The Associated Press
Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) -- As Gilbert Gallegos enters his third year as police chief, his department faces allegations of corruption, officer misconduct, excessive force, union disputes, staff shortages and criticism from an independent police-review officer.
Mayor Martin Chavez maintains the department is on track and the jobs of Gallegos and public safety director Nick Bakas are safe. Chavez saluted APD for lowering the city crime rate.
“Overall, the police department is doing very well,” Chavez said.
Gallegos and Bakas acknowledge there have been problems.
“I know we have a lot of issues we’re addressing right now, but we have a good department,” Gallegos has said. “It’s a very professional department.”
For his part, Bakas says APD has come a long way from the department it was decades ago, which he acknowledged had shown signs of corruption.
“I remember the days when officers were accused of murder and burglary -- that in my mind is corruption,” Bakas said. “I’ve seen corruption, I know corruption, and we are not where we were many years ago. In perspective, we’re doing very well.”
However, Jay Rowland, the city’s independent review officer, has been at odds with Gallegos over allegations of officer misconduct.
“The department clearly has some problems and needs civilian oversight,” Rowland has said.
Among APD’s current problems:
-- An officer who was indicted last summer after he was accused of detaining people unnecessarily at traffic stops, and another who resigned amid allegations he forced a woman to expose herself after a traffic stop.
-- Allegations that civilian police department employees stole thousands of dollars in money and property from the APD evidence unit and that top officials covered it up.
-- After a surprise inspection, the department’s jail transfer station was shut down this month because of possible mistreatment of prisoners.
-- A high-ranking officer disciplined for giving the mayor’s wife a break on a parking ticket.
In early March, an unsigned memo alleged that Bakas and Gallegos looked the other way when the civilian theft allegations arose. The two men deny delaying the investigation and said the department should be recognized for locating, then investigating possible internal crime.
The parking ticket break for first lady Margaret Aragon de Chavez resulted in disciplinary action for police Capt. Conrad Candelaria after an internal investigation.
Last summer, officers Christopher Chase and Duane Currell were indicted for allegedly abusing people during traffic stops.
Chase was fired for detaining people, according to an indictment. Currell resigned after he was accused of coercing a woman into exposing herself during a traffic stop, according to an APD investigation.