Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Police oversight commission walks away from review

Beginning in April 2021, the board members of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency made several written requests to the chief of the Albuquerque Police Department for a written response with an explanation to their (and Force Review Board) questions regarding APD’s exoneration of officers in the fatal shooting of Roger Schafer.

Schafer, 57, was shot to death by APD officers in August 2019 after multiple 911 calls reported Schafer was waving a gun around by a bus stop on Eubank near I-40. Reviews of the incident by APD’s Internal Affairs Force Division and a special prosecutor with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office found the use of force by all six officers involved to be within compliance of policies and to be justified.

But the CPOA board had questions. It finally got a written response from APD Deputy Chief JJ Griego in May, prompting these comments at the board’s May 19 meeting.

Board Member Eric Nixon: “It haunts me as a board member … because there were so many things done wrong … for months we’ve been trying to get some sort of response. It hasn’t happened. I don’t think the man had to die like that. I don’t think he had to be shot like that.”

Vice Chair Jesse Crawford: “I’m not happy with the situation. From a purely practical perspective, I don’t think keeping this case on the agenda will produce any better outcome. I think the way forward to avoid repetition of this incident is policy recommendations.”

Chair Patricia French: “I am not happy with the response. I don’t feel like they addressed our questions. (Former CPOA) Director (Ed) Harness’s sustained allegations of misconduct (by four officers) were presented at our Aug. 12, 2021, meeting and I don’t think we have approved it yet. Is that correct?”

Interim Director Diane McDermott explained she did not think the board made any findings. There were so many questions that prompted the letter by then-CPOA Chair Eric Olivas to the chief requesting a written response.

Crawford disagreed, asserting an unanimous vote by the board “raised concerns regarding the findings and action taken by the Force Review Board” and he is fairly confident the board voted to accept Director Harness’s findings letter.

Crawford’s fairly confident assertion was dead wrong. Review of the board-approved meeting minutes at and since the Aug. 12 meeting reveal no vote to approve the findings, as does review of the Aug. 12 video discussion.

A letter from Harness to the chief dated Aug. 12, produced by the CPOA in response to an Inspection of Public Records request, does identify misconduct findings absent a disciplinary recommendation. However, the letter is not signed by anyone, and has the sentence “My review of the evidence shows on July 17, 2018, the victim Mr. S was suspected. …” Schafer was shot and killed on Aug. 22, 2019!

French ignored the interim director’s position the board did not make or approve any findings and, after Crawford’s “fairly confident” assessment, French closed the discussion by stating, “If we’ve already done it. I don’t recall if we have. That was the question. Had we or had we not. If we already voted on it, I’m fine with that. Let’s move on.”

The general sense of the board was captured by Nixon when he said, “I don’t think the man had to die like that. I don’t think he had to be shot like that.”

The Civilian Police Oversight Agency’s ineffectiveness is evidenced by the fact the board adopted a “let’s move on” resignation strategy without the accurate comprehension of whether or not they agreed with their director’s sustained findings of four officers’ misconduct and if they agreed they failed to notify the chief of police.

The board basically questioned the constitutionality of the deadly force and left their questions unanswered.

On May 19, they “moved on,” walking away from a trail of feeble or unanswered justifications of officer actions in a highly questionable fatal shooting.

The CPOA director’s report of the four sustained misconduct findings weren’t submitted to the chief; There was no resolution of the numerous “deficiencies” identified by the APD Force Review Board provided to or requested by the board.

How is this board held accountable for such abysmal performance?

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