Albuquerque mayors and the police chiefs they appointed

After 14 years with APD, the chainsmoking, blunt-talking BOB V. STOVER was appointed police chief in 1973 by the City Commission chaired by Louis E. Saavedra. Stover, 37, then held the job under two mayors, Republican Harry Kinney and Democrat David Rusk, until he resigned in 1980. He wasn’t forced out, he simply said he was tired of the job. Stover figured prominently in local news stories ranging from the city’s only strike by rank-and-file officers to the city’s number-one crime ranking nationally in the late 1970s. Stover held “must see” monthly news conferences and was adept at handling the various political factions within APD and the City Council — while minimizing fallout from scandals like the department’s burglary detectives who were caught burglarizing the homes of criminal suspects.

After serving 19 years with APD, E. L. “WHITEY” HANSEN was appointed chief by Rusk in April 1980 — a surprise pick because Assistant Police Chief L. A. “Lou” Powell had been groomed for the position by Stover. He was kept on as chief under Harry Kinney. Hansen, who had movie star looks and a radio baritone voice, dealt with many of the same issues as Stover. He oversaw the investigation of former APD officers involved in a multi-state robbery and burglary ring, and ordered internal investigations of the department’s narcotics unit. The department’s criminal investigation into the killing of Officer Phil Chacon, however, led to years of civil rights lawsuits by two men charged and later exonerated in the killing. Hansen retired shortly after Kinney left office.

SAM V. BACA was appointed by incoming Mayor Ken Schultz as the first Hispanic chief in the department’s modern era after serving 15 years in the department. At the age of 37, Baca held the highest academic qualifications of any chief at that time, with a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of New Mexico. While he tried to focus on creating new programs, such as the domestic violence unit, Baca’s administration was mired in controversies over police shootings, the handling of civilian complaints against officers and City Council demands for civilian oversight over the department’s Internal Affairs Unit. Revelations that the department’s Intelligence Unit had gathered information on an estimated 1,000 prominent citizens, attorneys and other civilians led to civil lawsuits seeking to learn the scope of the department’s spying program. APD officers torched the files in a dumpster even as the American Civil Liberties Union was delivering a court order barring their destruction. Baca stayed on for the first few months of the new mayor, Louis Saavedra, then retired in 1990 to take a job as police chief in Lakeland, Fla. He has since moved back to Albuquerque.

BOB V. STOVER was named by Louis Saavedra to once again become chief of APD, a position he held until retiring for good in 1994. Stover, who also had served two terms as Bernalillo County sheriff, faced some of the same issues he faced during his earlier tenure — problems with hiring and promoting minorities and women, civilian oversight and city budget problems. In addition, officer-involved shootings increased and came under greater media scrutiny. He continued to promote community team policing and was highly regarded by most officers.

With Stover’s departure, Mayor Martin Chávez appointed cigar-smoking JOSEPH POLISAR, known as “Chief Joe” to officers, with a mandate to increase the number of officers in the department and emphasize community policing. Polisar faced many of the same problems as Stover, but a dispute with the police union in the middle of the next mayoral campaign over changing officer schedules from four 10-hour days to five eight-hour days because of budget issues led to his ouster when Jim Baca was elected mayor.

Baca appointed former Toledo, Ohio, Police Chief JERRY GALVIN to run APD after a nationwide search. He was the first chief appointed from outside the department. The mild-mannered Galvin immediately moved to decentralize detective units to substations and move officers from specialized units to the patrol division — angering the police officers union. Galvin got caught in political crossfire between the Civilian Oversight Commission and the union, increasing crime rates and budget problems. He left when Baca lost his re-election bid.

Right after taking office in December 2001, Chávez appointed retired APD Deputy Chief GIL GALLEGOS, who was former three-time national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. Gallegos immediately got into a fight with the Civilian Oversight Commission that continued until he resigned in March 2005 amid allegations of cover-up, retaliation and failure to move quickly enough to fix problems plaguing the department’s evidence room that included thefts and missing evidence.

Chávez brought in retired APD Deputy Chief RAY SCHULTZ who at that time was a deputy chief in Scottsdale, Ariz., to replace Gallegos in April 2005. Chávez wanted the scandal-wracked department back on track and he described Schultz as a “pro” and “squeaky clean.” Schultz faced problems with the police union, short staffing and, most importantly, an increase in officerinvolved shootings and others kinds of use of force. Despite the problems, he was retained as chief by Mayor Richard J. Berry in 2010. He retired in 2013 with APD in the midst of a Department of Justice investigation into the unconstitutional use of force by officers, including a number of officer-involved shootings. After leaving APD, his involvement with the company supplying lapel cameras and non-lethal force equipment came under fire and led to an investigation by state Attorney General Hector Balderas. No charges were filed. Schultz became the assistant chief in the Texas city of Memorial Villages. Berry appointed Deputy Chief Allen Banks interim Police Chief. Banks left APD to become police chief in Round Rock, Texas. Faced with the DOJ probe and increased criticism of APD conduct, Berry appointed former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and U.S. Marshal for New Mexico

GORDEN EDEN to replace Schultz in February 2014. A former state police officer, Eden, 59, has been dealing with police shootings, increasing crime rates, a shortage of police officers and the city’s agreement with the Department of Justice to overhaul the department’s training and standard operating procedures. The city did not contest the DOJ’s findings of widespread use of excessive force. Eden also faced withering criticism for his initial public statement that the police shooting death of James Boyd — a homeless mentally ill man — after a long, videotaped standoff was “justified.” Two officers were charged with second-degree murder and the case ended in a mistrial. The city paid $5 million in a civil settlement. Meanwhile, Eden has been frequently criticized by the special master in the DOJ case for being slow to get APD to comply with extensive DOJ reforms. All the current mayoral candidates say they plan on replacing Eden.