on a 33 county Listening Tour. The breakfast is on Saturday, August 18th, 2007, from 9 am to 11 am at the Lodge at Santa Fe. It is your chance to meet the new Chairman and share your views and ask questions on the direction of the Democratic Party in New Mexico. If you attend I will see you there!

For those of you in Espanola the next stop is at Angelina's Resturaunt from 11:30 - 1:00 also on August 18, 2007. "I hope Brian doesn't speed to make the second stop" my guess is he will either have to leave early from Santa Fe or be a little late to Espanola.

I forgot Don Wiviott !

In my last post describing the Santa Fe County Democratic Party Meeting I left out Don Wiviott who spoke to the crowd about his campaign to unseat U.S. Senator Pete Domenici. I apologize Don and good luck! Since I forgot you, you now get your own post and a photo.

Santa Fe County Democratic Party meets.

My wife Antoinette and I attended the Santa Fe County Democratic Party meeting tonight at the NEA building in Santa Fe. It was good to see all my democrat friends again and the meeting made me itchy for the campaign season as several democrats running for office addressed the crowd. First to speak was Joe Campbell an Assistant District Attorney who is running for District Attorney in the First Judicial District. His prospective opponent A.J. Salazar was missing as he is serving in Iraq at the moment as well as expected opponent Doug Couleur who was also absent.

Next to speak was Brian Egolf who is running against Senator John Grubesic for the New Mexico State Senate seat. He was followed up by Senator Grubesic. Rounding out the candidates was State Representative Lucky Varela running unopposed so far for re-election to his seat. Deputy Cabinet Secretary Patsy Trujillo was collecting endorsements for Presidential Candidate Governor Bill Richardson while many democratic faithful approached me to ask me about rumors circulating around my next run for office. With a smile all I could say was wait about three weeks then everyone will know. I was surprised with at least one of the rumors. Most of the rest I had heard before and a few were even correct.

County Chair Minnie Gallegos next made her nominations for members of the Executive board. Connie Maki was nominated for Secretary, Andrew Perkins for Treasurer, Ernie Baca Parliamentarian and Kurt Young for Finance Committee Chair, Numerous other committee chairs were named as well.

Next up to speak was Joseph Casados the Regional Field Director from the State Democratic Party. He spoke of preparations under way for the February 5, 2008 Democratic Presidential Caucus. Casados also spoke about the possibility of obtaining corporate sponsors to help cover the costs of the Caucus which is expected to run about $350,000. He rounded out his portion of the agenda by inviting everyone to a question and answer get together with Democratic Chair Brian Colon on August 18, 2007 , 9:00 am the The Lodge at Santa Fe. The meeting is part of a 33 county tour the chairman is undertaking in order to develop a 33 county strategy for the New Mexico Democratic Party.

Finally Tom Chepucavage President of Eldorado Media Solutions announced that a new and improved Santa Fe Democratic Party web site will be up soon. It sounds like it will be a real improvement. I will place a link on this blog as soon as it is up and running. If anyone is in need of a real expert to design a web site look no further than Tom. (end of commercial, lol).

It was great to get together with all my friends who share a fondness for the Democratic party. I really see some great races coming up and see a democratic tidal wave over the next few years.

Hillary takes on Bush for police cuts during his administration

I last talked about President Bush's attacks on the law enforcement budgets of America in Feb of this year. Year after year the President and the formerly Republican controlled Congress cut and cut all law enforcement grants and funding until it was almost non-existent. Hillary Clinton hit on this fact when she recently spoke to a meeting of the National Association of Police Organizations. Hillary promised more funding for police programs, including an anti-drug initiative and bulletproof vest program. Santa Fe used to receive funding to purchase 8 to 10 vests a year, the cost of which is about $600 a piece. For the last few years we received zero. There used to be federal grants for putting officers in schools and hiring and training new officers. Now for most agencies there is no money for these programs.

Year after year the cuts continued until the recent take over of Congress by the Democratic Party. This year the funding finally began to be restored as funding was increased for the JAG and HIDTA law enforcement programs. The Democrats pushed to increase funding and were successful in doing so since taking back congress from the Republicans. I have never understood how the Republicans are often seen as stronger on crime issues in national polls yet the strongest president on crime funding and issues in recent years was none other than President Bill Clinton. The recent Republican Congress decimated funding for law enforcement and things only got better when Democrats returned to power. I am looking forward to the next president who is bound to be a Democrat. I truly believe the tide will shift to real homeland security and true protection of citizens from the real threats in their own neighborhoods and on their own streets. So don't forget, Hug a Democrat next time you see one, or better yet, vote for him or her.

C.C.A. Loses federal inmates again.

Cornell Corrections runs the old Bernalillo County Detention Center in Downtown Albuquerque. It is a 900 bed facility now called the Regional Correctional Center. After the new Detention Center was built the county leased the old one to Cornell who reopened it as a private facility. The bread and butter of the deal was the fact that Cornell would lease the majority of the beds to ICE, the Federal Immigration arm of homeland security. over a third of the beds are often taken up by these federal immigration prisoners. Cornell has messed up and the Feds are pulling the prisoners out of the facility. (subscription required for link)

Cornell used to run the Santa Fe County Detention Center in the late 90's and up to around 2001. Things got so bad at the time that all Federal Prisoners were pulled from that facility as well. The Santa Fe County Detention Center was over built at the time of construction with the promise that all the extra beds would be used by the Feds who pay a premium price for housing of their prisoners. When the Santa Fe County Detention Center was full of Federal Prisoners it made profits that have never been seen again.

I was very surprised when Cornell made the deal to take over the old B.C.D.C. and made the deal to house federal prisoners there. When Cornell left Santa Fe they left us with a Federal investigation into civil rights violations and an order that barred any federal prisoners from being housed in Santa Fe. Santa Fe taxpayers are still paying the bills for their mismanagement today.

I don't know if Cornell can break the lease with the county but if they can, watch out they will be on the run, if they can not then look out, until more paying customers can be brought in they will cut staffing and medical and anything else they can because the bottom line, profits will be the only thing that matters. Profits cannot be derived from the old B.C.D.C. with only 300 prisoners.
My guess is that Cornell will be looking at Bernalillo County to save them by sending more overflow and prisoners from the new facility which is often overcrowded. It will be a deal with the devil if that happens.

More news on the dancing inmates of Cebu !

In my last Funny Friday I showed a video of The Dancing Inmates of Cebu Philippine's dancing to Michael Jacksons Thriller. Turns out the Philippine Government is now heaping praise on the jail and staff and nominating it for an award for its outstanding programs implemented by local government units. The inmates version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance has been viewed over 3.2 million times on Youtube as of Wednesday. The media is really running with the story, even Al Jazeera is reporting on the program.

I thought dancing to Michael Jackson to be cruel and unusual punishment. Turns out they dance to several other musical selections and they had less degrading dance numbers like this one:



I don't know its seems a little less degrading? Maybe this will start an international trend with dance offs between jails. I see the Santa Fe County Jail in the finals vs Bernalillo County Detention Center. Santa Fe bieng more liberal, the inmates would dance to Edwin Starr's "War", you know the tune:

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

Bernalillo County Detention Center would probably go rap with Akon and "Locked up":

Im steady tryna find a motive,
Why do what I do?,
Freedom aint gettin no closer,
No matter how far I go,
My car is stolen, no registration,
Cops patrolin, and now they done stop me,
And I get locked up,

[Chorus]
They won't let me out, they won't let me out, (im locked up)
They won't let me out no, they wont let me out, (im locked up)
They won't let me out, they won't let me out, (im locked up)
They won't let me out no, they won't let me out

I say Santa would win, of course I'm biased. We could sell tickets and use the money raised to help pay the costs of incarceration. Video's, T-shirts and program guides would add to the revenue. The winning inmates would get a pizza party.

Ok, its one in the morning and I am really daydreaming, or awake at night dreaming. I'm not sure, can you daydream at night?

County votes yes on large increases in pay for deputies

I just got home from the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners Meeting where the commissioners voted unanimously to raise deputy pay an average of a little over three dollars an hour, with some deputies getting as much as $6 an hour increase. Our starting pay will now go to $14.89 an hour for a deputy starting with no experience. These pay increases put us at exactly the same pay scale the City of Santa Fe Police who were beginning to steal away our employees after they received two pay increases in just the last year. Law Enforcement over the last four to five years have become one of the most competitive fields of employment as less and less people are attracted to a career in law enforcement. Money verses risk has become more important as the days when young people grew up longing to be officers is long gone.

Many young people just don't feel the pay is worth it, young men and women today have a much higher expectation of pay than public service normally provides. So over the last few years Law Enforcement has had to come to grips with the fact that pay had to increase dramatically in order to attract new men and women to law enforcement jobs.

A little over three weeks ago we started losing deputies to the City of Santa Fe Police Department with many more putting in applications or talking about doing so. I called an emergency meeting with County Manager Roman Abeyta and the Heads of Finance and Human Resources. When I explained the dire straits we would soon be in the County Manager jumped on board and immediately began preparations and began gathering the figures and locating the money to match the city's pay. I have to give County Manager Roman Abeyta a lot of credit for not only understanding the problem but for not trying to band aid the problem and going out an making the raises happen. He showed great leadership in my opinion.

The County Manager then met with the commissioners and explained the need for the raises and why we needed to bite the bullet and match the city dollar for dollar. He came back with positive results so the next step was to get the union to agree not only to the raises but to set aside non monetary issues in the current negotiations and come up with an agreement on pay first. Usually during negotiations which we are now in the middle of all non financial issues are dealt with first leaving financial issues for last. The union and management stepped up the meetings and agreements were reached. The union membership voted on the contract agreement and we were now set for a final vote before the county commission. The total cost of the raises was just under $700,000. Not a small chunk of change to ask the commission to approve. None the less the vote was unanimous and the raises take effect the first full pay period in August.

Every one involved showed great leadership and worked hard to make this happen in an amazingly short amount of time. The citizens of Santa Fe County will benefit greatly from this and will absolutely get their monies worth from the deputies whom I know are the best of the best in New Mexico Law Enforcement.

Sheriff Solano calls for passage of SCHIP

I joined other New Mexico law enforcement leaders today to call on the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to improve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cut crime.

SCHIP provides health care coverage to children from low-income working families. Without increased federal funding for SCHIP, many enrolled kids may lose their coverage. And many eligible kids will not be covered if funding is not increased. At least 18,000 children in New Mexico currently have no health coverage.

During a conference call, I joined Deming Police Chief Michael Carillo and Ernie Ortiz, Deputy Director of the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and we released a new research brief from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. The brief showed that SCHIP can help cut crime by ensuring that children’s behavioral, emotional and mental health problems are identified and treated. In New Mexico, methamphetamine abuse may be one of the factors in the increase in cases of abuse and neglect. As a result, admissions to foster care have increased 26 percent from 2000 to 2005.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved $35 billion in new funding for SCHIP over five years. This would cover 3.3 million eligible but currently unenrolled children. The bill also includes a mental health parity provision. The mental health parity provision would amend SCHIP to ensure that states’ children’s health plans include no financial requirements or treatment limitations for mental health care that are more restrictive than those of other medical benefits of the plan. A number of states currently restrict or limit the amount of mental health coverage children in SCHIP receive. As a result, a family with a schizophrenic child may get less financial help than if their child suffered from diabetes.

The SCHIP legislation will be voted on in the Senate this week. I have asked that Senator Pete Dominici and Senator Jeff Bingamen vote for the SCHIP funding in the Senate. In the press release and letters to the senators I said many children need to be screened for emotional and behavioral problems and, if necessary, provided with treatment to help them lead productive lives. Without health insurance, such screening and treatment is unaffordable for many working families. Failing to provide such services to children may lead to increased crime and violence as they grow up.

“The behavioral and emotional well-being of our nation’s children is just as important as their physical health,” I said. “If we make these investments, and these kids get access to treatment, we will save lives and cut crime.”

I truly believe that shootings at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the John Hyde's of America can be avoided if mental health problems could be caught and addressed at a young age. Unfortunately President Bush is threatening to veto increased funding for SCHIP, this does not surprise me since President Bush is all talk when it comes to his so called "Compassionate Conservatism". Whether it is cutting COPS Program funding or vetoing funding for children's health care President Bush never ceases to disappoint me.

Funny Friday- Dancing Inmates

Belive it or not, here is 1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! Supposedly this is not a punishment! Seems cruel and unusual to me.

Looking for Joe Monahan ?

I won't be sitting at the side of I-25 with a radar gun looking for Joe Monahan, or will I ? LOL.
I made an attempt to win a free lunch from Joe when he had a contest on his blog which offered the meal if you could answer this question: What were the names of the four candidates who sought the 1982 Democratic nomination for the District 3 northern congressional seat in New Mexico.

Graduating from Santa Fe High in 1982, the extent of my political experience at the time was spending many an elementary school summer break hanging around the Roundhouse with my grandmother Eufemia Solano who was a custodian. I vividly remember Governor Bruce King who always treated me nice and let me play in his office more than once. Many a Senator or House Rep. bought me a candy from the vending machines or a drink from the small cafeteria.

I also remember my mother volunteering for Governor Tony Anaya during his first run at the Governor's seat. My family was never really political however we did vote and take part in politics from time to time. Ok, I digressed so back to the contest. Of course I could not remember the 1982 District 3 race although we did live in the district. I do remember Roberto Mondragon and his many visits to our schools over the years where he sang "O Fair New Mexico" and other songs. So I did what any geek like me would do I searched the internet. It actually took some time before I came upon the website ourcampaigns.com which actually a friend of my wife's found. See the extent I would go to just to have a free lunch?

Of course as all of Joe Monahan's readers now know the web site was incorrect. Or was it? The site lists George Perez as Charles Perez. Perhaps the site was right and Joe just did not want to buy me lunch. Could this be one of the conspiracy's that Joe often talks about on his blog? Could Joe be powerful enough in New Mexico Politics to get Charles Perez to change his name and keep Joe Monahan from having to buy me my Taco Plate from Sadie's in Albuquerque?
Hmm, perhaps an investigation is needed. Seems like a job for Eye on Albuquerque.

Either way I am firing off a stern letter to ourcampaings.com telling them they owe me lunch. I wonder if Attorney General Gary King will take the case, this is a fraud if I ever saw one........

The Email mystery solved?

Duke City Fix had a blog post up even before I wrote today's earlier post where I pondered how the email from Sandra Richardson to Paulette de'Pascal got into the wrong hands. According to Duke City Fix the email was accidentally sent to the wrong email address by Mrs. Richardson. The email was reportedly sent to another person on the contact list who's name starts with the letter D. The comments on Duke City Fix for this blog post are a very interesting read. Actually the whole story is interesting in a Fiesta Melodrama kind of way.

Who's the Boss? The District 4 Albuquerque City Council Race.

I have been reading with much amusement, both the Eye on Albuquerque Blog, and Mario Burgos Blog as they cover developments in the Albuquerque District 4 City Councilor race. In the blogs there is much discussion over an email which purportedly came from a campaign worker or supporter of Paulette de'Pascal who is facing Brad Winter in the race. The discussion on these blogs is centered on whether Mayor Marty Chavez, and City Employee Greg Payne is behind Mrs De'Pascal's campaign. The email in question made me ponder what I would do should I receive such an email.

In a local political campaign there is much to do and most of the work is done by volunteers and few if any paid staff. While I had a few Democratic political experts volunteering and helping, I had no paid staff. I relied on the expertise of those who had been in many a campaign for advice. I then made the decision on what direction the campaign would take based on my gut feelings, personal knowledge, discussions with my wife, and the advice I received. The campaign was mine to win or lose. I never received advice or emails in such a manner as what has reportedly been emailed to Mrs De'Pascal but I can say that if I did I would thank the sender for their opinion and help, however their services would no longer be required. A good candidate must be a leader and not a follower. He or she must take charge and not be led around on a leash. When I have encountered candidates or elected officials who allowed themselves to be led by individuals or special interests they often fail, either during the election or afterwards.

Making decisions contrary to the advice of "those who have been in races back when I was still in grade school" was sometimes a delicate task. I tried to take into account their advice and make sure they understood how much I appreciated it and how I incorporated their advice into what ever was my final decision. In my case they were volunteers whom I greatly appreciated and who's advice I really did listen to and incorporate into what ever I finally decided. I still have all the volunteers not only as good friends but as loyal allies in any future campaign I would undertake.

This is really the basis of my management style. I have good experienced people working for me and many times before deciding on a course of action we will meet and I will ask their opinion. I will then formulate a plan taking those opinions into account but not necessarily always doing exactly what I am advised. At the same time I try to stay away from micro managing. I try to steer the ship without telling the engine room and communications people how to do their job, only ensuring that they are doing it.

What has really made this whole thing interesting is who released this email to the public? If the candidate were to release it the end result could only be bad. Brad Winter seems to be trying to distance himself from the campaign so why would he release it? The purported author of the email Sandra P. Richardson would have nothing to gain by releasing it either. If the candidate really was confiding in many others and seeking advice from many individuals perhaps she forwarded it to someone who forwarded it to Eye on Albuquerque and Mario Burgos. However the only person who stood to gain from the release of the email is Brad Winter. Now I am not pointing fingers as I and many other candidates have been the victim of an over zealous supporter who did something I would never condone or approve in the name of helping my campaign. All you can do is remind your volunteers at every meeting about the kind of campaign you are running and set the example.

I purposely never talked bad about my opponents and only spoke positively in front of my volunteers in order to set the example and reinforce that any campaigning would be positive and that we would talk about our strengths rather than our opponents weaknesses. However, the motive and consequences of the release of this email is very suspect. The real question out of this whole episode is the age old question, Who dunit?

Kid Nation prompts complaints and controversy

A reality TV show which was filmed in Santa Fe County is generating complaints and controversy. The advertising for the show says:

40 children, 40 days, no adults—eager to prove they can build a better world for tomorrow in the new reality series KID NATION. Settling in Bonanza City, New Mexico, once a thriving mining town but now deserted, these kids, ages 8 to 15 and from all walks of life, will build their own new world, pioneer-style. They will confront grown-up issues while coping with the classic childhood emotions of homesickness, peer pressure and the urge to break every rule. Episodes end with a town meeting in which the kids award one child a gold star worth $20,000, all leading to the grand finale, with an unimaginable test, the biggest awards and a special surprise for every child.

The trailer for the show available at CBS website is chock full of made up information. CBS claims the show was filmed at a long ago abandoned mining town called Bonanza City. CBS also claims in its trailer that adults abandoned the town because they could not make a life there yet the children will somehow make a go of it.

The truth is the filming was done at Bonanza Creek Ranch at a movie set built in 1989 for the filming of the "Lucky Luke " TV series. According to producers of the show the kids were not really alone. they were surrounded by councilors, medics, camera people, nutritionists. and psychologists.

Although during filming I had no complaints forwarded to our office, after the filming was completed a mother wrote a letter which was sent to my office, various state agencies and others. She complained that the children were mistreated and that child labor laws were broken. She stated in her complaint that she was not properly informed of her child's condition nor the conditions her child was in while filming at the set. The mother also was upset at a confidentiality agreement she signed which she felt forced her and other parents to not speak out about conditions at the set.

While the allegations in her letter were troubling, investigation by our agency showed that the allegations did not rise to a criminal level. I am sure that the other state agencies who looked at this probably came to the same conclusion. I do feel that the show went to far and that parents who allowed their children to go to this filming and not be present and oversee their children's participation were not making a good choice. I for one would not have allowed my children to participate without my being on site or at least visiting often to assess what my child was doing. According to the parent who complained she had little or no contact with her child most of the time and felt her child received inadequate medical care for injury's and rashes her child obtained while filming.

It will be a lot harder to film another Kid Nation because many states will probably monitor these productions much closer now that complaints were lodged with this production. New Mexico enacted new laws after the production which limits the number of hours children can work on a production - a maximum of 18 hours during a school week, and no shooting after 7pm. New laws also require that studio teachers and a parent or guardian are on the set and that the children are fed proper meals.

These new laws would have greatly altered the way this series was filmed and probably would have resulted in filming not happening in New Mexico. While the complaints about the show have garnered some attention in the media over all the story has not had legs. I think it just has not been picked up by the major news media yet. The disappointing thing is that the producers of the show were probably counting on some controversy which would then be used to garner ratings. Should the show decide to try and film in Santa Fe County again the Sheriff's office will be on site and closely monitor the show, although my preference is that the producers go else where.

New Mexico becomes a "Grow Your Own" Medical Marijuana State.

There is now a whole new meaning to the phrase "New Mexico the Land of Enchantment". New Mexico in the last legislative session passed a medical marijuana law which legalized the use of marijuana for patients whose doctors certify they are eligible for the program. in the next few weeks, approved patients, or their approved primary caregivers, would receive temporary certificates allowing them to possess up to six ounces of marijuana, four mature plants and three immature seedlings. The law allows the use of marijuana for specified conditions including cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and HIV-AIDS, as well as by some patients in hospice care.

When this law was going through the legislature about ninety some percent of New Mexico Law Enforcement was adamantly against it. The New Mexico Sheriff's and Police Association of which I am the current president but at the time I was the incoming president, lobbied and testified against the bill. I was called by the Executive Director to join in the lobby efforts and press conferences opposing the bill but I respectfully declined. Much to the amazement of my colleagues I was in support of the bill.

Those of you who have read my blog in the past know I have debated and opposed legalization of drugs as a whole. However, I do support some sort of medical marijuana legislation based on nothing more than compassion. I do not believe that marijuana provides any more medical benefits than other legal prescription drugs could provide. However part of me says, these people are suffering and dying and if smoking a joint makes them feel better so be it. These are individuals whose life span is short and the idea that these individuals will graduate to worse drugs, become criminals to pay for their habit, or become dealers to pay for their habit is probably unlikely for most of them. I also believe that those who are legally certified and go through the process to use the drug legally are probably going to be law abiding citizens as it is.

What I am upset about is the State of New Mexico's recent decision to license and allow patients to "grow their own". I truly do not believe that had this been a component of the original legislation that this would have passed the legislature. I also believe that we are creating a huge problem for law enforcement. When some neighbor or pizza delivery guy calls us and says marijuana is being grown at a certain home we will respond as we usually do. These cases require serious security measures when we approach such a home as we usually do not know if we have a casual user or a dealer. We don't know if we are going to find "Grandpa Joe" with glaucoma or someone with elaborate traps and heavy artillery waiting on the other side of the door.

Who will regulate and inspect these homes licensed to grow marijuana? Who will ensure that "Grandpa Joe's" nieces, nephews, or grandchildren are not picking from the family plants? When criminals learn that "Grandpa Joe" is growing will he be in danger of home invasions and burglary's? The state is making a grave mistake in my opinion. The whole idea of legalizing any one to grow marijuana is crazy as long as it is still an illegal drug for the rest of society. Already a man caught with a number of marijuana plants claimed he had them because "he thought marijuana was legal now in New Mexico". This new law is making news around the country with headlines like "New Mexico in Dope Business", and "Marijuana Law Requires New Mexico to 'Grow Its Own" on Fox news. While I believe Governor Richardson wanted to pass a medical marijuana law to show compassion to the nation I really can't believe he expected to condone people growing their own marijuana.

I know how we got to this place. The federal government does not condone and takes the stand that medical marijuana even when legalized by the states is still illegal. The State of New Mexico is afraid that employees of the state could be charged criminally by the feds for administering the State Medical Marijuana and could be charged for trafficking should we have a state run growing and distributing system. Therefor the State has thrown it upon the patients to grow their own thus the only one who can be charged by the feds is the patient, for growing and using. In other words the state is throwing the patients under the bus should the feds decide to prosecute someone in order to make an example of them.

Once again we are back to my opinion but, isn't this what this blog is all about? Anyway, the state should take the bull by the horns and if they are going to fly in the face of the federal government and approve medical marijuana despite the feds saying they can not, then the state should go all the way and provide a safe and secure means of regulating, growing and distributing the stuff.

Red Light Camera News Escalates.

I had laid off of the Albuquerque Red Light Camera's for a while even though it is the number one reason new people from across the nation find my blog. Not being from Albuquerque and after the City of Santa Fe gave up on trying to place them here I figured I would move on. However, late developments have piqued my interest. First I have seen the city of Albuquerque writing many tickets without much challenge to drivers who have Photo Blocker License plate covers installed. For a while they were also confiscating them as evidence. The validity of the tickets when written based on the state law is iffy at best. If the City of Albuquerque passed a local ordinance they might be better justified. Knowing Albuquerque's propensity for writing new laws I am surprised they have not done this. I am expecting a serious challenge to this soon, if not the legislature may jump into this issue next session.

Why the legislature? In the last session the legislature passed a bill that would have effectively killed red light camera's in New Mexico but the governor vetoed it after receiving assurances that the fines would be lowered to a more fair rate in Albuquerque. The fines were lowered slightly but not enough to stop the legislature from addressing this issue again next session. The unpopularity of these camera's will probably not allow the governor the latitude to veto another bill. Interestingly enough the Governor cited traffic accident reduction as a reason to veto the bill. I have a feeling the next time one of these bills is on his desk there will be a lot of doubt as to whether there has been true accident reduction.

Unpopularity of the camera's reached new heights when a very public battle broke out in the last few weeks between 770 Kob Radio talk show host Jim Villanucci and Mayor Martin Chavez. With 770 Kob having one of the largest listening audiences this will not bode well for Mayor Chavez or his campaign for Governor. Mayor Chavez escalated the battle on his weekly talk show as well.I have mentioned before that I felt the Red Light Camera's were not going to be a plus for Mayor Chavez's Governor Campaign. Many are questioning whether these camera's reduce or increase accidents. The timing of the yellow lights as well as the reliability of the camera's themselves are being questioned. All questions I brought up in my earlier posts. A.P.D. has managed to put out statistics which have always been contrary to findings in other states. I hope, but doubt their statistics are correct.

Also in the news in the past few weeks is a class action lawsuit brought about by Attorney Rick Sandoval. The lawsuit passed a major hurdle when it received certification as a class action and all citizens who have received or will receive a red light camera ticket are included in the case.

As in previous posts I feel the fines are too high, the private company "RedFlex" which the City of Albuquerque contracts with makes too much of a cut, the lights must be timed correctly, and I am too worried that Red Light Camera's cause more accidents then they prevent. I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that the end of the Red Light Camera's will be upon us by the end of 2008. Whether it is constituent pressure, the legislature, the courts, the media, or all of the above I see it happening.

A relaxation of standards or sign of the times?

I am a little behind lately on reading some of the other 43 blogs I subscribe to. I was trying to catch up today when I ran across this post from Mario Burgos. In the post he talks about the nationwide trend of what some call a lowering of standards in police hiring. What triggered his post was an associated press article in last Mondays Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) in which the author describes what many departments are doing to increase hiring and fill positions.

Many departments (actually most departments) around the country are relaxing age and fitness standards, forgiving minor criminal convictions and easing other requirements to relieve shortages in their ranks and find officers who are wiser, more worldly and cooler-headed in a crisis.

I remember when I started in 1988 with the Santa Fe Police Department. I went in to take the written test along with a hundred or so other candidates. There were three openings in the department of around 70 officers from the Chief on down. The three who made through the written test, medical assessment, physical agility, polygraph, background check, and interview process were current City Police Captain Gary Johnson, now Retired Officer Nigel Bridger, and myself. The process was grueling and because there were so many applicants for so few positions the police department could be very picky in who they hired.

Most police officers who were hired back then were fresh out of the military like former 82cd Airborne officer Gary Johnson, I believe Nigel Bridger also came out of the military. I was 24 years old married 3 years and we had our first child on the way. The first two of my three siblings whom my wife and I raised after the death of my mother were out of the home. My brother on his own and my sister off to college. I had one sister left who if I remember right was probably about to be a freshman in high school. I was a Service Advisor at Santa Fe Mazda Volvo and had no medical benefits. I opened the paper and began looking for a job with retirement and benefits.

There was an ad for cops so I applied. I also took an aptitude test for the full time National Guard and about the same time I was going through the testing process for the police department I was considering a four year enlistment with a promised assignment at the Hawk Missile Battalion in Albuquerque. My specialty out of high school and my hobby to this day was computer sciences, now commonly called I.T. . I built my first computer, a Timex Sinclair Kit which was then sold by Heathkit when I was about 16. I always had a computer or two, or six in pieces around the house. Thus my M.O.S. of working on the computers at the Hawk Missile site.

Just days before I signed my life away to the military I got a call to meet with then Chief Raymond Sisneros and Deputy Chief Jimmy "juero" Salazar. I was offered the job and thus the choice between military and police was made. I go into this whole rambling on about this part of my life to get to a point. The point is I competed with around a hundred other applicants for three positions. Now we commonly get about 5- 10 applicants at a time and if we are lucky 2 or 3 make it past the initial testing and then 1 or 2 of these make it past the background checks. Back in my day " I feel old saying that expression", you could find some who did little or no experimentation with drugs and drank little alcohol. Believe it or not I never drank a full beer until halfway into my first year as an officer.

Now the pickings are slim and its almost impossible to find someone who has not experimented with drugs, and even quite a few applicants have had a D.W.I. in their past. I will not accept anyone who has had a D.W.I. within the past five years nor anyone who has had more than one. Even someone with one D.W.I. that is over five years old has to have an otherwise squeaky clean record. No one with any felony conviction will be hired. We are bound to minimum physical agility standards for new officers as they must attend the State run Police Academy and will not be accepted without passing minimum physical fitness and agility standards.

Experienced officers who have already passed the police academy enjoy a more relaxed physical agility standard. As I look at our limited pool of applicants I wonder is the relaxation of standards a really an attempt to relax standards or is it just a sign of the times? Like any business model when employee pools are high management can afford to be more picky in their hiring, when they are not you choose from the pool you have. The war in Iraq, the extra demands in Santa Fe and other social economic factors have greatly affected police hiring.

In Santa Fe you have the headquarters for the National Guard, the headquarters for the State police, The headquarters for State Corrections, the County Jail, City Police, and the Sheriff's Office among others all vying for the same personality of worker who would get involved in a military or law enforcement related career. This intense pressure on the employee pool puts Santa Fe at a loss in a job market that is having problems recruiting officers across the nation as it is. I have too admit that with a wider pool some who made the top of the list in the last few years hiring probably would not have in the eighty's but none the less we have a great staff at the Sheriff's Office and all make me proud everyday. As I have fired dozens of deputies over the years I will not hessitate to get rid of someone who does not work at the standards we demand. It is easy to point fingers and show disdain for what some call the relaxation of standards however those same people would point fingers at chiefs and sheriffs for not doing enough to hire more officers at times when those positions need to be filled.

Only the media can make a good thing look so bad!

I usually empathize with the media, for the most part they are doing their job and perform an important function in what makes America the land of the free. Every now and then I read a story that makes me shake my head.

The Albuquerque Journal had a story (subscription required) yesterday on a noble program started to help reduce D.W.I. deaths in Santa Fe County. If you are planning on a Friday or Saturday night of partying or drinking call for a free taxi ride to and from your destination, if the destination serves liquor. Simple enough idea that has reduced drunk driving in other places where it has been tried. The Journal decides to start the story with:

"Need a free ride to Cheeks to see strippers? And a ride home at the end of the evening after downing a few drinks?
Starting this weekend, Santa Fe County government will foot the bill for cab rides to and from the City Different's only topless bar— or any other bar or restaurant that serves alcohol— under a new program aimed at fighting drunken-driving."

Now granted Santa Fe's only strip club qualifies for the program, it is a bar. However, I sincerely doubt that that is what the county had in mind when this program was developed. regardless, when your family member dies from a drunk driver do you really care whether the driver drank at a strip bar, a restaurant, or on a plane? Do you wish the driver had taken a free cab regardless of where he or she had been drinking? Hell yes.

I like Erica who wrote this story and sometimes editors and others can influence the outcome of a story but this was not funny. D.W.I. is a serious problem and we must do all we can to stop it. Poking fun at this program was in bad taste and should serve as a reminder that good journalism is not always sensational journalism.

Chief Johnson Recieves vote of Support from Troops.

Chief Eric Johnson of the Santa Fe City Police Department won the "no confidence vote" held by the Santa Fe Police Officers Association by a two to one margin. Another third of the officers eligible to vote did not do so. One would assume that most of those are satisfied or ambivalent with the way things are going thereby increasing the vote of those who have confidence in Chief Johnson's administration. So what now? The department is not going to fill all their positions over night, in fact several of those who led the effort to have this vote are near retirement. As each position is filled many more are retiring.

While police retirements plans are funded through the State Public Employees Retirement Association somehow counties and municipalities need to find a way to keep officers from retiring at a young age. While I have long been a proponent of the 20 year retirement for officers the down side is we are losing officers in their forty's. This is really young and they still have many good years still in them.

Officers receive seventy percent of their top three years pay at 20 years of service. This tops out at eighty percent for 22 years and 10 months. So officers really are forced to take retirement once they reach these places in time. Imagine having 22 years and 10 months in and you are not ready to retire. If you continue working you are working every day for only 20% of your pay. You can stay home and get 80%. If you leave accept your retirement and come back you lose your seniority and rank. Basically you are starting your career all over again. Senior officers do not want to do this because they find themselves reporting to and below rank to young officers who may have only had five years on the force. Because of this most retired officers leave law enforcement and go into a second career doing something else.

We need to come up with an solution to this problem. We cant go back and increase the years needed to retire, union contracts and backlash from employees would not allow this to happen. If we allow retires to come back and keep their previous rank and pay this will stifle the ability for others to move up and create a situation where career advancement would be slowed to all but a standstill. I have not come up with a workable creative solution to this problem but if anyone does they can save law enforcement in New Mexico. All agencies in New Mexico are facing the same problems.

This would not be as much of a problem if there was a long line of young men and women waiting to be officers. The truth is that young people today are more concerned with making money and having a career that involves big houses, cars, and success in a material sense. Law Enforcement is a public service career. Those in public service do not make that kind of money unless you are appointed in the upper echelons of state or local government. What you do get out of a law enforcement career is a career you can be proud of, a good retirement and a decent middle income life style. I remember when kids grew up wanting to be a cop or a firefighter, not for the money but because they honestly wanted to be a cop deep down in their soul.

I remember one time sitting down at the local Fraternal Order of Police having a beer with several officers. Talk got around to our kids and one by one each one said they did not want their kids to be cops. They talked about their kids having successful high dollar careers where their lives were not at risk. This was sad for me to hear. We need to encourage our young to carry the flag when we are finished. Law Enforcement is a great career that will make your life worthwhile.

Many times I am walking in the mall or at a grocery store and I will run into some young man with his wife and child and they will come up and introduce me to their family. Many years ago when this young man was a child I arrested him, or maybe I cut him some slack and didn't arrest him but gave him a good scare. I have been thanked many times even by those I arrested. Their lives were changed and somehow at least they believed that I played a part in that. That is what being a cop is about.