APD's Blue Wall of Cowardice
-- He-men cops fail to aid a secretary.
-- Female APD secretary has more courage and integrity than the entire APD command staff.
-- I don’t think anyone carrying a gun and badge in APD’s chief’s office has the courage to put the city and the department ahead of their personal aspirations.
-- There is a blue wall of cowards on APD’s 5th floor. They will enforce rules on everyone below them, but when it comes to their peers they cower, bicker and hide.
If Albuquerque Police Chief Mike Geier’s memo regarding John Ross is accurate, the only person in the chief’s office, with the courage to protect the city taxpayers and APD integrity, is civilian Paulette Diaz. The memo documents the blatant bullying of a civilian employee and violations of APD policy by Chief of Staff John Ross, yet the only person to speak up is a civilian. Where were all the deputy chiefs and the assistant chief of staff? Certainly, they witnessed or were aware of what was going on? Why didn’t they intervene? Cops are supposed to be courageous, but it seems that the command staff at APD has no courage to (as Geier puts it) “do the right thing.”
Deputy Harold Medina spends his days and nights worried that Ross and other deputy chiefs are making as much or more money than he does. Geier states in his memo that Medina was laser-focused on his jealousy of others in the command staff making more money than he did. That should make all of us sick to our stomachs. Maybe Medina should be this upset at the unsolved murders, Onate protest debacle and rising crime rate. If Medina went to Geier with his preoccupation jealousy of the income his peers are making, Geier should have “done the right thing” and kicked his ass out the door.
Where were the other deputy chiefs when Ross allegedly bullied Diaz into giving up Geier’s signature stamp? Geier had ordered his stamp locked up and that he was the only person allowed to access it. Both Diaz's and Geier's memos accuse Ross of threatening Diaz into handing over Geier’s stamp, a direct violation of Geier’s order. Were the deputy chiefs cowering in their offices? If Diaz's memo is factual, why did Medina tell Diaz to destroy his signature stamp after Ross had taken Geier’s stamp? Why didn’t Medina stop Ross from violating a direct order from the chief of police?
What about the other deputy chiefs and the assistant chief of staff? Where were they? Don’t they take an order from Geier seriously? Or is it only a civilian, Paulette Diaz, who believes that when Geier issues an order it should be followed? Just who is in command at APD? No one it appears.
What about Geier? Reading him memo makes me ask: why is Geier not taking a forceful hand and fixing this? He says he is in charge, then goddammit be in charge! And if Geier is being blocked by CAO Sarita Nair and Mayor Keller, Geier should have the courage to go into their offices and tell them to allow him to run APD or he is retiring. It’s leadership. It’s very simple, Mike “do the right thing.”
The longer Geier stays as chief and does not take a forceful hand to fix it, the more his reputation is ruined. Please Mike, for the sake of the city and APD, go to Nair and Keller and issue an ultimatum. Either Ross is immediately put on leave pending this investigation (which is normal practice) or you will walk out and retire immediately. That’s courageous. That’s what legacy is made of.
I don’t think anyone carrying a gun and badge in APD’s chief’s office has the courage to put the city and the department ahead of their personal aspirations. The only courageous one is a civilian secretary, who was immediately transferred to Animal Control for doing the “right thing.”
There is a blue wall of cowards on APD’s 5th floor. They will enforce rules on everyone below them, but when it comes to their peers they cower, bicker and hide. And where is Mayor Keller?
