Police union survey released
Posted at: 11/13/2012 6:54 PM
By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News
The results of a study paid for by the Albuquerque Police Officers Association reveals 99 percent of officers surveyed think morale is low in the department and strongly disapprove of the job performance of APD Chief Ray Schultz and Mayor Richard J. Berry.
Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the job Chief Schultz is doing. Ninety-five percent disapprove of how the mayor is leading the police force.
"(Officers) believe the department has become too politicized and has had knee jerk reactions to criticisms and to concerns of a small number of citizens," Greg Weber, President of the APOA, said.
The survey also revealed that 98 percent of police officers do not think there are enough officers in the field to meet the law enforcement needs of the public.
"This is an issue that we have been asking the leadership of the city and our own supervisors to address desperately," Weber said in a press conference Tuesday.
The police force was once up to 1,100 officers, but that number is now considerably lower. Weber said he's worried that at least 200 more police officers plan to soon retire.
In order to improve conditions at APD, 89 percent of those surveyed think the city should hire more police officers and 50 percent think Chief Schultz should be fired.
Union leadership also learned through the survey that many of its members do not think that leadership is doing an adequate job representing them.
Chief Schultz did not issue any public comment Tuesday regarding the survey results. A spokeswoman said the police chief would prefer that he meet with union leadership first and better understand the methodologies used. A spokeswoman for Mayor Berry said the mayor plans to meet with the police chief in the upcoming weeks to review the survey findings.
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