By Jeff Proctor
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Embattled Albuquerque police union President Joey Sigala abruptly stepped down Tuesday amid a growing chorus of city leaders condemning his practice of paying officers involved in shootings up to $500, officials said.
Albuquerque Police Officers Association Vice President Felipe Garcia also resigned Tuesday.
In addition, the pair face a forthcoming audit of union finances after concerns about spending during their time in office.
It is unclear where the resignations leave the shooting-related payment practice, which Sigala last week said would continue despite calls from Mayor Richard Berry and Police Chief Ray Schultz to halt it immediately.
City Councilor Brad Winter on Tuesday called the payments “very, very inappropriate” and said he and other councilors are “investigating some things we can look at” legislatively in an attempt to curtail the practice if the union doesn’t do so itself. He declined to discuss specifics.
Several other councilors condemned the payments, but said the council has no authority to interfere in union business.
Sigala and Garcia did not return telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Union representative Mark Aragon confirmed the two were seeking reassignment Tuesday in an email and said the union would issue a full statement after an emergency meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Schultz said he received requests for vacation from Sigala and Garcia “to assist in the transition of new executive leadership for the APOA.” The two requested new assignments, which the chief said he would accommodate.
Currently, both are paid their city salaries of $52,374 - in addition to dues-funded stipends they pay themselves - to do union work and don’t have regular police assignments.
A Journal story published last week revealed that the union had paid more than $10,000 to officers involved in shootings, dating to the start of 2010. In all, 23 APD officers shot people during 20 incidents last year and the year before. Fourteen of those shootings were fatal.
Internal union financial documents obtained by the Journal show that 20 of the officers received union payments.
The documents did not indicate whether officers involved in three shootings this year also received checks.
Officers involved in police shootings are automatically put on at least three days of paid leave and offered free counseling by the department.
News of the union payments touched off a national firestorm, with coverage in the New York Times and the Washington Post and on National Public Radio and ABC Radio, among others. Family members of men shot by APD called the payments an apparent “reward system” or “bounty” and, along with community group leaders, renewed their calls for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether APD has a pattern or practice of violating civil rights.
Sigala, who was elected union president in March 2009, and Garcia, who took office in the summer of 2010, said in a statement last week that the payments were to cover some expenses for officers who have been involved in “critical incidents” and their families “to find a place to have some privacy and time to decompress outside the Albuquerque area.”
Sigala said last week that the practice has gone on for 20 years or more and has been common knowledge at APD, including among “upper administration.”
However, the chief and others say the union’s past practice didn’t involve direct payments. Instead, the union would pay for accommodations and other expenses for officers and their families to get out of town and decompress.
The shooting payments aren’t the only controversy surrounding Sigala and Garcia as they exit.
The documents obtained by the Journal were prepared by union Treasurer Matt Fisher earlier this month after members demanded to see a breakdown of how APOA money was being spent.
The demands came after Fred Mowrer, the union’s lawyer, sent an email to board members saying $259,000 had been spent on salaries and “union work” during the past two years, spending that he said threatened the union’s ability to battle the city over ongoing contract issues.
APOA members voted earlier this month to hire an outside firm to audit the union’s finances for the past two years and to require more financial accountability. Members will also consider next month whether the president’s and vice president’s union salaries should be cut.
According to union members, Sigala at a March 15 APOA meeting acknowledged that he and Garcia had paid themselves more in salary from union dues than they had previously said publicly, and that Sigala’s wife was paid about $6,000 for working on special projects and filling in as a temporary secretary.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal