The popular image of the friendly forest ranger has taken a major hit after
a drug sweep at the
Taos Ski Valley angered skiers at the popular
resort and infuriated a former governor of New Mexico. Now the special agent in
charge of
U.S. Forest Service’s Southwestern Region tells
New Mexico Watchdog an “after-action review” will be conducted
next week in the wake of the operation in which four officers carrying side
arms, wearing flak jackets and accompanied by one drug-sniffing dog descended
on the ski resort Feb. 22.
“I do have
concerns about the tone of the law enforcement activities up there,” special
agent Robin Poague, who is based at the Forest Service office in Albuquerque,
told New Mexico Watchdog. Poague said a patrol captain is being brought in from
Arizona to conduct the review next week, but didn’t say how long it will take
for the findings to be released. “The bottom line is I’m responsible for what
went on,” Poague said of what was called a “saturation patrol” of the resort. The
chief operating officer of the Taos Ski Vallery, Gordon Briner, was more
careful with his words, saying, “The manner in which the mission was done was
not done in a manner consistent with a great partnership,” referring to the
long-standing agreement between the forest service and the ski resort, which
partially sits on federal land.
With
feelings among some Taoseños still raw, Poague said he wanted to
stress three things: “One, I’m the person responsible, not the officers doing
their jobs. Two, as to the people who have expressed their concerns, I hear
their concerns. And three, the after-action review will look at what went right
and what went wrong.”
There has been
speculation the drug sweep came in
response to reports of a quota system on the part of forest service
administrators, but Poague said that wasn’t the case. “We had some previous law
enforcement incidents up there,” Poague said, including DWIs and selling of
Molly, a drug similar to Ecstacy…
more
The popular image of the friendly forest ranger has taken a major hit after a drug sweep at the
Taos Ski Valley angered skiers at the popular resort and infuriated a former governor of New Mexico.
Now the special agent in charge of
U.S. Forest Service’s Southwestern Region tells
New Mexico Watchdog an
“after-action review” will be conducted next week in the wake of the
operation in which four officers carrying side arms, wearing flak
jackets and accompanied by one drug-sniffing dog descended on the ski
resort Feb. 22.
- See more at:
http://newmexico.watchdog.org/20802/internal-review-coming-next-week-in-controversial-taos-ski-valley-drug-sweep/#sthash.Qbm6d0JB.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment