So, the New Mexico National Guard will be deploying to … The Duck! City?
Good training in case they have to go up against the Houthis anytime soon, I suppose.
But at first glance this “emergency response” to crime hereabouts seems to have a lot of wobble to it.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the planned deployment follows “a March 31 request from APD Chief Harold Medina for the military to fulfill ‘non-law enforcement duties’ such as providing security at crime-scene perimeters and transporting prisoners, among others.”
But Medina says this thing “has been in the works for months after the NMNG offered help.”
APD is to monitor the “pilot project” with an eye toward measuring its success, says the chief. But the executive order from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “left the timeline for the NMNG’s presence open-ended.”
The 60-some-odd Guardspersons are to provide security at the courthouse, airport and other facilities, and medical support for the unhoused along East Central. Medina said this “would free up 20 to 30 officers for law enforcement and crime-fighting.” I’m not sure Skippy the Dipshit and his DOGEbags would call this efficient, but hey, what do I know? Onliest thing I run is this keyboard here.
Oddly, in making their case for bringing the Guard to town, Medina and Duck! City Mayor Tim Keller cited quarter-year stats indicating “large decreases in crime, compared with 2024.”
The mayor explained thusly: “What we want to do is double down on what’s working … and what’s working is technology and civilians … freeing up officers to fight crime and keep those statistics going in this powerfully good direction.”
P.S., he added: The city isn’t picking up the tab.
Neither Medina nor Keller offered any idea of how long the Guardspersons would be needed. Medina hopes to have a bunch of new cops on board — about 150 of them — before the bugler sounds “Retreat.”
The GOP said what the GOP usually says, which explains why it has as much influence on state politics as some poor sod living in a Glad bag at Wyoming and Central.
Likewise, the ACLU views with its usual alarm. Daniel Williams, policy advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said in a press release that the assistance was “a show of force, not a show of solutions.”
“History has shown that military collaboration with local law enforcement often leads to increased civil rights violations, racial profiling, and criminalization of vulnerable populations, particularly those experiencing homelessness and poverty,” he said.
The troops are to be unarmed and clad not in uniforms but rather in polo shirts (we can only hope that pants will be included). I do get that breezy feeling from the rear that our pants are being pulled down here, but you know what they say about paranoia.
Mad Blog Media 
Civil disobedience, protests and the national guard. WTF does anyone here the echoes of Kent State? Scary stuff.
Down the slippery slope we go! Patrick, can Sandy and I camp on your patio when the dumpster start drone bombing in Sonora?
That may not be the safest spot in the Southwest, Hoss. As much shit-talking as I do around here, El Rancho Pendejo may be way up there on the list of places to pulverize.
Patrick, you put your finger on it. The city isn’t paying for it. Put yourself in hizzoner’s shoes. You need SOMEONE at the metal detectors at city hall, but do you really need a full-fledged (as much as they are, anyway) city police officer? So get the free help with the non-critical jobs, freeing up the trained officers to chase the bad guys. All on the state’s dime. And just to make sure no National Guard person decides that they’re the next Dirty Harry, polo shirts and unarmed. Maybe even pink Izod polo shirts and khaki chinos with top-sider loafers, no socks.
And this will end when someone at the state level looks at the cost to the state and says, “wait a minute…”.
Seems strictly performative to me. And I wonder who got the ball rolling, and why. The guv? The top cop? A game of political musical chairs.
Dress rehearsal for deployment of Nat Guard at the increasing number of protests against Adolph tRump & Co. What was that movie? …..There Will Be Blood? Well it’s gonna take a whole lot of soldiers to tamp down what’s a comin before any hope of normal takes hold. Five months ago I would have felt any Kent State references were ludicrous. That was then….this is now…..
“Attention! All able bodied Trumpers must report to their regional National Guard HQ for enlistment pronto! And bring all your firearms-legal or otherwise! Oh and you won’t have to show ID or birth certificates since you are loyal to our god”
Remember, last go-round Crayola Face wondered aloud why he couldn’t just have unarmed, peaceful protesters shot, according to former SecDef Mark Esper.
“Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
Why is it that the chickenhawks are always the first to go “Full Metal Jacket” on people?
Like Ira Glasser, I’ve long had my doubts about the metamorphosis of the ACLU from a civil rights to a partisan political organization. Sending in elements of the National Guard under a Governor’s control is not considered a violation of the Posse Comatatus Act (at least according to the Brennen Center–I checked), so not quite like calling in the 82nd Airborne Division armed with M-14’s, as Eisenhower once did at Little Rock. I also recall real armament being sent into Detroit, etc. back in the sixties.
Neither Keller nor Our Fearless Leader in the Roundhouse has figured out how to deal with the war zone in Albuquerque and frankly, I don’t see a solution other than that quip from the movie**. The Legislature took a pass, too. Hence this. Maybe the guardsmen can shuttle people back to the War Zone after they are immediately released on their own recognizance.
I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Couple years ago her idea of a state of emergency was largely smacked down by a Federal judge.
** https://youtu.be/aCbfMkh940Q
Oops. That was the 101st at Little Rock.
Chip, chip, chip away at the Posse Comatatus act. Walk right up to breaking the law, find a loophole in it, then do what you want to. Tie up any challenge in court and just break the law. So, let’s take 60 feet of all federal land along the border from California to Texas and call it a military base. Then the soldiers can detain or arrest you, just like trespassing on any other military installation. Chip, chip, chip, precedent after precedent, and pretty soon the law becomes toothless. dumpster has been doing this for his whole life. But now he has an army of federal lawyers that don’t cost him a dime. So, how about this? The state gives the money directly to the police department, and they hire civilians to do the admin work freeing up uniformed and trained police officers.
https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-us-trump-admin-could-have-military-take-control-report-2047564
“So, how about this? The state gives the money directly to the police department, and they hire civilians to do the admin work freeing up uniformed and trained police officers.”
This I like. We already see more PSAs than actual cops on the street these days. At the rally on Saturday it was mostly PSAs handling road closures and whatnot.
I wonder how many of our policing problems could be attributed to “blue flu.” There was the consent decree, and then the decades-long DUI shakedown that’s still playing out in the courts. Also, Albuquerque — like Bibleburg, Tucson and other cities of comparable size and composition — ain’t exactly a cakewalk for a copper.
Not enough cops here in Fanta Se. The average road crew for the entire city is about 8 to 12 coppers. We have the Public Safety Aides up here in the City Indifferent, too, and they do stuff like control traffic, roust the homeless, and take info on crashes, etc. Then we have the private guards the city is hiring rather than hire more cops. The guards are armed. Not sure how well they are trained. The NM Level III (armed) guard training is a joke compared to even the basic cop training. And they can shoot you.
The other day I was riding down the Acequia Bike Trail and this car was coming right at me, so I hollered out something you wouldn’t say to your mom. Turns out it was a city contracted private guard patrolling the Acequia trail by driving up and down in his car. He was armed with this full size Sig Sauer. He had stopped to ask me why I hollered at him and after we sorted that out peaceably, we talked guns. I praised him for having a Sig rather than a Glock. Whatever.
I’d love to think we could solve all these problems idealistically by bringing people out of drugs and homelessness. Meanwhile, we are doing it the hard way. The National Guard is the least of our problems.
A friend got clipped by a city parks truck on a bike path in Bibleburg once.
Meanwhile, here in Duck!Burg the bike lanes are for parking cars, idling 18-wheelers, landscapers’ trucks, trash/recycle bins awaiting pickup, trash, big-ass orange signs proclaiming “ROAD WORK AHEAD,” of which mostly there is none, grates big enough to swallow any tire smaller than 35mm, bits of autos involved in high-speed collisions at intersections, and the occasional private-security vehicle.
Armed private guards, hey? Are they Pinkertons? This is starting to sound like a Steinbeck novel.
Meanwhile, at least two New Mexico National Guardspersons are said to know a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about crime.
Keep your guard up, and make sure you are fully clipped in with both pedals.
Ouch, shit, damn….
Was taking off from a traffic light in downtown Fanta Se and thought I was fully clipped in, so stood up and accelerated. Next thing I knew the right crank arm and pedal whipped around and slammed into the back of my leg right above the Achilles tendon. Was a strong enough whack to open a big cut and leave a nice bruise.
Finished the ride after a few seconds on the side of the road wondering if I needed to go to urgent care. Nope. So onward, and cleaned it out with soap and Betadine afterwards. Still hobbling around.
Ouch…shit…damn. Always check your clipless pedals before putting on the power. Even at my age, when power is a thing of the past.
Ouch. I hope you are dancing well soon Khal. Yeah, I think a lot of us here at the bar have had or stirups break loose a time or two. Just when we thought we were pros forever, the amateur gene kicks in and keeps us honest. I recall a time in the not too distant past when I came across of new-to-me spd pedals that I thought I’d test out. I failed to remember that sometimes folks like their release set at a level a little less then I do. I don’t think I made it out of my driveway when I discovered that fuck is a word that can be seen with your imagination sometimes.
Ouch, shit, damn, indeed. One of my riding buddies lost a screw from his right SPD cleat yesterday and nearly had a premature unclipulation at Central and Tramway, which is a very bad place to have such a thing. Heedless motorists will flatten you out like a pizza crust and the unhoused will eat you.
I need to replace the cleats on my old Sidis. This will require a Dremel tool, because I’ve put this off for so long that an Allen key will no longer do the trick. I need a nice deep notch so’s I can employ a flathead screwdriver.
Or I could just get new shoes. With tariffs the new Sidis are probably up to $2,592,850 per pair. Step right up … step right up … everyone’s a winner, bargains galore. …
Heh. You gotta be careful when you ride with buddies who have a screw loose, eh?
Leg feels well as long as I keep moving. So I’ll go walk the dog.
And oh, I do have a Dremel setup if you need to borrow it. Comes in handy for a bunch of weird things. I bought it back in Hawaii and used it to drill out core samples from coral reef samples back when I was doing science, or whatever it was NOAA was paying me to do. But now I just use it for home projects.
I think one time in the past I had a pair of Sidi’s where the bolt heads were mangled and seized up enough to need replacement. I recall being able to remove them with a pair of small needlenose visegrips.
These buggers are really in there solid. The screw heads look to be fused with the cleat. Woo hoo, way to pay attention to the little things, hey?
I think I can Dremel a slot in the sonsabitches and use a flathead screwdriver to get ’em out. But if not … well, these shoes are crazy old and beat to shit, not unlike their owner. I used to race cyclocross in ’em, and I abandoned that field of battle in 2004.
I picked up a new pair on sale when Sidi decided to switch distribution to QBP, and while I don’t like them as much, they are new, the cleat bolts are sound, and the lugged soles aren’t ground down to nubbins.
Khal: Careful now there, buddy. There’s no statute of limitations on the FW&A (fraud, waste, and abuse) that the DOGE mafia/secret police are looking for/at! (Apologies, PO’G, ended with a preposition.)
Maybe they’ll look at the White House Staff too just to bolster our confidence in their intellectual rigor and accuracy? Thank heaven they don’t set policy (or do they?), build aircraft/spacecraft, or do brain/heart surgery. Actually, they seem to embody the old joke about the government: “Close enough for government work.”
That said, I know medical professionals take and strive to live up to the Hippocratic Oath. I’ve been concerned for over 70 years that many elected and appointed officials take a “Hippocritic Oath”.
To be honest, I bought it out of personal funds. There was barely enough money in the grant to pay for the analyses and an occasional grad student or two. And I left the drill press behind at the University!
Have to say those Dremels are really versatile. I bought some diamond coring bits and we made a bunch of Christmas ornaments using glass, the Dremel, and a glass slumping kiln.
That does it JD. I cannot stand more of this. Ending a sentence with a preposition is the last last straw…I’ll have to uncork a Malbec to see if I can settle my nerves.
Jeezus it sounds like Khal and POG have to undertake Combat Cycling out there in The Land of Enchantment. Who knew that mounting the bike and heading out for a ride could lead to insults, injuries and possible death and maybe a running gun battle with a trail cop.
I’m all mixte up!
I’m all mixte up! Mmm mmm mmm, mmm, yeah, yeah, yeah. …