Letter from Commander Saylor

From: Saylor, Cliff B. [mailto:CSaylor@cabq.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 11:02 AM
Subject: Councilor's letter to the Mayor

Dear Neighbors,

Please read the attached letter from 4 city councilors to the Mayor.  Please make your opinions heard.  Whether you support this agenda or oppose it, contact your city council and the Mayor!  Let them know how you feel.  I am gravely concerned that these councilors are being influenced by a very vocal few, amplified by a very negative media.  I am very concerned that these individuals have an over-represented impact on the City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department. 

It is absurd to blame the 23 officer-involved shootings on APD.  There were many factors involved in the final outcome. 

In all of these 23 officer-involved shooting situations, APD responded to a call for help.  However, before APD arrived several failures had occurred that made our job incredibly difficult. 

1- The family failed to properly raise their child.

2- The school system failed to educate the student.

3- The mental health profession failed to help the patient.

4- The criminal justice system failed to teach the defendant the consequence of their actions.

5- The prison system failed to rehabilitate the criminal and/or

6- The individual failed to act like a law-abiding human being, with respect for others...

Most importantly... The suspect failed to follow the LAWFUL orders of the police officers...

Stay safe and let your voice be heard!

Cliff Saylor, Commander

Albuquerque Police Department

Foothills Area Command

12800 Lomas Bd. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87112

(505) 332-5240

Integrity, Respect, Fairness, Pride.

Deaton's retirement questioned

By Pilar Armstrong

When the City's IRO announced his retirement in an exclusive Albuquerque Journal article, many were skeptical. Some city critics claimed that William Deaton's retirement announcement was a crafty polictical maneuver fabricated after city councilors proposed a national search for a new Independent Review Officer at a public study session for the Police Oversight Commission. When asked if Deaton's retirement was effective immediately Deputy Director of Communications responded,
"We have not received a formal retirement letter from Mr. Deaton. He is required to stay in his position until a replacement has been named," said Breanna Anderson.

So far the former Chief Public Defender has not applied for or sought out any additional employment with the City of Albuquerque. The City IRO contract is up for renewal at he next City Council Meeting on Mon. Feb. 6.
Activists are demanding that the council reject the contact and commence a national search for a new IRO immediately.

"All POC reports and the mayors recommendation for a temporary IRO should also be rejected," suggests Silvio Dell'Angela.

"The contract is up right now. This is the time to proceed with a national search for a new IRO," said Councilor Dan Lewis the POC study session.

Citizen's and City Councilors have become disenchanted with Deaton's five year reign after a series of execution style shootings by the Albuquerque Police Department plagued the city. The majority of the shootings were deemed acceptable by both the POC and IRO enraging many and inciting praise from very few.  Police Chief Ray Schultz still feels that the system works despite intense scrutiny of police misconduct and an impending Department of Justice investigation.

"For every complaint (from a citizen) there are at least ten positive commendations," said Schultz at the study session.

Schultz also claimed that problematic police officers were dealt with disciplinary measures such as verbal reprimands and immediate suspension. Councilor Rey Garduno made a controversial suggestion as how to deal with such officers.

"We have a project of putting DWI offenders in the paper. Should we do that with police officers who are repeat offenders?" asked Garduno.

How transparent is the City?

A little over a month ago I introduced myself to Albuquerque's City Council at a city council meeting, informing city councilors that I would be conducting an information audit on the City of Albuquerque and other government entities. One might ask what the heck is an information audit? An information audit is an audit that can be conducted by a private citizen or a large media outlet on a government entity in order to test the accessibly of information. The first step taken in this process was to ask to be placed on the city's press release list. Initially the Director of Information had hesitations on whether or not to place me on the list since I am currently a freelance journalist and blogger. After pleading my case for three weeks I was placed on the list. In the interim I succeeded on being placed on press release lists from The City of Santa Fe to U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. The average wait time to be placed on these lists ranged from five to ten minutes. I also found difficulty accessing information form the city's official website. Most city websites have a link to the city council agenda's on the home page. The City of Santa Fe emails the agenda after you sign up to be on their media release list. In order to access the City of Albuquerque's council meeting agenda I had to run several queries to access the link. Ironically the website received a transparency award. The Mayor's office will be hosting a "Chat with the  Mayor" event at the Cesar Chavez Community Center at 7505 Katheryn SE, tomorrow Oct. 27 from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. For more information call 505-768-3000.