Even after many emotional pleas from citizens, Albuquerque's City Council failed to override Mayor's Berry's decision to veto a Department of Justice investigation on APD. Council members needed a 6 to 4 vote in favor of overriding the veto. Instead, they voted 5 to 4, one vote short. Councilors in favor were Garduno, O'Malley, Sanchez, Lewis and Benton. Councilors against were, Winter, Cook, Jones and Harris.
The majority of speakers in the open forum were supporters of the override however several speakers openly supported the mayors decision.
"When have the police become the enemy? We live in a violent ugly society," said Bob Martinez, Organizer for the Fraternity of Police Officers.
In a separate interview with Channel 7 News, Martinez stated that an investigation by APD wasn't necessary and that the community needed to work together to improve Albuquerque's quality of life.
The majority of those supporting the investigation openly asked for APD and Chief Schultz's support.
"The Chief of Police should get up and support the DOJ investigation," said Richard Moore from Los Vecinos United.
It is possible for the DOJ to conduct an investigation with or without approval from the Mayor. It is still uncertain whether or not the DOJ will conduct the investigation.
Garduno and Sanchez spoke eloquently and demonstrated statesman-like qualities in support of the veto override. Counselors O'Malley, Benton and Lewis, who also supported the override, are also to be commended. The remaining four "holdouts" (Winter, Cook, Jones and Harris) are cowards who hopefully have sealed their own fates for the next election. Harris in particular, who is Council President and sets the rules, was obviously obstructionist in his control of speaker's allotted time and in denying individuals who wanted to speak more than once the opportunity to do so. Harris also delayed Councilman Garduno's call for a roll-count vote so that members of the audience would leave before the Councilors would be required to individually "own" their votes.
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