In Defense of the Albuquerque Police Department

In Defense of the Albuquerque Police Department

Recent inexcusable scandals aside, I have long since grown weary of the incessant criticism of APD.  I thought it necessary to offer an alternative and politically incorrect view. Firstly, crime is undeniably rampant, as we, all know. The department is undermanned to begin with but having spoken to a few APD insiders, the rumor is that in spite of public statements to the contrary the department is demoralized. No organization functions well with demoralized personnel. So let us look at the reasons why that might be so. I’m in no way defending the egregious mistakes that have been made but the response to this situation is causing more problems than its solving. The remedy unleashed on us by DOJ is this so-called DOJ “consultant” from Washington (I’m trying to be polite) which, to say the least is disingenuous considering the daily circus up there. This guy and his cronies made huge amounts of money that could have been used to put more cops on the street. Ironically, the DOJ in its haste to “correct” the behavior of APD may have ultimately caused more problems than it solved. Here is a case where the medicine is worse than the disease. The problems should have been fixed here and why the past administrations didn’t fix it and push back on this DOJ fiasco is a mystery. So, it is reasonable for a police officer to ask why risk your life when the criminals are going to be let out on the streets almost immediately with the catch and release behavior of the judiciary? Why risk your life when the media rushes to judgment to capitalize on the mistakes of the police. Why risk your life when predatory attorneys have turned these mistakes into a lucrative business. Why risk your life when the ACLU and others seeking to create an “anything goes” society under the lofty guise of individual liberty comes to the rescue of criminals. Lastly, why risk your life when there is no effort to obstruct the “civil liberties” of crazy people running around with guns. So why wouldn’t APD be demoralized?

Law-abiding citizens are not subject to excessive use of force by the police. If the police are summoned because you are involved in criminal activities, you are complicit in whatever the outcome. The first cause here is you and if you are arrogant (or dumb) enough to confront the cops, beware of things going awry.  Accidents and mistakes happen. These cops want to go home at night to their families and not wind up on a marble slab because of the punks, thugs and other lowlifes that run loose in this city and seem to garner sympathy from the snowflakes; what about the victims and the rest of us? Of course, the mentally ill are an exception, but why are they running loose?  Where are the derelict parents of these juvenile punks running loose with guns even at schools no less? So, snowflakes, before you level more criticism at the police, how about putting yourself out there with the cops on the street going to serve a warrant; or the next traffic stop or a domestic violence call to risk getting your brains blown out. Firefighters have to be careful as well. Think about what you would do when your life is actually at risk and where the real responsibility for all of this lies. A number of us have little sympathy for the punks who may get rouged up by the cops and would gladly trade these alleged abuses for a civil society. I know it is hard to swallow but the cops are not as perfect as you evidently are. Let someone spit in your face and see how you react.

 On the financial side of this, APD and the rest of us law-abiding citizens are paying the price for the inevitable mistakes of the very few. That people can actually enrich themselves because of it is ridiculous. The city’s coffers are being fleeced by law suits that are brought on by less than scrupulous attorneys “seeking justice” who seem to have forgotten that they live here too; maybe because they have so much money that they can insulate themselves from the problems that the rest of us face. There is the attendant absurdity of enriching the families of so-called victims who almost in every case ignored the problem in the first place. Of course, the attorneys receive a significant portion of these outrageous awards. The juries that award these ridiculous amounts of money have also forgotten that they also live here. Largely abandoned, some of these people suddenly become “loved ones”. It’s a zero-sum game and the money has to come from somewhere. The rest of us taxpayers have to deal with diminished city services because of this financial drain. No amount of money is going to bring anyone back or absolutely prevent inevitable mistakes by humans. Expecting a thousand-man police force to be perfect when the rest of us clearly aren’t, is absurd. It’s as though the people who criticize or seek to benefit from the mistakes of the police have never made any themselves.

We can and should solve our own problems. This situation is the responsibility of current and past administrations past which, incidentally, are rarely held accountable for the problems they caused. Instead, they get their pictures hung in the hallways of public buildings for future veneration.