'There is no morale': Nineteen officers resign from emergency response team after protest

Nineteen police officers in Albuquerque, New Mexico, quit the police department’s specialized protest team after an officer was put on leave following a protest.

"They don't feel supported here, and they don't feel trust. They feel second-guessed, and they don't feel that they can do their job, no matter how perfect they do their job, without getting in trouble,” Shaun Willoughby, the president of the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association, told KOB4.

The Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association's president warned that the officers don’t feel supported by the police department.

"I think Mayor Keller needs to make a serious decision of what this police department's priority structure is,” Willoughby said. “Morale, let's not even talk about it because it doesn't exist. There is no morale. Your Albuquerque police officers are absolutely miserable at work— nobody's happy.”

The spate of resignations came after a fellow emergency response team officer was put on leave after following a counterprotest to a Proud Boys rally that never occurred. Deyontae Williams, who police say was armed with a rifle, was detained by police and escorted away from the demonstration.

The APD said there was a “breakdown in the chain of command” about whether Williams should be charged with a crime, and the officer was placed on leave while officials investigated the incident.

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"Chief Medina made it clear that we cannot have a breakdown in communication during critical incidents,” the APD said of the incident. “We have worked hard to earn back the public's trust. We will lose that trust if we resist accountability and culture change."

Williams told a local n... (Read more)

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