Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

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