Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

GUEST COMENTARY police

GUEST COMENTARY police law news Daniel Carr This Week in Policing: APD-DWI Unit, Courtsey Cards and I Retired. APD DWI UNIT This could be huge. The District Attorney (Sam Bregman) of Bernalillo County, NM (Albuquerque metro area) has dismissed over 150 DWI (driving while intoxicated) cases in the last few days. Bregman cited an ongoing “Federal investigation” as the reason and directed all media inquiries to the Feds. The FBI stated that they have conducted search warrants at the homes of a few Albuquerque Police officers and local attorneys in reference to an alleged “kickback scheme”. The allegation is that officers were working with defense attorneys to not show up for DWI cases in exchange for money. I hope this is not true and/or that a minimal version of the allegations are what happened. This will be a national story. And the implications of this could effect the DOJ Consent Decree that the City of Albuquerque has been under for over a decade - that was on its way to sunsetting. For the most substantive daily reporting on this (and other Albuquerque News) check out ABQ RAW. COURTESY CARDS There is an interesting case in New York City that involves “courtesy cards”. The allegation is that these are laminated cards issued by police unions, to police officers, for them to distribute to friends and family. The idea is that if a card is presented to an officer during a traffic stop - that the stopping officer not issue the driver a ticket. One officer (Matthew Bianchi) decided that he was not going to play this game and issued tickets to the chosen people who possess these cards. Officer Bianchi alleges that he was retaliated against by his supervisors and also by the police union. He has filed a lawsuit in response. Officer Bianchi claims that he initially filed a complaint with Internal Affairs and that his concerns were ignored. A department spokesperson disputed that claim. Like most stories, the truth is likely somewhere stuck in the middle. Either way, hopefully the result of this is the ending of this ludicrous practice. I understand that this is part of “East Coast policing” in some jurisdictions. It seems foreign to me as I grew up in the Midwest and spent nearly two decades as a cop in the Southwest. I have never seen anything like this. This courtesy card scandal seems like the plot of a 1980’s Stallone movie - where he is the only honest cop fighting against an entire corrupt police force and the matter is ultimately solved by an arm wrestling match in a dive bar. This practice should stop. It’s a bad idea. It spits in the face of the principle that we are all equal under the law. And that ideal is non negotiable. I RETIRED This week I retired from the Albuquerque Police Department after nearly twenty years. Here is what I wrote on my personal Instagram: “Nearly 2 decades ago I 14 The Blues - February ‘24

The Blues - February ‘24 15