Carlsbad, NM Police Union Asks For Mayor To Hand In Resignation
By: Katiera Winfrey
Updated: March 11, 2013
CARLSBAD, NM--The Carlsbad Police Officers Association is asking for city Mayor Dale Janway to resign or to be dismissed from office after dealing with yearS of what they call an abuse of authority.
Being a mayor can have its perks, but in Carlsbad, being the mayor's friend may have its own benefits.
"Because of the personal relationships he has with the people, he'll ask police officers to dismiss and overlook citations. And we just can't have that," said Detective Sargent Allen Sanchez with the Carlsbad Police Department.
The Carlsbad Police Officers association is fed up with Janway. He's been in office since 2010, and officers said a lot of that time has been used directing officers on ticket and violation dismissals.
Sanchez said, in his 12 years of being a police officer, he's never seen a mayor take is power and use it to his advantage to help friends get out of trouble.
"The chief complaint we have with the mayor's office right now is that we don't want, we don't want the mayor's office to be taking advantage of the police officers and we don't want the mayor to be taking advantage of his position of authority," said Sanchez.
Officers believe, when they put on their uniform and get in to their cars to do patrols, it's their duty to uphold the law, and being asked by anyone to do something other than just that doesn't sit well with them.
Sanchez said, "This is the first time I've had an experience where multiple police officers in our union are coming to me telling me I feel uncomfortable doing this."
Multiple officers coming forward more frequently to the union with complaints against the mayor has brought the problem to the fore front.
Big 2 asked, "Do you think you all coming together is going to make a difference?"
Sanchez answered, "I think it will. I think I will. I think showing them we're going to be standing together as a union we're not going to stand for this. I mean it's not right. No matter how you look at it, it's not right."
No decisions have been made in relation to the mayor's current employment. However, Sanchez said he hope the community will stand behind their law enforcement.
"It's the people that elected him that put him in office and it should be the public and we're just gonna leave it in their hands and council and we'll go from there."
Mayor Janway was unavailable for comment.
