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paperboy text opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
Good Policing Isn't Change for Sake of It
Mayor-elect Richard Berry campaigned on a platform of change, blasting the city's record on property crime and its status as a so-called sanctuary city. Once elected, he decided to keep the same police chief who's tackled property crime and illegal immigrant criminals in Albuquerque since 2005.
Sometimes it makes more sense to go with what you know than to implement change for change's sake.
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz is more than a political retread. He's a career cop who knows the city, has made a difference in its safety, and remains responsive to calls for improvement.
Unlike some predecessors, Schultz takes policing his own seriously. He fires officers accused of misconduct, including one who covered up for a drunken colleague and another accused of raping a minor. He cooperates with the city's civilian independent review officer, meting out discipline in 98 percent of cases, compared to 60 percent before he took over.
He has also tightened policies on call priorities, reserve officers, Tasers, steroids, contempt-of-cop citations and belt tapes. He's cut deals so his officers can cite problem bars, created "power teams" to tackle crime spikes, made reducing auto theft a priority, increased DWI unit manpower by 50 percent and doubled the officers administering field sobriety tests, and upheld a federal court settlement to guard against racial profiling.
No, his record isn't perfect. He wasn't open about punishments handed out in the evidence-room scandal, forthright in explaining why so few of his 1,100-plus officers take calls, logical in his defense of a $91,000 Suburban as a recruiting tool or his off-duty officers who mucked up a Los Lunas crime scene, or accountable in his release of inaccurate red-light camera stats. He also stonewalled when APD's reserve officer program came under fire.
And yes, some of his reforms have been in response to major crises, from the arrest of an elderly man accused of throwing a pen cap to a "low priority" call that ended in a murder-suicide. But Schultz was smart enough to realize invoking a blue wall of silence would not benefit his officers or his community. And he instituted change.
Berry says Schultz showed up with a stack of ideas for moving APD forward and a road map to implement them. The police union, business and community leaders support his re-appointment. That's in part because Schultz has proven responsive and responsible. His change provides for a safer community. It makes more sense than change for the sake of it.
Campaign rhetoric not withstanding.
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