Taxes don’t cover chief’s overtime

HOW DOES CHIEF’S OVERTIME WORK? There’s been some debate in recent columns for the West Side and Rio Rancho journals about the way traffic is released from the large Sagebrush Church on Coors.

Joe M. called to say the issues with regular traffic having to take a back seat also happen on 98th Street with Legacy Church. And he wants to know why taxpayers are picking up any of the tab, for wear and tear on the police cruisers as well as gas.

APD says they aren’t.

Officer Tasia Martinez, public information officer for the Albuquerque Police Department, explains “officers only get a portion of the money.”

“The entity requesting chief’s overtime pays a set dollar amount per hour that covers more than just the officer’s pay. A portion of the fee is generated to cover the other costs of the program.”

Joe also asks why the city doesn’t save money by sending police service aides instead of sworn officers.

If you paid for a certain level of enforcement, would you be happy with less?

Martinez says it simply would not be right “when businesses are requesting security that we should send unarmed, untrained non-sworn PSAs out there.”

That said, “sometimes PSAs do work overtime directing traffic for lots of special events and such. But local businesses are choosing to hire sworn officers to enforce the law and provide security at their businesses, events and in their neighborhoods. Serious criminals have been caught and apprehended and charged as a result of chief’s overtime officers at work.”

AND HOW MANY COPS ARE WRITING TRAFFIC TICKETS? arazbl emails that “it appears there is from very little to no traffic enforcement and the running of red lights and stop signs is rampant. What percent of the Albuquerque Police Department is assigned to traffic enforcement at any one time?”

Martinez says “all patrol officers are assigned to traffic enforcement 24 hours a day in every area command in addition to responding to calls for service. The Motors Units are on duty as well, conducting traffic enforcement and often specialized traffic enforcement operations throughout the city. They also respond to major crashes. However, every patrol officer is responsible for traffic enforcement in their areas at all times.”

MVD CUT RED TAPE TO A SECOND PLACARD: David has an update after recently being denied the allowed second handicapped parking placard.

He emails “I did call MVD in Santa Fe to see if there was a fix. It took about two weeks, and several recalls to the answering machine, but someone did finally answer. The fellow was very business-like, took some information, put me on hold, and when he returned, advised me that the second placard would get to me by mail in 10 days to two weeks. Sure enough, it came. However, it is not a duplicate of my original placard, but a second placard with a new number and expiration date — and the same awful picture.

“I think what happened is that the system and the program is written only to issue duplicate placards upon original issue or renewal. However, it appears that the staffer in Santa Fe simply issued a new individual placard. It’s nice to know that we have civil servants who can think around the bureaucracy to achieve the public good.”

373 TRAFFIC DEATHS LAST YEAR: That’s the final tally, according to the number crunchers at the University of New Mexico. It’s up from the 351 in 2011.

Of those deaths, 241 involved vehicles; 60 involved motorcycles; 61 were pedestrians; eight were on bicycles and three were on all-terrain vehicles.

Alcohol was a factor in 149 of the deaths — almost 40 percent.

In the vehicle deaths, 160 were not wearing seat belts. In the motorcycle/ATV deaths, 49 were not wearing a helmet.

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103; or go to ABQjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal