Alamogordo Town News: Alamogordo Police Rank Well in National Score Card, Compromise & Additional Police Funding Proposed by President Biden

Rhetoric continues to present the extremes of the two parties and make it sound as if Democrats hate the cops and Republicans are against any reform. Both are false narratives. The fact is both parties consist of patriotic Americans that understand the art of compromise. It’s time we turn off the extreme media, ignore the propaganda of much extremist social media and use data to learn the facts.

There are elements within both parties committed to the greater good in American and both are finding common ground in the efforts by BLM for police reform while at the same time “Supporting the Blue.”

Along the lines of BLM and Supporting the Blue, there is now a national report card that measures police department performance using real time data. The Alamogordo City Police Department is included in the data pull and ranks well in New Mexico verses other departments large and small.

Alamogordo Police ranks well in a national score card for police departments that provide an analysis of police departments, their use of violence, funding etc. as a nationwide scorecard and compared to other New Mexico departments.

The scorecard on the city of Alamogordo police department is interesting and provides insight on the ranking of Alamogordo. The Alamogordo police department outranks many police departments positively outranking Santa Fe, Carlsbad, Albuquerque and those departments closer to Alamogordo such as Hobbs, Roswell, Farmington and Cloudcroft.

https://policescorecard.org/nm/police-department/alamogordo#

The Police Scorecard is the first nationwide public evaluation of policing in the United States. The Scorecard calculates levels of police violence, accountability, racial bias and other policing outcomes for over 16,000 municipal and county law enforcement agencies, covering nearly 100% of the US population. The indicators included in this scorecard were selected based on a review of the research literature, input from activists and experts in the field, and a review of publicly available datasets on policing from federal, state, and local agencies. This project is designed to help communities, researchers, police leaders and policy-makers take data-informed action to reduce police use of force, increase accountability and reimagine public safety in their jurisdictions.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, REVIEW, AND REFINEMENT

The Police Scorecard project was built by Samuel Sinyangwe and a team of data scientists, designers, developers, organizers, and students from across the country who believe in the power of data as a tool for justice, accountability, and measurable change. This project and its methodological framework will continue to be updated over time in response to feedback and as more data are made available by local, state, and federal agencies. This includes incorporating additional indicators such as police stops and searches, police militarization, policies and procedures, and disciplinary outcomes. The full database, including source documentation, can be accessed here.

https://policescorecard.org/nm/police-department/alamogordo#

Along the lines of police reform and funding, President Biden proposes increases in funding…

On Wednesday Biden proposed to fund more police departments to combat gun violence—despite activists and police reform advocates demanding something entirely different. This follows the national trend for major cities to renege on previous declarations about police accountability as homicides continue to climb.

In New York City it appears a former police officer and law and order Democratic candidate will become the new mayor based on early results of the New York City Election. “Social media does not pick a candidate,” NYC mayoral frontrunner Eric Adams said Tuesday night during what sounded like a victory speech in all but name. “People on Social Security pick a candidate.

Contrary to how the conservative media portrays the poorest Black and brown people, those exact black and brown boroughs of New York came out and voted for the ex-cop, former Republican and multiple property owner and who’d been slammed by diverse progressives warning that his calls for an increased police presence would be harmful to Black communities. But the most vulnerable voters appeared to favor him and his police credentials.

Across the US the Democratic party is putting law and order candidates up as the chosen candidate for election which breaks the narrative by those of Trumpian ideology that the Democratic party does not “back the blue” or does not support the police and are radicalized by BLM.

The FACTS are that the Democratic party is pushing for police reform but at the same time have increased funding and support for police departments at the local, state, and federal levels and they are putting up more candidates with significant police experience.

In Florida Val Deming, 64, was first elected to the House in 2016 from Orlando and is running against Marco Rubio for his Senate seat. Ms. Deming has held the distinction of being, the city of Orlando’s, a major US city’s first Black woman police chief. From 2007 to 2011, Demings oversaw a 40% decrease in violent crime during her tenure as police chief.

Closer to Alamogordo, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Democratic Mayor Tim Keller initiated a plan for the $56 million in Covid-19 relief from Washington it included earmarking 15% to fund police activities,

In April, Keller proposed earmarking more than 15 percent of the funds for the Albuquerque Police Department: $3 million to expand a gunshot detection system, $5 million to refurbish station houses, $1 million for new cars and $450,000 to recruit more officers.

There is certainly a false narrative that the Democrats are anti-cop and defunding the police. The facts are the party is putting up strong candidates against the Republican party that are middle of the road yet show strength in actual practice related to law and order.

Just as there is a false narrative that the Republicans are running Gestapo over citizens and support the police blindly. The extremist gets the press within the party typically based upon Trumpian mouth pieces. However, the reality in the house and the senate is more moderate voices are collaborating with the Democratic leadership and pushing for compromise on reform and funding.

Senate Republican, Tim Scott, is leading the Republican efforts of compromise which is noted that the provisions of the bills he is pushing as the foundation for compromise legislation include federal funding incentives for departments that ban chokeholds, more grants for body cameras, federally criminalizing lynching, and creating a use-of-force database in the Justice Department to document and study how police officers use force.

Rhetoric on the left and the right make us believe we are a nation divided and the average American is against the police. This is not the case, with data and a commitment by those not grabbing the headlines compromise is found.

The silent majority of Americans support the police but also support reform and the need for safe communities, free of crime, but policed in a manner ensuring the human rights of all Americans. BLM and Back the Blue can co-exist in a spirit of compromise when cooler heads prevail above the fray of rhetoric.

More News from Alamogordo

• Alamogordo High Wins the State Athletic Training Challenge, Gadsden 2nd, Centennial 3rd. Alamogordo Brings Home the Blue State title for a 2nd time ever in this event.
• Alamogordo High School Students Excelled at State HOSA Conference Alamogordo High School HOSA to send students to nationals!