APD union prez: Good or bad, Chief Schultz ‘must own it’

In the eight days since my story about Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz’s travel to conferences, which was published Feb. 11, I have received all manner of feedback via email, voicemail and comments on ABQJournal.com.

Several of those comments were related to an accompanying video-recorded interview with Schultz that we published on our website. (The video is re-posted here, below.) In particular, several people pointed to a section in the video in which the chief was talking about a survey conducted by the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association, which showed overwhelmingly that morale at APD is “low.” (Read a more detailed story about the survey here and a story about Schultz’s and Mayor Richard Berry’s responses to it here.)

During the interview, Schultz raised concerns about the survey and said that morale isn’t low. At the 26-minute mark in the video, the chief challenges me to ask the union president and vice president whether their morale is low and, if it is, whether it’s because of anything Schultz has done.

After the interview, I sent a series of questions via email to APOA President Greg Weber and union Vice President Shaun Willoughby. Among the questions was the one Schultz challenged me to ask.

Weber responded — and he did so prior to publication of my print story on Feb. 11. But because I didn’t include Schultz’s challenge in the print story, neither did I include Weber’s response.

Since publication, several of the aforementioned emailers and callers have asked whether we sought a response from the union leaders. Here, then, are my questions and Weber’s responses:

Journal: Where does the responsibility rest for the many problems at APD?

Weber: Ray Schultz has been at the helm of APD since mid-2005. Everything about the department: from resource allocation, to innovative changes, to the current SOPs, to some of the disciplinary problems occurred either by the hand of the Chief or with his knowledge.  He has had eight years to shape the department.  There are many in the community who respect the department and some who do not; then the officers have their opinions too.  Whatever the actual truth is, with eight years and counting, Chief Schultz must own it.

 I am not sure what “troubled times” or “many problems” you are specifically referring to.  It is true APD has had its embarrassments and inappropriate conduct by a few officers.  I would challenge anyone to find a business, or police department for that matter, which did not make a few mistakes or have a few problem employees.  The police force is made up of human beings, not robots.  I do not believe the officers have the same concerns about the department that the media does.  To be blunt: the media has allowed the uninformed and emotionally driven protests of a small group to drive the perception that there are somehow all these problems with APD, particularly with officers’ use of force.  

 The internal turmoil problems officers have raised in the survey were largely issues of how the department has reacted to this criticism and the overall department morale.  It is disheartening for the Chief or any other administrative figure to believe this was somehow a show of dissatisfaction over money.  The internal turmoil is about the belief that decisions are made based on politics and that the Chief does not stand up to the media or protestors when they attack our officers’ actions.  The blatant dismissal of the contract is very upsetting to our members and should be dealt with but it was not the only issue.

Journal: The chief said in an interview that he does not believe morale at APD is low. He said the union survey is “flawed” and he chastised union leadership for not releasing the comments from the survey. He said he believes officers are only unhappy because of “money.” The chief suggested I ask the union president and Vice President specifically whether “their morale personally is low” and, if it is, whether it’s because of anything the chief himself has done. So, I am putting that question to you, Greg and Shaun.

Weber: I am shocked the Chief thinks that the responses of 453 of his officers were somehow “flawed.”  The survey has 26 questions, only some of which were even about the Chief or the department.  Consider that Presidential polls are done with only 300 people and pollsters can often predict how an entire state will vote with only a small percentage of the total votes counted, why is the APOA survey any different? We stand by our survey!

I, personally, am very proud of the Albuquerque Police Department badge that I wear.  I am proud to serve the public and I enjoy helping others.  Most officers I know enjoy coming to work each and every day.  They look forward to the challenges of their specific job and get great satisfaction out of fighting crime (cliche yes, true nonetheless).  But that is all at the INDIVIDUAL level. 

Morale is not a measure of individuals but of cohesion.  The APD is missing that overall cohesion: there are pockets of cohesion within specific squads or sections but the overall cohesion is non-existent.  To dispute this would be to ignore the constant bashing some department members do of each other on the blogs and social media. Officers believe there is a disconnect between the street level and the administration.  These are not the indicators of unit integrity, solid in approaching the mission but rather a broken group of individuals. 

BUT….. WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MORALE ISSUE.  It is up to all of us to fix this problem, not just Ray Schultz.   For his part, the Chief should not simply dismiss the survey as flawed, that sends the message he is not listening to his troops’ concerns.