ON THIS PAGE: Summary of Links Victims Commentary Overview of Issues: Internal, Reforms Victim Incidents/Cases Topics in this section/Overview of Issues: Court System Domestic Violence Lewdness Mexican cartels Prison System Reforms Search and Seizure Speak-Outs Wide-Ranged Corruption State Secret Settlements Miscellaneous See Also: Much of this is on River Gold: Lab Corruption (New Mexico, Aviation related, etc.) New Mexico Corruption New Mexico Catholic Abuse On Police Factor: Watch for Antics New Mexico Drug Corruption COMMENTARY New Mexico: Things to look for are links between religious groups and officers; cover-ups involving apparent suicides; mixing evidence between one case or victim and another; repeated signs of group think and conformity among police officers; gun running, drug operations, making money illegally on the side on top of their regular police salaries. A general attitude of not making enough money for what they as police officers do so as to rationalize why they work with or as criminals to make more money. One thing we need to be considering is gangstalking in New Mexico - working together, we can push back the veil of invisibility. It probably will take psychic and remote viewing intervention by those with a proven track record along with traditional investigative experts, family and social networks, health related groups, computer science experts and more. New Mexico, with all of its other corruption issues, is ripe for gangstalking. Corruption runs high in New Mexico. Is there a renegade paramilitary group of veterans in the New Mexican desert linked to New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona waging war on certain New Mexicans including minorities, liberal women and the homeless? Is there a Hispanic-Native American organized crime network extending from Mexico, Central America and South America into New Mexico, like La Raza? Complete with white mercenary cops? Are whites being hired as mercenaries in military-police networks for drug trafficking and security around certain key complexes used secretly? Is there a link between Hispanic Catholics and a mafia-like network with police-military implications? How extensive is neural electronic warfare? Are police officers beaming the public with hostile wave devices at low intensity for seatbelt violations, speeding, minor violations and stop-overs? What about gangstalking? Is there a big oil/military/police -and Islam conspiracy tied between New Mexico and 9/11 in New York? There are indicators of certain Muslim-Israeli ties to 9/11, American fossil fuel politics(like Bush and Cheney) and international prison systems. Should we follow ties between certain minorities in New Mexico and certain Jews as well as certain Muslims? The Jewish link would be “Holocaust” and unfairness to minorities; the Islam link would “taking of lands” as paralleled between Native Americans, and Israel, Africa with some of this sector fighting each other and some of it working together against “big bad white Americans.” Another link might be through American international military prison systems and both known and hidden prison systems in the USA, with cops closely tied to the military in that regard. How many police officers in New Mexico with criminal records were or stilll are in the American military? If we stay close to the scent of petro, we might be closer to the mark when it comes to most cover-ups and problems in this country. Don’t forget cartels with black ops snagged into the American policing networks. If you are too normal you might not be able to catch scent of the skewed trajectories. This might well be the magic of New Mexico: a lot of corruption, yes…but there are many people here with a heartful spirit fighting corruption and environmental issues. People thinking outside of the box while demonstrating a strong human will. These people are looking beyond the false simple answers and pushing back at the lukewarm drivel being fed them by government and others humming along on business as usual. OVERVIEW OF ISSUES Problems, Reforms, Internal Incidents, Police Views, Systems Related Issues Note: APD is the abbreviation for the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police Department Topics in this section/Overview of Issues: Court System Domestic Violence Lewdness Mexican cartels Prison System Reforms Search and Seizure Speak-Outs Wide-Ranged Corruption State Secret Settlements Miscellaneous Court System Justice dot gov: Outcome Assessment for Albuq. police APD (Report filed 08/18/2017) (CASA Implementation/monitoring police for safety, etc. ) https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/page/file/991201/download Discusses how APD still has serious issues regarding force. Real Crimes: Kaitlyn Arquette - drug activities Judge Brennan, numerous other judges, attorneys and members of state legislature http://www.realcrimes.com/Arquette/Kaitlyn_Arquette.htm Excerpt: Update, July 2004: The Arquette family (see Kait Arquette in NM victims and cases on this website) has long believed that Kait was killed because she had learned too much about influential people involved in the New Mexico drug trade. It now appears their suspicions might be justified. In May 2004, Chief Judge John Brennan of Albuquerque was arrested on narcotics charges. That opened a can of worms that may affect a number of cases on this web site. In June 2004, KRQE TV aired information from a confidential narcotics report about drug activities involving, not only Judge Brennan, but numerous other prominent NM judges, attorneys and members of the state legislature dating back to before Kait was murdered. "It draws on a variety of sources and reads like a Who's Who of the New Mexico drug underworld," the reporter said. "Judges, lawyers, politicians, sports celebrities and prominent businessmen appear in the report right along side the State's narcotics kingpins." David Iglesias, US Attorney for New Mexico, called the detailed document about drug smuggling and money laundering in New Mexico "a page- turner I couldn't put down." http://www.realcrimes.com/Arquette/Kaitlyn_Arquette.htm Troubled Members of Public, Police Officer Emotional Detachment Can Shift to Cruelty. Example: Rare dot US: Lawsuit brewing after police fist bumped over dead body of New Mexico man https://rare.us/rare-news/lawsuit-brewing-after-police-fist-bumped-over-dead-body-of-new-mexico-man/ Excerpt: Last year, in a Wal-Mart parking lot, Ben Anthony C de Baca drew his last breath. A few minutes later, while EMS and officers were trying to revive C de Baca, a body cam caught an image of two police fist-bumping over his lifeless body. Unsurprisingly, the video, surrounding circumstances and aftermath have given rise to controversy, and Anthony’s family is planning to file a wrongful death suit. The coroner ruled the death as homicide but noted that cocaine was found in his system. KOB reported that C de Baca had a long history of mental illness. In September of 2015 at a fast food restaurant, he got into an argument with a family member. According to The Daily Beast, this argument was more of a schizophrenic episode — C de Baca’s wife said that he began yelling that there were “people in the trunk.” He then drove to the Bernalillo Wal-Mart, and, as one police officer so eloquently described, started “acting a fool.” Employees and shoppers subdued him until police arrived. RELATED: A knife wielding teen is in the hospital after a campus security officer took matters into his own hands Once police were on the scene, C de Baca still did not calm down and even bit one of the officers. In a video of the incident, one officer asks about the teeth marks, and the other officer responds, “A f****g bite mark, dude. This c**t f**k bit the f**k out of me, dude. I had to punch his ass off of me.” After he chomped down on the constable, the police placed a spit sock (a thick mesh bag) over C de Baca’s head and dragged him outside. Police, with a knee in his back, shook his arm, but it was too late. RELATED: A woman saw the inside of a jail cell after using a hot frying pan to go after cops A lawyer representing C de Baca’s family told The Daily Beast, “I’m really more concerned about why they hogtied him, dragged him out, placed him face down with three guys kneeing him in the back.” The fist bump that can be seen at the end of the video is probably a simple greeting. The spit sock appears to be improperly used and may have contributed to C de Baca’s death, which was officially ruled a homicide. https://rare.us/rare-news/lawsuit-brewing-after-police-fist-bumped-over-dead-body-of-new-mexico-man/ Domestic Violence Cop Block: New Mexico [Farmington] Police Officer [Mike Briseno] Long Embroiled in Brutality Controversy Quits Force (2011) http://www.copblock.org/1831/new-mexico-police-officer-long-embroiled-in-brutality-controversy-quits-for Farmington Daily Times: Controversial officer calls it quits [Mike Briseno of Farmington, NM] (2011) this originally used link is no longer active but is being left as a record; see Behind the Blue Wall below http://www.daily-times.com/ci_17368306 Behind The Blue Wall: [NM] Farmington Police Officer Briseno quits before disciplined for cop-on-cop domestic violence (2/14/2011) http://behindthebluewall.blogspot.com/2011/02/nm-farmington-police-officer-briseno.html Excerpt from: The Daily Times By Elizabeth Piazza 02/12/2011: A Farmington police officer long embroiled in controversy over allegations of police brutality and misconduct, resigned over yet another allegation of a domestic violence incident, this time involving his girlfriend... Mike Briseno, 46, a nearly nine-year veteran of the department, resigned Thursday following an internal affairs investigation looking into the alleged domestic incident with his girlfriend who also is a Farmington police officer... "We investigated it internally and sustained complaints against Briseno," Police Chief Kyle Westall said in a phone interview Friday. "Directly after we sustained (the complaint) he resigned before we made it to the disciplinary process"... http://behindthebluewall.blogspot.com/2011/02/nm-farmington-police-officer-briseno.html Lewdness The Blaze: Jal, NM Police Chief was Caught on Camera Doing Something Obscene (Off Job), His Officer Fired. By Zach Noble (2014) http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/01/this-police-chief-was-caught-on-camera-doing-something-obscene- but-one-of-his-officers-got-fired-over-it/ Excerpt: This officer’s plan to sabotage his boss wound up backfiring in a major way. Jal, New Mexico police chief Larry Burns was caught on camera — on two different occasions — having sex in and around a city ambulance. But while his actions were inappropriate, and got him suspended for two weeks, the chief is keeping his job and the officer who planted the camera is getting canned. Sgt. Joshua Terrell apparently had bad blood with the chief, KRQE-TV reported, and planted the hidden camera in an attempt to sabotage Burns. The plan paid off, since Burns was caught in a compromising position, but Terrell violated several city policies by sneaking into the garage and planting the camera — and once he had the footage, he released it to the public instead of merely reporting it to the city manager. “To try to destroy a person that he did not like, I thought we didn’t need (Terrell) with a badge or a gun,” the city manager told KRQE-TV.The city manager said Terrell couldn’t be protected as a whistleblower because he made the tapes public. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/01/this-police-chief-was-caught-on-camera-doing-something-obscene- but-one-of-his-officers-got-fired-over-it/ JD Journal: Santa Fe Police Officer Caught Masturbating On Video While On Duty. By Jim Vassallo (2012) http://www.jdjournal.com/2012/04/12/police-officer-caught-masturbating-on-video-while-on-duty/ A police sergeant in Santa Fe, New Mexico is in a bad situation after a video caught him masturbating while he was on duty. The video has recently been released and it was filmed by the dashboard camera of the officer’s cruiser. The video released to the media does not show the inside of the cruiser but has audio that is quite steamy. The officer in question is Sgt. Mike Eiskant. One former officer, Shannon Brady, was not surprised at the news of the video as Brady said that Eiskant had a bad reputation as a stalker of women and a ‘creeper.’ Brady attempted to file a harassment complaint against Eiskant years ago with the Santa Fe Police Department’s human resource division. The complaint was filed with compliance officer Raymond Rael, who is not the police chief for the department. You can hear on the video his audio-erotic situation and the sound of a zipper can be heard clearly. The officer seems to be masturbating while looking at a nude picture of a woman on his cellphone. The video is a total of 10 minutes and at one time in the video the officer can be heard saying, “Oh, show me those big beautiful breasts, baby.” “They had plenty of opportunities over the course of many years to do something about it and they refused to,” Brady said. When Brady tried to file the claim, Rael asked if she was “doing this only because of all the rumors against Mike Eiskant stalking women.” Rael instead offered mediation between the two parties but Brady declined. Rael has said that he is unaware of any other complaints against Eiskant, who has never been placed on administrative leave. Eiskant is scheduled to retire in November. http://www.jdjournal.com/2012/04/12/police-officer-caught-masturbating-on-video-while-on-duty/ Law Enforcement Corruption: [Santa Fe] New Mexico 'Lewd Acts' Cop Caught on Tape in Police Car (2012) http://lawenforcementcorruption.blogspot.com/2012/04/new-mexico-lewd-acts-cop-caught-on-tape.html Private Investigatons: New Mexico [Santa Fe] police force fires officer caught on camera having sex on the hood of his car in uniform (2011) http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-mexico-police-force-fires-officer.html (Jewish publication) Excerpt: Instead, it recorded uniformed officer Bert Lopez with an unidentified woman. According to The Santa Fe New Mexican, Lopez has 30 days to appeal his dismissal.The surveillance photos were taken from a motion- triggered security camera positioned at the front gate of the county-owned La Bajada Ranch south of Santa Fe. The encounter was at the remote Canyon Ranch.Two photos showing a uniformed officer having sex on the hood were forwarded to Santa Fe Sheriff Robert Garcia, who identified the officer as being with New Mexico State Police. He forwarded the images to State Police Chief Robert Shilling. An internal investigation was immediately launched, and Lopez, an eight-year veteran, was put on paid administrative leave for about three weeks. http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-mexico-police-force-fires-officer.html Mexican cartel infiltration of United States system - see also Cartels, New Mexico Drug Problems on this website http://www.judithmiller.com/6482/mexicanization-american-law-enforcement Three Strike Law Abq Jrnl 2015 Paul Pacheco https://www.abqjournal.com/605766/push-for-tougher-three-strikes-law-in-new-mexico.html MISCELLANEOUS Law vs. Order: (2016) By Steven St. John How an Albuquerrque took on her own police department https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/how-an-albuquerque-da-took-on-her-own-police-department-and Albuquerque Journal: (2014) APD report probable cause exists to charge Brandenburg https://www.abqjournal.com/506981/apd-report-probable-cause-exists-to-charge-brandenburg.html ABQ Journal: Portales Excerpt from ABQ Journal: New Portales Police Chief Pat Gallegos says attributes the jump in staffing to the pay scale. The salary increases ranged from 11-to 29 percent, and the department offered incentives to new officers. Before Gallegos took over, at least eight Portales officer in the span of 18 months were accused of misconduct, convicted of felony crimes or had left the department under questionable circumstances.Gallegos said he’s doing strict background checks of his new hires and calling their previous employers to get their history. https://www.abqjournal.com/390973/portales-police-fully-staffed-following-turmoil.html Borderland Beat: San Juan County Sheriff Ken Christesen concerned that cartels are targeting his deputies (2011) http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/05/cartel-violence-cash-infiltrating-us.html “They’re already here,” he said. “There’s three cartels working in San Juan County right now.” In 2003, Christesen worked for the Region II Drug Task Force when officials caught a former deputy named Mike Marshall dealing drugs. Then, in 2007, the FBI discovered traitors inside the drug task force. New Mexico State Police Officer Keith Salazar and former San Juan County Sheriff’s Deputy Levi Countryman were feeding information to a drug cartel. http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/05/cartel-violence-cash-infiltrating-us.html Eidard: New Mexico town [Columbus] swamped in corruption abolishes police department (07/12/2011) Excerpt: In another twist for the village, incarcerated former trustee Blas Guitierrez submitted his letter of resignation on Friday, July 8. He is one of 12, including former Mayor Eddie Espinoza and former police chief Angelo Vega, who were arrested for their alleged roles in a gun smuggling ring…Espinoza submitted his resignation in late May following the March 10 early morning raid that led to the arrest of the village officials. Vega is still on paid leave pending his resignation or a guilty verdict https://eideard.com/2011/07/12/nm-town-swamped-in-corruption-abolishes-police-department/ KRQE: New Mexico State Police Slow to Release Officer Involved Shooting Videos. By Gabrielle Burkhart (10/19/2016) http://krqe.com/2016/10/19/new-mexico-state-police-slow-to-release-officer-involved-shooting-videos/ KRQE: Red light camera company settles class action lawsuit in Albuquerque for $3.5M. By Gabrielle Burkhart (3/18/2016) http://krqe.com/2016/03/18/red-light-camera-company-settles-class-action-lawsuit-in-albuquerque-for-3-5m/ Excerpt: ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – KRQE News 13 has learned the red light camera company, Redflex, is settling a lawsuit with thousands of Albuquerque drivers. Those drivers claimed Redflex and the company’s debt collector were hassling them non-stop to pay up. Now, Redflex will be cutting checks to thousands of people in Albuquerque. For years, red light cameras in Albuquerque snapped away and thousands of drivers were sent citations. Albuquerque voters pulled the plug on the program in 2011, and the cameras came down. However, the Arizona company, Redflex Traffic Systems, which operated the cameras, still wanted to collect on unpaid fines: $21 million, including late fees. Back in 2012, Greg Wheeler, with the City of Albuquerque, told KRQE News 13, “As a matter of state law we can’t just let those people go, so there will be a collection effort.”At that point, Redflex hired CreditWatch Services to start collecting fines for red light traffic citations. According to the settlement, pre- recorded ‘robocalls’ were sent to the cell phones of about 42,000 people to collect red light ticket fines.Now, as part of a $3.5 million class action lawsuit settlement agreement, the people who received those calls can now collect themselves. http://krqe.com/2016/03/18/red-light-camera-company-settles-class-action-lawsuit-in-albuquerque-for-3-5m/ Facebook: Crazy story out of Farmington, NM…basically a deputy, his lying spouse, making up stories about the father of the arrested deputy's step son…SMDH https://www.facebook.com/CorruptFriscoTexasPolice/posts/1517708018453648 Prison System Prison Legal News: illegal Strip Searches Cost MTC and Santa Fe County $8.5 million. By Michael Rigby (2007) https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2007/jan/15/illegal-strip-searches-cost-mtc-new-mexico-county-85- million/ Excerpt: Illegal Strip Searches Cost MTC, New Mexico County $8.5 Million Management and Training Corporation (MTC) and Santa Fe County, New Mexico, will pay $8.5 million to settle with an estimated 13,000 former prisoners who were unconstitutionally strip searched at the Santa. Fe County Detention Facility between January 2002 and June 2006. The Utah-based MTC, which operated the jail ... https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2007/jan/15/illegal-strip-searches-cost-mtc-new-mexico-county-85- million/ Prison Legal News: Sharon Jones’s Strep Death Among Shocking Prison Tragedies in Lawsuits by Michael Roberts/Westword 4/01/2016 https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/apr/1/new-mexico-sharon-joness-strep-death-among-shocking- prison-tragedies-lawsuits/ Excerpt: …the Denver-area law firm that represented McGill – Holland, Holland, Edwards & Grossman, P.C. – is collaborating with Farmington, New Mexico’s Tucker, Burns, Yoder & Hatfield on a series of lawsuits involving the San Juan County Detention Center in San Juan County, New Mexico, just over the Colorado state line near Durango. The allegations contained in the complaints come across as real life horror stories with tragic endings that could have been easily prevented but weren’t as a result of what attorney Anna Holland Edwards calls “a system that incentivizes ignoring serious medical conditions because it costs too much to treat them.” Not that the expense would have been that great for three prisoners who lost their lives after being incarcerated at SJCDC. Both Sharon Jones, whose son, plaintiff Corey Jones, lives in Parker, and Jesus Marquez died of strep infections that could have been treated with simple antibiotics. Indeed, Marquez was felled by complications from strep throat – the sort of malady that strikes many children multiple times during their formative years without significant repercussions. And William “Billy” Carter passed away after the jail stopped providing him with an inhaler that helped him deal with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The suit in his name maintains that “his breathing issues were treated with such deliberate indifference and reckless disregard that he prematurely passed away of this treatable condition.” And that’s not all. Attorney Greg Tucker has approximately thirty additional (and still-living) clients whose cases against the San Juan County Detention Center have been consolidated under the name of one former prisoner, Jesse Ray Berkey; they include a handful who live in Colorado. The lawsuit maintains that these individuals “were all told again and again that they were faking their serious injuries or illnesses” – claims that proved false but saved money in the short term. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/apr/1/new-mexico-sharon-joness-strep-death-among-shocking- prison-tragedies-lawsuits/ ACLU: Corrections Reform New Mexico Overview with Links; Little Known Profit Prison immigrants 2014; 19 org’s sign on Cibola 2016 https://www.aclu-nm.org/en/node/6 https://www.aclu-nm.org/en/news/new-mexico-has-little-known-profit-prison-immigrants-aclu-investigation- such-prisons-reveals https://www.aclu-nm.org/en/press-releases/nineteen-nm-organizations-sign-letter-urging-dhs-suspend-cibola- prison-negotiations Ethics SKNCLT: Police review anti-corruption and justice systems http://www.sknclt.com/police-review-anti-corruption-and-justice-systems/ Reforms, Issues With Ineffectiveness of Reforms La Jicarita: David Correia on the Dept. of Justice Consent Decree In the Mercury’s most recent Insight New Mexico interview, Price and Correia discuss the just-released consent decree between the US Department of Justice and the City of Albuquerque regarding the problem of police violence. https://lajicarita.wordpress.com/2014/11/22/insight-new-mexico-v-b-price-and-david-correia-on-the-doj-consent- decree/ The Real News: Body Cameras Bring No Accountability for Police Brutality in Albuquerque (12/6/2014) Video: Max Blumenthal [award winning journalist] says the city's police have killed citizens without provocation faced no penalty http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=12769 CBS: Albuquerque Police reforms http://www.cbsnews.com/news/albuquerque-police-reforms-ordered-amid-excessive-force-reports/ Justice: Investigation into Albuquerque Police Department (2016) https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/apd Independent Monitor Submits Fourth Report Assessing APD's Compliance with Court-Approved Settlement Agreement for Period from April 2016 to July 2016. Dr. James D. Ginger, the Court-Appointed Independent Monitor of the Albuquerque Police Department, has formally submitted his fourth monitoring report to U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack, the judicial officer overseeing APD's reform process. https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/apd NBC/US News: US Justice Department launching investigation into Albuquerque police (2012) http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/27/15486451-us-justice-department-launching-investigation-into- albuquerque-police?lite NPR: Boyd Trial Albuquerque Police Shooting Trial Ends In A Hung Jury By Rebecca Hersher 10/12/2016 In the resulting agreement between the city and the Justice Department, which went into effect in late 2014, the city agreed to 277 reforms, including to "ensure that officers use non-force techniques to effectively police, use force only when objectively reasonable under the circumstances, and de-escalate the use of force at the earliest possible moment." NPR's Nathan Rott reported that, as of April, the independent monitor appointed to enforce the agreement said the police department had achieved "operational compliance" on just eight of 277 required reforms. Under the current timeline, the Albuquerque Police Department has until mid-November to be in substantial compliance with the settlement agreement. Secretive Settlements AP News 2020/02/05 New Mexico prosecutors review secretive state settlements By Morgan Lee https://apnews.com/acf9d5190408142c17d887a224b66cc4 Search and Seizure Issues Case Law: State v. Wagoner. (2001)Warrantless Sweep, etc. Excerpt of ruling from case: {40} We hold that a search conducted pursuant to a warrant based partially on tainted information gathered during a prior illegal search is not an independent source of the evidence seized and therefore must be suppressed.   We believe this holding accomplishes two important goals:  (1) it provides a bright line rule for law enforcement officers and for courts reviewing police conduct, and (2) it properly effectuates an individual's right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure and the corresponding right not to have evidence gained by exploitation of a constitutional violation used against the individual in court.   To the extent that Wagoner I is inconsistent with our holding, it is hereby overruled. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nm-court-of-appeals/1366941.html NPR: New Mexico Ended Civil Asset Forfeiture. Why Then Is It Still Happening? By Martin Caste (06/07/2016) Excerpt from NPR: New Mexico passed a sweeping overhaul of civil asset forfeiture. Legislators say some cities' budgets are so dependent on seized assets that they disregarding the law. Another excerpt: She and another legislator sued the city to try to force it to obey the new state law. The suit was dismissed on technical grounds. But they may appeal with the help of an anti-civil forfeiture organization called the Institute for Justice. But Torraco says the city seems dead set on keeping its vehicle forfeiture program as is. http://www.npr.org/2016/06/07/481058641/new-mexico-ended-civil-asset-forfeiture-why-then-is-it-still-happening Wildcat: no excuse for unwarranted search seizure drug dogs http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2015/04/no-excuses-for-unwarranted-search-seizure-drug-dogs Think Progress: New Mexico is the second state to ban police from seizing innocent peoples property https://thinkprogress.org/new-mexico-is-the-second-state-to-ban-police-from-seizing-innocent-peoples- property-d9b947c1399#.ku6u8e181 Speak-outs, Issues For Cops On the Job Available Media, Inc/YouTube: Retired APD Officer Sam Costales speaks on police issues at APD (March 2015) 2nd in a series of 8 college classes entitled "Police Violence and Social Control". UNM tenured professor David Correia is the instructor. Retired APD Officer Sam Costales is interviewed by UNM Junior Jack Cox and members of the general public. Recorded at UNM SUB Lobo A&B on March 5, 2015. Service provided by Available Media Inc., a 501 C3 non-profit formed to provide the public with information as an alternative to the main stream corporate media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz_PFI2zrRM KUNM: Ex-APD Officer Paul Ielacqua On How Police Cope http://kunm.org/post/ex-apd-officer-how-police-cope#stream/0 Wide-Ranged Corruption Alamagordo News: Jay Miller: New Mexico Most Corrupt State? http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_18594899 Cutting Edge News: New Mexico Law Enforcement plagued by Corruption and Abuse of Human Rights. By Kent Paterson 10/ 6/2011 http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=52865 Excerpt: Barely a week goes by without a scandal involving a New Mexico law enforcement officer making the headlines. Angelo Vega, the former police chief of the border town of Columbus, pleads guilty to extortion and trafficking arms destined for the La Linea criminal organization, one of the protagonists in the so-called Mexican drug wars. At Albuquerque’s iconic Frontier Restaurant on historic Route 66, where the stern mug and big brim of John Wayne hangs tall, a Bernalillo County sheriff gets involved in a dispute over a table that ends with the officer’s friend, a former Texas deputy, pulling a gun on an unarmed man. The deputy is fired but not before a video showing the confrontation gets ample play on the Internet. In separate trials last month, an Albuquerque cop gets six months in jail for tipping off a friend who was the subject of a federal drug investigation, while a former Santa Fe County sheriff begins serving a three-month jail sentence for stealing department equipment and peddling it on E-Bay. . “I got greedy,” former Sherriff Greg Solano was quoted, as he prepared to hunker down in the hoosegow. Meanwhile, former Albuquerque Police Department (APD) officer Levi Chavez who is charged with the 2007 murder of his wife in a case that could involve a crime ring that was sending stolen cars to Mexico, pleads not guilty. Earlier this year, the city government of Albuquerque paid out $230,000 to Tara Chavez’s family in a settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit. And in a recent 18-month period, fatal shootings of civilians by members of the APD claim 14 dead. “I was shocked. I was numb,” said Steve Torres, father of Christopher Torres, who was shot to death during the serving of an arrest warrant by APD on May 10 of this year. “I couldn’t do anything. I was paralyzed.” Torres spoke at a recent public forum in Albuquerque sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, a national anti-war and anti-racism organization with a local presence. http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=52865 State Integrity: Investigation Gives New Mexico a D- On a Corruption Risk Report Card http://www.stateintegrity.org/new_mexico Tech Dirt: Worse Than The Disease: Officers Committing Sexual Violence In The Line Of Duty. By Tim Cushing (11/26/2013) Excerpt: First up, following on the heels of the multiple rectal violations committed by a New Mexico doctor at the behest of police officers in search of drugs that just weren't there is this story, which features more New Mexico law enforcement members violating someone's lower regions -- again, in search of drugs. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131125/16525225366/worse-than-disease-law-enforcement-officers- committing-sexual-violence-line-duty.shtml True Crime News 7/3/2012 http://truecrimediva.com/new-mexico-police-corruption-series-apd-officer-matt-griffin-aka-the-ninja-bandit-part- 1/ Excerpt: Series of Posts on corruption: Albuquerque, New Mexico police officer Matt Griffin, Linda Daniels, more Real Crimes: New Mexico Citizens Live In Fear Of Their Police http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm Washington Post: Albuquerque’s Long History of Police Abuse Cover-Up and Scandals. By Radley Balko. 04/14/2014 Excerpt: As of 2012, no shooting by an Albuquerque cop had ever been found unjustified by a grand jury, leading critics to labeled the process a “sham.” And residents have become fed up with the APD, with hundreds taking to the streets in protest after the shooting of a homeless man. The thing is, for longtime Albuquerque inhabitants, this probably all sounds familiar. Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, the city went through a similar scandal. I wrote about it in my book. (see , Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, by Radlo Balko, 2013) Excerpt: The city’s police offices also have a record of using “less lethal force” in ways that violate the Constitution, including a pattern of using Tasers on people who posed little to no threat to the police or the public, and in ways that made things more dangerous, such as on a man who had doused himself in gasoline. Excerpt: The city gives its police officers insufficient training on interacting with people suffering from mental illness or suffering some sort of mental crisis Excerpt: One particularly poignant example concerns the city’s police union. In 2012, TV reporter Christina Rodda filed a lawsuit against the city and against Officer Stephanie Lopez. According to Rodda’s lawsuit, she was covering a rave at a club called Tumbleweeds when she caught Lopez on tape getting rough with a teenager. Lopez then demanded that Rodda hand over the tape. Rodda initially objected. Lopez then confiscated the entire camera. If she had taken the camera because the video was evidence of some kind, she should have tagged the camera and taken it to the police station. Instead, according to Rodda’s lawsuit, Lopez took the camera home. Three days later, the camera was returned to Rodda’s employer, KOB. The incriminating video had been deleted. Rodda was able to recover the file with the assistance of a specialist. Lopez then had Rodda arrested. The charge — “criminal trespass” — was summarily dismissed by a judge. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/14/albuquerques-long-history-of-police-abuse- cover-up-and-scandal/?utm_term=.64fe519d7302 Freedom of Information Act - Withholding of Information Corruption - Connected to Police System http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/10/albuquerque-police-public-records-clerk-sues-chief-for-ordering- him-to-withhold-public-records/ http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/12/20/albuquerque-police-sued-by-aclu-for-refusing-to-release-footage- of-police-shooting-man-to-death/ Ganging Up On Victims Using Military Approaches The New Yorker: [Police Murder of Christopher Torres.] Son-Deceased. By Rachel Aviv (02/02/2015) Excellent New Yorker article on Christopher Torres, his parents, Albuquerque’s police abuse problem, with a commentary on Albuquerque: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/02/son-deceased Real Crimes: Corruption - Overview: Manuel Ramirez http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm Excerpt: Manuel Ramirez family: 10/12/90: Armed with a warrant obtained thru false information, Narcotics Detective Stan Gloria, Lieutenant Hughes, SGT Bartram (sic- Bertram), Officers R. Vasquez, R. Jeffrey, W. Jones, E. Sauer, B. Snow, A. Lehocky, Lieutanant Bourgoine, S. Gray, S. Rodriguez, H. Terry, T. McWhorter, C. Lopez and four US NAVY SEALS went to the home of Manuel Ramirez, at about 4:30 a.m. There they attached a cable to a tow truck and pulled the wrought iron front door off the Ramirez residence, while other personnel simultaneously broke all of the windows of the Ramirez home. As Ramirez reached for a handgun, (which wasn’t loaded), the collection of officers entered unannounced and dressed in black and shot Ramirez twice in the chest. They ransacked the family home, while Ramirez lay dead in his living room and his grieving family sat in the back of an APD Patrol Car. No drugs were found in the residence until 48 hours after the break in. The Ramirez's infant was injured in his crib by flying glass. Ramirez’s widow filed a lawsuit against the City in 1992 and received a $275,000 settlement. http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm Excerpt: Holguin family: 6/5/03: The Holguin family was terrorized by APD officers who stormed the house, guns blazing; blasted the door off its hinges; pelted the home with flash-gun grenades, and handcuffed all five family members. The officers, led by Capt. Robbin Burge, knocked the 80-yr-old grandmother, Carmen Holguin, to the floor and injured her so severely she had to be rushed to the hospital. They, then, swigged drinks from the refrigerator, threw the search warrant on the floor, and left. The Holguins had no criminal history and were never charged with anything. Police had stormed the wrong house. In 2002, Capt. Burge was named APD’s Plain Clothes Officer of the Year. http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm Alse see James Boyd in Victim Incidents/Cases Drug Rings Stop the Drug War: Cops charged in Drug Ring Case (12/7/07) http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2007/dec/07/law_enforcement_weeks_corrupt_co FARMINGTON, N. M. Cops charged in drug case: Keth Salazar, Levi Countryman; Danny Tarango Jr. is a fugitive. Federal agents today took down two former law officers accused of using insider information to form a large drug ring. Tonight former San Juan County sheriff's Deputy Levi Countryman and former New Mexico State Police Officer Keith Salazar are locked up. According to a federal indictment, Salazar is the key person in the case. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2007/dec/07/law_enforcement_weeks_corrupt_co Evidence: Lost, Stolen, Destroyed Evidence in Storage; Mishandling of Evidence, Poor/Non-Existent Evidence Gathering During Investigations Real Crimes: Corruption - Overview (New Mexico) Excerpt: 04/7/03: Albuquerque: It’s disclosed that In Feb. 03, an APD freezer containing more than 1,600 samples of blood, urine, saliva and other evidence from rapes and homicides was shut down because of a freon leak, causing some materials to thaw. 40 criminal cases may be affected, at least 15 homicides and 10 rapes. The police and the DA’s office withheld that information from defense attorneys, who continued to construct their cases on contaminated evidence. Excerpt: 1989: The Albuquerque Police Department was sued by a citizen’s group that wanted access to the APD intelligence files to see whether they contained evidence of unconstitutional police investigation of political figures who were not under suspicion of wrong doing. The police had the intelligence files burned one half hour before a federal judge issued a restraining order to prevent their destruction. Excerpt: 2/22/92: Albuquerque Journal:Sheriff Gallagher admitted to having destroyed evidence in the case against Deputy Burt Excerpt: Crystal Houston homicide: It took until June 2003 and extensive pressure from the media for the state lab to ship DNA evidence that had been submitted to the state crime lab at the time of her death to a lab in California to be processed. F Excerpt: 3/19/05: APD Sgt. Cynthia Orr gave a media interview, starting out, “This is probably going to end my career.” Orr said Chief Gilbert Gallegos failed to act despite repeated warnings of evidence theft. Orr said that, in Aug. 2003, she identified two people who were stealing in the evidence room, but Gallegos allowed them to continue to work there, which enabled them to destroy evidence that would have proven their guilt. She said she discovered thefts when property went to auction and the list of property taken out of the evidence room was longer than the list of property the auctioneer received. "Am I implicating the chief is assisting to do this cover- up? Absolutely. Do I know this is a dangerous accusation to make? Absolutely. But I know this is something that needs to be done." Orr said a deputy chief forbade her to send reports of missing evidence to the records department, because they didn’t want it to become public record that things were missing. She said officers under criminal investigations for such things as DUI or domestic violence were allowed to work in the evidence room where they could oversee the evidence in their own criminal cases. http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm Albuquerque Police Department (APD) APD: 1989: From Real Crimes: The Albuquerque Police Department was sued by a citizen’s group that wanted access to the APD intelligence files to see whether they contained evidence of unconstitutional police investigation of political figures who were not under suspicion of wrong doing. The police had the intelligence files burned one half hour before a federal judge issued a restraining order to prevent their destruction. (From Real Crimes) APD: From Real Crimes: 10/1/87: Former Chief Justice William Riordan, the City’s first independent councilor, found that the APD Intelligence Unit, under the supervision of APD Sgt. Joseph Polisar, had been secretly stockpiling information on local residents not suspected of wrong doing. (The Unit was supposed to be gathering intelligence on motorcycle gangs, organized crime, terrorists and other criminal activity.) From Real Crimeshttp://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm APD: From Real Crimes: 05/31/1991: From Real Crimes: “Albuquerque Tribune: Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office investigated allegations made by a convicted drug dealer that Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies provided drugs to transvestite prostitutes in return for sexual favors. The drug dealer, serving a sentence in federal prison, has a history of cooperating with law enforcement agencies.” (From Real Crimes)http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm APD: From Real Crimes: 08/24/1994: Albuquerque Journal: City Counselor M. Brasher requested a new investigation into a federal informant’s claim that four APD narcotics detectives were involved in drug-trafficking, rape, planting evidence and murder of a drug trafficker and prostitutes. The four were investigated in the fall of 1993 by APD Chief Bob Stover. (From Real Crimes)http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm APOA: From Real Crimes12/5/1997: Albuquerque Journal: COP UNION GIVES BACA WARNING -- Albuquerque Police Officers Association President Alex Marentes said of new mayor Jim Baca, “If he screws with us, we will do everything possible to defeat him in the next . election.” (From Real Crimes)http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm APD: 5/26/02, Albuquerque Journal: APD DOG BITES COST CITY MORE THAN $940,000: The city of Albuquerque, over the past decade, has paid more than $725,000 to settle APD dog-bite claims. Meanwhile, private lawyers defending K-9 officers in ongoing lawsuits have billed the city another $217,000 in fees and costs over the past two years. Police dogs have bitten dozens of citizens who were neither armed nor violent. In some cases, police gave no verbal warning a dog would be unleashed. Officers in several cases allowed their dogs to continue biting suspects after the initial apprehension. In one case, an unarmed suspect was ordered to walk toward a police officer with the police dog still clenching her buttock. http://www.realcrimes.com/Corruption_Overview.htm See also: Stolen Lives http://stolenlives.org/ The mission of the Stolen Lives Project is to assemble a national list of people killed by law enforcement agents from 1990 to the present. Through grassroots efforts, over 2000 cases were documented in the second edition of the Stolen Lives book, which was published in 1999. Although just the tip of the iceberg, these 2000+ are evidence of a horrifying national epidemic of police brutality. The victims of police violence were part of our society, but rarely are their lives or names publicized, or the real circumstances surrounding their deaths investigated and made known. The Stolen Lives Project aims to restore some dignity to the lives lost. Though their lives have been stolen from us, we will not allow them to be forgotten. Interested in working on and/or contributing to the Stolen Lives Project? See the Call for Volunteers. Contact the Stolen Lives Project: stolenlivesprojectonline@gmail.com Updates: 2020/04/06 AP News Secretive Settlements; 2019/04/25: Miscellaneous Section added Albq Journal/Brandenburg article and one other article; 2018/12/09 minor format editing; 05/24/2017; 04/01/2017