Keller's news conference on crime: nothing there. No plan, no nothing.

- Who is paying for the fifty NMSP officers? Albuquerque taxpayers? State taxpayers?

- How much is it going to cost to bring them to Albuquerque?

- Where are they going to stay? Who pays for their motel rooms?

- Will the NMSP have to obey APD / DOJ use-of-force guidelines?

- How with the NMSP operate? Will they respond to APD 911 calls? Will they just be visible? What are they going to be doing?

- How long with the NMSP be in town?

- Which communities are losing their NMSP protection while their officers are in Albuquerque?

Shocking!

That is the news from Mayor Tim Keller's press conference in Nob Hill today.

Why is it shocking? Because he stated that our government has never worked together on any issue until now.

For God’s sake mayor, why did you have to go down the PR road when Albuquerque needed real leadership.

Our government has worked together in the past on issues affecting our community, many times in fact. But knowing that doesn’t give PR spin for Keller. Remember last week he took a PR photo in front of a trash truck, to trash talk El Paso soccer, while homicides in Albuquerque are sky rocketing.

Mayor Keller, El Paso has you beat if you start talking about crime. New Mexico United Soccer might kick their ass, but crime is kicking ours.

What else did I learn from the press conference? I learned that the upcoming University of New Mexico commencement ceremony is going to be very boring. Just who did UNM President Garnett Stokes think she was addressing at this press conference? When Stokes stated, “We are a city within a city, Blah blah blah” I wondered if she had picked up the wrong speech from her desk.

In the spirit of love for our governor and teamwork from those who have never experienced teamwork before, let us take One Albuquerque and multiply it by a city within a city (that would be squared) to create a new Albuquerque and UNM slogan:

One Albuquerque Squared (It gets you two towns with a big crime problem)

As for Corrections and Regulation Department heads, I learned that they plan on doing their jobs. Wow! What a concept. They are going to go after absconders and check bars. Teamwork, One Albuquerque style.

And yes, I learned repeatedly and painfully that Kellers’ catch phrase is “One Albuquerque.” Barf. Over and over he let us know this like we must memorize it for an upcoming pep club assembly.

And love, yes there was also love at this press conference. So much love for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham from all the politicians in that room, that I wondered they had all hooked up on Tinder.

I get it, Keller and Geier are out of ideas and MLG is bailing them out with 50 New Mexico State Police officers. One “thank you” would have been enough, but what the hell I will join in, THANK YOU AND MUCH LOVE TO GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM! There, happy?

Aside from being told that fifty NMSP officers are coming to town, there was nothing about specifics. Well you can’t give specifics when you are knee-jerk reacting and you haven’t thought the entire plan out.

Plan? Keller doesn’t need no stinking plan! This is One Albuquerque bitches. Hey mayor, we all thought your press conference was going to be about specifics.

Since it wasn’t, allow me to ask some silly questions.

Who is paying for the fifty NMSP officers? Albuquerque taxpayers? State taxpayers?

How much is it going to cost to bring them to Albuquerque?

Where are they going to stay? Who pays for their motel rooms?

Will the NMSP have to obey APD / DOJ use-of-force guidelines?

How with the NMSP operate? Will they respond to APD 911 calls? Will they just be visible? What are they going to be doing?

How long with the NMSP be in town?

Which communities are losing their NMSP protection while their officers are in Albuquerque?

There was a bright spot at this press conference, Raul Torrez. Our district attorney walked to the podium, gave the shout out to the governor and then told us what he was going to do! Refreshing and right on the mark. Torrez stated that the pre-trial release program that this jurisdiction is under is simply not working and he is going to the legislature to fix it! This was what Albuquerque needed to hear.

Torrez seems to get it, that judges here are not working in vacuum where they are creating their own rules. They are under the thumb of the Supreme Court guidelines and those guidelines now need to be revised by the legislature and governor. This is smart and it will go a long way to addresses our crime issues.

Torrez must be successful in putting into statue or court guidelines, that prior arrests and criminal history are given more weight as to whether a defendant is released. This is all about holding criminals for trial, bonds do not fix this issue as they allow criminals out just as much as pre-trial services does now. This is about giving judges written guidelines that are specific. The judges can look at prior arrests (not convictions) and give those prior arrests great weight when determining to hold someone for trial.

Good job Raul!

Look, Keller and the others didn’t create Albuquerque’s crime problem. That was done by a conservative Republican mayor (and the fools who elected him twice) who gutted the Albuquerque Police Department and then named a political hack to be police chief.

But that is history. It is now Kellers’ problem and still ours. I don’t know any more information about the NMSP coming to town now as I did five minutes before the press conference began.

I do know that there is a lot of love for MLG. That up to today, no one in law enforcement ever worked as a team (sic).

I also know that Keller should take advice from Raul Torrez. Come with a plan, specifics, or don’t show up at all.