By GEORGE CHANDLERWell, I do have to apologize to Pete Sheehey, he caught me. I made a mistake when I said he wanted to give the jail to the Sheriff. I guess I was confused – what he actually wants to do is give prisoner transport to the Sheriff, or more accurately, to allow the Sheriff to “assist” in prisoner transport.
Pete also points out that he did not say the Sheriff could “arbitrarily” choose to interfere in police investigations, rather the resolution says if the Sheriff “reasonably believes” the “integrity” of an investigation would be compromised if carried out by the department the Sheriff can take it over.
Now think about that for a minute. There is no provision for a neutral third party to decide if the Sheriff’s action is reasonable. Because the resolution allows the Sheriff to both form the belief and decide to act on it, with no appeal from the Sheriff’s decision or even consultation with the Chief, that’s an open door for personal ambition and self-serving – or in other words, arbitrary.
In fact, that little clause in the resolution makes the Sheriff effectively the boss of the Police Chief. This resolution is reorganizing the police department and putting it under the command of the Sheriff. “Dismantling” describes that well.
That, of course, is the goal of the Sheriff and his supporters, and the reason the New Mexico Sheriff’s Association has been so supportive of the Sheriff’s crusade. The NMSA and its big brother the Western States Sheriff’s Association, both of whose meetings our Sheriff attends, know that the institution of the Sheriff is losing relevance in today’s law enforcement world. Incredibly, the Sheriffs have adopted a doctrine of the extremist Sovereign Citizen movement, claiming the bogus status of being the highest official in every county with the power to contravene federal law and federal control of federal lands, and a special mandate to investigate corruption of public officials (ha! Two of our neighboring counties have seen their Sheriffs jailed for corruption and worse). They probably see the minimalized Los Alamos Sheriff as a chink in their armor.
I digress. Let’s analyze the daily impact on the Police Department of the provisions and ambiguities of this resolution. Who will decide who will transport prisoners? Does the Chief have to consult with the Sheriff every time he wants to move a prisoner? Will the Sheriff ask today to borrow police officers (authorized by the resolution) to fulfill the new duties assigned the Sheriff? Will the Sheriff decide today to interfere in a particular police investigation?
Does the Chief have to consult with the Sheriff before he assigns investigators? When he decides to take over an investigation, will the Sheriff borrow LAPD investigators and supervise them, or do the investigation himself? Is a particular deputy actually certified and commissioned or is he just a Mounted Patrol-certified officer who must be supervised by a real cop? These will create coordination, scheduling, and chain of command problems for the Police Department. Not to mention questions about who is head of the Police Department.
Contrary to Councilor Sheehey’s stated belief, he is proposing to dismantle the police department, reorganize it into two departments, and make the Police Department subordinate to the Sheriff. For what reason? What do we gain from this chaos? A hobby job for our retired, pension-drawing Sheriff? Employment for some of his wannabe deputies? A setup for a favored candidate for the Sheriff in the next election? Validation for the Sovereign Citizen movement?
Councilor Sheehey has failed to identify anything that’s wrong with the Police Department that merits a reorganization. I don’t think it’s a good idea to adopt this half-baked resolution. I have too much respect for law enforcement and for our Police Department to remain silent about that.
