Albuquerque city councilors are taking a serious look at hiring an outside investigator to look into the handling of a car crash involving the wife of Public Safety Director Darren White.
That possibility will be discussed this afternoon at a meeting of the council’s five-member internal operations committee, though no final decision is expected.
The council’s four Democrats in a letter Thursday called on Mayor Richard Berry to hire an independent group to handle the investigation.
AFD details criteria to decline an ambulance A2 |
And the council’s five Republicans aren’t ruling that out, either.
Berry has already ordered the city’s independent review officer to examine the crash, including the conduct of White, police and fire personnel at the scene. He said Thursday that he is confident IRO William Deaton, a former federal magistrate judge, can conduct an independent investigation.
The independent review officer typically investigates citizen complaints against police officers, not the conduct of top administrators, some councilors said.
“The IRO is currently an employee of the city, on contract,” said Debbie O’Malley, a Democrat. “We think that’s too close to the situation.”
Several Republicans said they’re inclined to wait before supporting an outside investigation. The IRO’s report should be available at the end of next week, and the City Council meets Aug. 1.
“When the full council comes together, every option will be on the table, and everyone will be held accountable,” Councilor Dan Lewis, a Republican, said in an interview.
Also Thursday, the union representing firefighters, which has long been at odds with the administration, voted no confidence in White.
“As public safety officials we are all held to a higher standard and are duty-bound to the same level of accountability,” union President Diego Arencon said in a news release.
Incident not recorded
The debate centers on a one-car wreck involving Kathleen White on July 6, when she crashed her Porsche into a curb in the Northeast Heights. Police and fire emergency personnel arrived at the scene, as did Darren White. He ended up driving his wife from the scene to the hospital after she declined to be taken by ambulance, and later he said that doctors told the couple she had suffered from a seizure.
In his report, the first officer to respond to the crash checked the box “under the influence of drugs or medication” in a section on “apparent contributing factors,” and another officer’s report said the two officers discussed the possibility of a drug-recognition expert being called to the scene.
Neither officer Al Walck nor APD officer Ylaine Hetes had belt tapes turned on during the crash investigation, according to Deputy City Attorney Kathy Levy. She said APD policy does not require officers to have their belt tapes turned on during incidents such as the one involving Kathleen White’s crash.
Mayor’s spokesman Chris Ramirez said in an email that no APD Internal Affairs investigations are being conducted into the incident.
Attorney Brian Thomas, who is representing Walck, said his client and Walck’s supervisor received IA target letters on Monday but that both were later told that the IA investigations had been called off.
Mayor: IRO can handle this
Berry said the IRO can handle the investigation independently.
“What I’m interested in is a clear-cut review of the facts,” Berry told the Journal on Thursday.
Police and paramedics will talk directly to the IRO, he said.
“What I don’t want is the mayor’s office filtering the info,” Berry said. “The IRO doesn’t need our permission” to talk to people.
Berry said he hadn’t seen the letter from the four council Democrats calling for an outside group to handle the investigation and couldn’t immediately comment on it. But he said he understands the scrutiny.
“If people have questions, that’s fair,” Berry said.
The Councilors Trudy Jones and Brad Winter, both Republicans, praised Deaton’s qualifications. Deaton “is above reproach. I think he’s very good,” Jones said.
Winter said an outside investigation could take months, so it’s best to see what Deaton comes up with before deciding whether to hire someone else.
Councilors Michael Cook and Don Harris said they didn’t have firm opinions yet on an outside investigator.
A contract for an outside investigator might require full City Council approval. The entire council must consider contracts above $55,000, but the council staff director can approve contracts smaller than that.
Councilors question need for position
Council president Ken Sanchez on Wednesday called on Berry to place White on administrative leave during the investigation.
Some councilors have wanted White’s position eliminated entirely for some time, even before the latest controversy.
“I don’t understand the position,” Councilor Isaac Benton, a Democrat, said Thursday. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Jones said the mayor should “reassess” whether the job is necessary, but that it’s up to the mayor to decide how to organize the executive branch.
White oversees police, fire and the emergency management office. He reports directly to Berry, rather than the chief administrative officer.
That’s a slight change from years past. Under former Mayor Martin Chávez, the “chief public safety officer” reported to the chief administrative officer, the top executive under Chávez, according to organizational charts. But the exact lines of authority were murkier in practice because Chávez took such a hands-on approach to public-safety matters.
Berry said he wouldn’t have the job if it weren’t important. He noted that roughly half the city’s spending is dedicated to public-safety programs, making it wise to have someone with a policy role to oversee those functions and their budgets.
Berry said the public safety director is especially important given that he cut other top administrative jobs to help with budget balancing, such as the chief financial officer and chief operations officer.
Meanwhile, city officials said White is not a certified or sworn law enforcement officer and does not carry a gun during working hours.
The brown Chevy Tahoe he drove to the scene of his wife’s crash last week is one of two city vehicles equipped with lights and sirens that is driven by a civilian, officials said.
The other is driven by Mayor Richard Berry, Ramirez said in his email.
“However, a sworn APD officer commonly drives this vehicle,” Ramirez wrote.
White said at a Monday evening news conference that he had his emergency lights – but not his siren – engaged when he pulled up to the crash because other emergency vehicles were on scene. He said the lights were still on when he and his wife left the scene because he didn’t realize they were still engaged.
See COUNCIL on PAGE A2AFD details criteria to decline an ambulance A2
Not a simple task
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
