Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal BY T.J. WILHAM Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz is telling some officers who live outside the city to park their patrol cars before they go home.
He also said Monday that he wants a change in the union contract that could force more officers to find their own transportation home.
The department allows officers hired before 2001 to take their patrol cars home even if they live outside the city. Officers hired after that date can take their cars home only if they live within the city.
A recent review identified 53 Albuquerque police officers who shouldn’t be taking cars home, but it didn’t determine how many actually were. Schultz said he knows of at least several who do.
“No one is going to get punished for violating this rule,” Schultz said. “Right now, it’s an educa- tional issue. Many of the officers didn’t understand the rules. Now, we are trying to make sure they follow them.”
Schultz ordered the review in the wake of rising gas prices and orders from Mayor Martin Chávez, who asked all of the city’s department heads to examine their fleets to save gas. APD has about 1,000 officers, and each is assigned a vehicle.
According to the policy, which is written into the Albuquerque Police Officers Association contract, any officer hired before May 1993 can live anywhere and take their car home.
Officers hired between May 1993 and June 2001 have to live within 30 miles of the city to take their cars home.
Schultz will not say what he thinks the boundaries should be, but he feels the same rule should apply to everyone regardless of their hire date.
The policy will be discussed when the contract, which expires in June, is renegotiated, Schultz said.
Most of the officers violating the policy were retired officers who recently returned to work.
Those officers assumed their original hire date determined whether they could take their car home.
Toby Gallegos, vice president of the union, said he has yet to hear of any complaints from officers who have been told to park their cars.
Gallegos would not talk about negotiations regarding the take-home car policy. He did say that officers who live inside the county, but outside of the city, should be allowed to take their cars home.
“The city is a neighborhood hodgepodge,” he said. “You can live five miles from Downtown and be outside of the city. Someone else could live several miles away and be inside the city.”
Under the policy, officers who take a car home must have a gun, badge, police jacket and their radio on whenever they are driving it. They are also required to respond to any nearby emergencies in the city, even if they are off-duty. The gas is paid for by the city.
“It is a plus to all citizens of the area to have a marked unit in the area,” Gallegos said. “Take-home cars benefit everyone.”