Albuquerque PD Fires Cop For Not Turning Body Cam On Before Fatal Shooting, Cop’s Lawyer Claims Unfair Treatment

On
April 21 cops in Albuquerque
shot and killed 19-year-old Mary Hawkes, who was suspected of
auto theft. It was the third fatal shooting by officers from the
Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in a month and the first since
the Department of Justice (DOJ) had
announced the results of its review of civil rights violations
and abuses by the APD. The assistant attorney general who made that
announcement insisted that even though the DOJ found a likely
pattern and practice of civil rights abuses, it wasn’t singling out
any individual officer or questioning the character of the
department’s members.

“We recognize that many of you are dedicated public servants who
wear your badge with distinction,” said Jocelyn Samuels, the
assistant attorney general. “We do not intend our findings
today to mean that you must needlessly risk your lives or safety.
You must come home safely to your family and loved ones.”

The feds may have declined to target any specific officer that
may be contributing to the pattern and practice of abuse but at
least in the case of the shooting of Mary Hawkes the APD showed it
might be interested in actually disciplining officers contributing
to the department’s problems. Officers of the APD are equipped with
body cameras. Footage from such cameras has helped bring attention
to questionable police shootings like that of a
knife- or brake pad-wielding man in December or that of a

homeless camper in March that sparked protests across New
Mexico.

The officer who shot and killed Hawkes did not have his lapel
camera turned on. He insists he turned it on prior to the encounter
but it was off and the manufacturer said they couldn’t determine if
the officer was being truthful. Now the officer, Jeremy Dear, has
been fired.
Reuters reports:

Police Chief Gorden Eden said in a statement the officer was
fired for “insubordination and untruthfulness” over the uniform
camera issue after an internal probe, but stopped short of linking
the firing to the circumstances of the shooting itself.

Dear has not been charged in the incident.

“Insubordination tears at the fabric of public safety especially
when the officer makes a choice not to follow a lawful order,” Eden
said in the statement.

“In imposing the discipline of termination, I considered the
seriousness of the acts and omissions, aggravating circumstances
and Officer Dear’s disciplinary record,” he said. 

Dear’s lawyer insists the APD isn’t being fair to his client and
is trying to “set an example” by firing Dear. “If they fire every
officer who doesn’t turn on his uniform camera, they won’t have
anyone left on the department,” said the attorney.

Well, them’s the brakes. The APD has one of the highest per
capita killing rates in the country for a police department. The
DOJ, although deferential to cops, nevertheless identified serious,
systemic problems with the APD—problems that have been around for

decades. Yes, it seems like the APD is setting an example with
Dear. And set an example they should—the department’s officers
appear out of control.