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Sunday, August 31, 2008

APD Has Had Many Bad Run-Ins

By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer
          The Albuquerque Police Department has had several controversial encounters the past year.
        Last month, an officer cited 79-year-old John Mathias for not wearing his seat belt, even though he had a doctor's note that legally excused him from wearing one. Mathias was arrested for assaulting the officer after he allegedly threw a pen at him. That officer has since been disciplined.
        Earlier this year, an engineer from Dallas, who is black, filed suit against APD claiming that he was racially profiled when officers pulled him over and forced him to the ground at gunpoint.
        The motorist, Edward Henry, was in town to teach a class for the city-county water authority. The car he was driving was a rental and had previously been reported stolen. The rental company never called police to report that they had recovered the car or that they were renting it again.
        The lawsuit is pending.
        And, in May, KOB-TV cameraman Rick Foley was attacked by an officer while covering a police standoff. The officer asked Foley to leave the area, then attacked the photographer while he was packing his equipment. The incident was caught on Foley's video camera. Foley was arrested for refusing to obey.
        His case was dismissed, and officer Daniel Guzman is awaiting a disciplinary hearing.
        APD arrested 517 people for "refusing to obey" charges in 2007, according to a recent Journal investigation. Seventy percent of the cases were thrown out.
        Local defense attorneys derisively call the refusing to obey charge "contempt of cop" and claim APD routinely violates residents' first amendment rights.
        Police Chief Ray Schultz says some encounters could have been avoided if officers had explained their actions.
        Schultz has said he is looking into customer service training for his department.