One of these days, Peter Goodman will write and deliver another editorial about a Civilian Police Oversight Board (CPOB)—a name avoiding “civilian review board.” His first editorial was about the need for a CPOB. The next one will be about a proposal for approval either by a City Council vote or a voter referendum.
Some time ago, Goodman invited me to join others—I know only of Earl Nissen and Bobbie Green—in developing this proposal; I refused. So far as I know, this group is developing its proposal in negotiations with the city’s muckety-mucks for an up-or-down vote with no citizen input. If this Council approves the proposal, its words are written in water, for the next Council may not support it. If a referendum approves it, it may survive from one Council to another, yet remain susceptible to a lack of support. However the proposal is put to a vote, the fact remains that it is being developed by those with presumably little or no direct unpleasant experience with the LCPD, but a good deal of arrogance that they know best what everyone else needs.
Without knowledge of the proposal, I cannot consider its strengths or weaknesses. However, my experience with the LCPD, City Attorney, City Manager, and City Council is that there is not, and likely never will be, enough integrity and determination to make a CPOB work. I have dealt with everyone serving in these capacities and know that they are dishonest, weak, and inconsistent when it comes to policing and public safety. In evaluating any forthcoming proposal, ask how the CPOB would deal with the Baca case.
On 16 April 2022, called to a home by family members reporting a woman with a mental problem threatening to use knives, the responding Police Officer Jared Cosper shot and killed Sra. Amelia Baca in less than a minute. Police Chief Miguel Dominguez’s immediate reflexive response was to generate a deceptive PR audio-visual presentation released about a week later. It was doctored to make the victim look threatening when, in fact, she was not and the LCPD officer was obscene, angry, and aggressive—five times shouting, “put the fucking knives down”—before shooting and killing a non-English-speaking, elderly, confused woman likely suffering from dementia.
The next response was to convene a joint task force of local police agencies—LCPD, DASO, NMSP, and NMSUPD—to investigate and report to the Third District Attorney, Gerald Byers. The composition of this task force is an example of conflict of interest, a concept which no one in these agencies understands or respects. The LCPD actively participated in both the investigation into and its report about one of its officers. So gross was the conflict of interest that the meeting to review the report on 13 June was led by LCPD Detective Kenny Davis and in the presence of his superior Dominguez.
When the task force report went to the Byers, he dithered for weeks, then decided to kick the case upstairs to NM Attorney General Hector Balderas for his decision whether to bring charges against Cosper. Balderas, who is departing office at the end of his term, is almost surely not going to bring charges, a police officer and murderer will be back on the street, and the local law enforcement and legal community can duck responsibility. Meanwhile, the delay enables everyone to get the politics right, let football and the fall elections distract the public, then make a late Friday afternoon announcement.
Five months and counting. Meanwhile, those investigative reporters at the Las Cruces Sun-News, have done little reporting of this case. After its headline stories, it did publish the complete footage of the LCPD film after I sent it to them when I got it from my IPRA request. If they have done any more investigating, no one knows about it. Apparently, they have not interviewed officers on the task force or the District Attorney, have not asked why the case of a local murder has been moved from the city to the state, and have not asked the obvious questions: (1) why did the LCPD not determine the facts and either charge Cosper or explain the reasons for not charging him; and (2) why did Byers not make the same determination? The silence of the Sun-News suggests that it is willing to get its headlines, then do its civic duty—that is, serve the powers-that-be, by supporting these agencies in their desire to minimize a police murder.
Entirely silent on the Baca killing are all elected state officials from this area. Neither my Representative Angelica Rubio nor my Senator Jeff Steinborn has spoken up about this killing. Their silence signals their continuing indifference to police criminal conduct and, not so by the way, to Hispanic victims.
Those who have read my two dozen or so blogs on the dishonesty and corruption of the LCPD, City Attorney, City Manager, and City Council about five trivial phony charges of code violation know that misconduct, dishonesty, and corruption begin with a police officer but go up to the Attorney General, and include officials at all levels in between.
The lesson for Las Cruces’s police reformers is that the law enforcement and legal community is all-embracing from street to state. It will not reform itself; it will not let self-appointed do-gooders initiate workable and endurable reforms. At best, they will get a façade of reform. Meanwhile, LCPD officers will continue to harass, humiliate, abuse, harm, or kill Las Cruces citizens with impunity. Is everyone happy with LCPD’s hiring teenagers and giving them guns with which to play police? Is everyone happy with LCPD training when we know how well it worked after Cosper got over 70 hours of training in de-escalation? LCPD officers know no better, they are trained to do no better, and they will not tolerate anyone changing policies and practices to better provide for public safety. With or without a Civilian Police Oversight Board, they will continue doing their duty as they have always done it. And, in the more ominous impending political climate, the LCPD police will be well prepared to play their part in suppressing political action not to their liking. Provocateurs will have privilege over protesters.
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