High tech surveillance



Gallup police patolman Monty Yazzie demonstrates the new video cameras installed in Gallup police cars. The camera is mounted just in front of the video screen and above the rear view mirror in the upper right of the photo.



Teens dance the night away at the dances held at Red Rock State Park.

Photos by Jerry W. Kelley

 

---

Gallup Police say 'smile'
Drivers captured on video

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — People who commit DWIs and other crimes involving their vehicles are now becoming the stars in their own videos.

Yes, the Gallup Police Department has joined the video age.

In the last three months, the department has been putting video cameras in many of its police units in an effort to provide a better record of arrests made by city officers.

"These video units are going to save the city a lot of money," City Manager David Ruiz said.

He expects that the video units will help defray city legal expenses by eliminating a lot of the suits filed against the police department annually by people who claim that police acted inappropriately in one way or another during the arrest.

By having the arrest on video, Ruiz said, the city will have a visual record of what went on during the arrest that can be played in court to show that police officers acted properly.

On the average, about two complaints are filed every month against the police department, said Gallup Police Chief Danny Ross. These complaints range from people who are arrested claiming that the police officer may have been too rough during the arrest to allegations that there may not have been proper cause to stop the car.

"Once we get these units in all of our police units, I believe we will be able to cut our legal expenses in this area by half," Ruiz said.

Currently only about a third of the city police units have the Eyewitness videos installed but expectations are that within the next few years, all units will have them.

Ross said that the department began experimenting with the idea of videotaping arrests about three years ago when it purchased its first unit at a cost of about $7,000 or almost twice what the current units cost.

Not only was that first unit expensive, police found that the quality of the tape was less than desired.

"That unit had too many problems," Ross said. This included the fact that the tape was jerky because of car vibrations.

At that time, video camera setup in police vans was still in its infancy but as police departments across the country began seeing how valuable the cameras could be, technological advances in the cameras resolved almost all of the problems.

Police Capt. Bobby Silva, the department's grant writer, said that the department has used money from federal grants this past year to purchase the new units, which cost about $4,600 each.

In the future, he said, the department plans to include the cost of the video camera when it purchases new vehicles.

"The cameras are activated every time the officer turns his lights on to make a stop," Ross said.

The camera is mounted on the dashboard and records basically what the officer sees. It stays on during the entire stop, recording everything that goes on, as well as providing an audio record of everything that is said.

Ross added that the actual taping unit is secured in the trunk of the car and is set up in such a way that only department supervisors have access to the tape.

For the past several years, Ross said, the department has done a lot of training of its officers on the proper handling of traffic stops to make sure that the officer acts in a courteous manner.

In the past, however, police had a hard time proving that. What some officers have done, Ross said, is use a small pocket recorder to record what was said during the arrest.

Although these recorders cost the department only about $80 each, they were nowhere near as good as the video cameras in showing exactly what went on during the stop.

If there was any concern that the rank and file in the department would not like their actions recorded, that has since ended, Silva said.

While some of the officers using the video may have been nervous at first when the units were installed in their vehicles, that quickly ended, he said.

"We have not had any complaints from anyone about the units," Silva said.

Since the videotaping has been going on for only a couple of months, none of the videos has been used in trial but Ross said that will change.

In fact, he said, presentations of these videos is expected to become a regular part of the prosecution's case.

| Top |

---

Lawyers want gag order on election board

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The tribal Attorney General's Justice Department has asked the Window Rock District Court to censor eight tribal election supervisors as they face 16 criminal charges over the aborted Aug. 1 chapter-level general election.

White Collar Crime Unit Prosecutor John Kern also asked the court to have the trials conducted in English, rather than Navajo. Chairwoman Eunice Begay of the Western Agency made the request at her arraignment March 7.

And Kern filed a motion to consolidate all 16 complaints into one case since each defendant faces the same charges over the same incident. Begay also had made the same request.

However, at his arraignment on March 7, Eastern Agency Supervisor Jay DeGroat asked for a separate jury trial in his home district court, Crownpoint. The other six also asked for jury trials a rare occurrence in a Navajo court, with the last one in Window Rock believed to have been in 1998.

Not yet arraigned

One defendant, Paul Redhouse of the Northern Agency, has not yet been arraigned. At an arraignment the judge confirms the identity of the defendant, reads the charges and makes sure the defendant understands them.

In addition to the three, the charges failure as an elected official to perform a required duty and abuse of power by doing something unlawful while acting in an official capacity were lodged against LeNora (Fulton) Johnson, Roy H. Tso Sr., Jackie Burbank, Harry D. Brown and Juliette Largo.

If the court approves the gag order, the eight and their yet-to-be-obtained lawyers won't be able to say anything of substance outside the courtroom about the charges against them. The charges were launched by an early August memo by Chief Legislative Counsel Steve Boos to answer a council delegate's question about whether any criminal laws were broken.

Kern, in objecting to Begay's all-Navajo request, said board members "all possess excellent English-language skills. This is borne out by the fact that their regularly-scheduled meeting(s) are frequently conducted and (always) transcribed in remarkably good English."

But the real reason, he argues, "might be trial strategy: one of the people's lead prosecutors is 'biligaana,' and the other is not at all fluent in Navajo. The board knows this, and their insistence may be calculated to hinder the people's case."

Kern said that while it may be lawful, it implies what he calls "bad-faith tactics to win their case," which is disrespectful to the court.

Discrimination concern

The lead prosecutor also said it"might discriminate against a very large number of potential Navajo jurors who are unable to understand their native language. Moreover, Navajo Nation law requires that a jury be drawn from a non-segregated pool," adding that non-Navajos have been called as jurors since 1979.

Kern also argues the defendants should pay for the extra costs of translators. (All seven, so far, have asked for court-appointed attorneys which can be obtained only when they file a financial form so the judge can decide if they qualify.)

He concludes his argument by saying that the outside world's legal battalion's "main weapon is the English language. Legal power is English word power. If we are to prevail, we must adapt the English language for our own legal interests."

The prosecution's motion for the gag order also covers itself. The court received it last Thursday, and announced Monday.
Kern's motion followed the announcement on March 5 that the prosecution wanted the censorship order because it wanted to be sure a large enough pool of potential uninfluenced jurors could be rounded up.

Kern wrote, "Since the election's failure, there has been considerable media attention surrounding the subsequent political controversy. Media attention has intensified since criminal charges were formally filed (Jan. 31)." He cited opinion columns, news reports and headlines in the Independent and a tribal weekly newspaper.

Gag order

In his conclusion, Kern believes, "The fundamental issue to be considered is whether a 'serious and imminent threat' of prejudicing a fair and impartial trial exists which is sufficient to warrant the issuance of a gag order."

He maintains there is.

The next scheduled date for the cases is April 12 when Judges LaVerne Johnson and T.J. Holgate will consider plea bargains.

The defendants already rejected pre-arraignment settlements offered by Kern, often with harsh words, and the prosecutor cited some of their comments in the newspaper reports for his gag order.

| Top |

---

Cibola OKs Cebolleta fire station

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Cibola County Commissioners on Monday opened some huge doors for construction of a fire station in Cebolleta.
The first door was a resolution approving a budget transfer of $65,000 for the design and construction of the new fire house.
The money comes from the fire department, but the funds must be approved by the county, which is why the commission voted on it.

Commissioner Fred Scott motioned to approve the resolution and it was seconded by Commissioner Arturo Candelaria.
Commissioners Issac Padilla, Bennie Cohoe, James Meisner, Scott and Candelaria voted to approve the measure.

The second door opened by the commission involved a land transfer from the Cebolleta Land Grant to Cibola County so the firehouse could be built. Meisner motioned to approve the land transfer and it was seconded by Scott and the vote was 5-0 to
approve it.

In other matters the commission:

Approved a budget adjustment to increase expenditure and revenue for Internet service at the family center.

Voted against spending unencumbered money from the family center to hire a full-time recreation assistant to help plan and coordinate the Future Foundation Family Center youth and family program. Scott said he saw no justification for the position and would vote against it. Commissioners Cohoe, Scott and Candelaria voted against the measure and Padilla and Meisner
voted to approve it.

In a 4-0-1 vote, approved a budget adjustment transfer of money for hospital demolition to the care of prisoner funds. David Ulibarri, who was acting as the county manager in the absence of Bob Ortiz the night of the commission meeting, said
$31,144.21 is left over from the hospital demolition fund and the financially strapped prisoner care fund needs it.

Cohoe abstained from voting on it, saying he wanted to know how much anticipated prisoner costs would be for the county.
Cibola County is negotiating a temporary contract with Corrections Corporation of America to house inmates. Cohoe said he
wanted an update on the status of the negotiations.

Candelaria motioned to approve the budget adjustment, Meisner seconded the motion and Padilla and Scott were the other two
commissioners to vote in favor of the adjustment.

Approved a pass-through spending measure for the care of prisoner fund in a 4-0-1 vote with Cohoe again abstaining from the
vote. Some $120,000 was passed through Cibola County from the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna as well as Milan for care of
prisoners. County officials needed the issue approved so the money could be passed through to Corrections Corporation of
America.

Approved a professional services contract for Teen Court Coordinator with the DWI Program. The contract is an enhancement over the old contract. DWI Coordinator Steve Barela told the commissioners that its enhancement was approved by the state and
his board of directors. The commission voted 5-0 to approve the contract.

Directed County Attorney Ted Howden to investigate a locked gate at the El Morro Ranches Subdivision to determine if the gate is legal.

Cowboy poet and subdivision homeowner Ken Moore gave a passionate presentation to the commissioners asking for help from the county to get rid of the locked gate.

County officials said the county has no jurisdiction in the matter because the road with the gate across it is not a dedicated county road, but the commission agreed to have Howden look into the matter as a service to county constituents.

Held a discussion with Thirteenth Judicial District Judge Camille Olguin to have the county act as the lead fiscal agent for a grant request to form a community-based partnership to address juvenile truancy, runaways and other delinquency issues such as alcohol and drug abuse in Cibola County.

Olguin told the commission about the proposed program, saying the program would look at remedies from the local level, such as a possible day detention program for juvenile offenders. Olguin did not ask for action on the issue Monday and the commission took none.

| Top |

---

Errors prove costly for Lady Bengals in loss

Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer

GALLUP — The Gallup softball team took the lead in the first, but did not score again as Piedra Vista battled back and dealt the Lady Bengals their first loss of the season, 12-1.

"Our defense wasn't at it's best," said Gallup head coach Marty Alderete. "We gave up too many runs on mistakes."

Alderete also said the Bengals need to get more players up to bat, but he is happy at where the team is this early in the season. "We threw Tiara (Sanchez) the entire game and she did good, and the team never quit."

The Bengals (3-1) started off strong, getting Piedra Vista's first three batters out. Gallup came up to bat and Carla Paredes hit a
double with two outs and scored on a single by Nicole House.

That would be the only run the team would score. The Panthers (1-1) only allowed two Gallup base runners the rest of the
game; Natalia Reeder in the third and Tiara Sanchez in the seventh, both on walks.

Piedra Vista pitcher Echo Hatch ended the game giving up one run on two hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts. Only six
Bengal batters were able to get the ball out of the infield, all of which were caught for outs.

Down going into the second inning the Panthers scored two runs on two errors and a walk. Chasity Frohn struck out to start the
inning, but then the next three batters reached base.

Aneliz Hernandez walked and advanced to second on a hit by Katie Robbins that was mishandled by the Bengal second
baseman. Hernandez reached third when Brittany Tillerson hit into a fielder's choice getting Robbins out, and both Hernandez
and Tillerson scored on an overthrown ball on an attempt to pick off Tillerson. Hatch grounded out to end the inning.

Again in the third Piedra Vista started off with an out, Julie Gilbertson popping out to second. But the Panthers ran off four
more runs before the Bengals could end the inning.

Piedra Vista added three more runs in the fourth. All three came off Bengals errors, giving the Panthers a 9-1 cushion.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Tillerson reached first on a single to right and scored on a Bengal throwing error. Hatch,
who got the RBI, advanced to second on the throwing error and to third on another throwing error. The ball was overthrown as
Hatch stole second and she rounded third and headed for home, but Bengals Brandie Olivar quickly got the ball in and Hatch
was thrown out at home to end the inning.

Piedra Vista was finally held scoreless in the top of the sixth.

Hernandez singled to start the seventh inning and two batters later scored on a triple by Hatch. Hatch scored on a single by
Gilbertson, but Gilbertson ended the inning as she was thrown out attempting to get a double out of her hit.

Tiara Sanchez (1-1) ended the game pitching seven innings giving up 12 runs, five earned on 10 hits and one walk. The
Bengals committed six errors.

Gallup will play in the Las Cruces tournament this weekend, starting off with the No. 1 ranked team in the state, Carlsbad on
Friday at 1 p.m.

"We will have our hands full with Carlsbad," said Alderete. "Hopefully we can go there and have a good showing."

Athletes of the week

Abelita Rose Freeland
Staff Sports Writer

The Athletes of the Week for March 5-10 are Kirtland-Central Bronco Dax Crum and Tohatchi Lady Cougar Kyla Bitsilly.

Crum led Kirtland to its first state championship in 23 years with two crucial tree-point baskets, a steal and a rebound.

Crum scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter alone and added six rebounds and handed out three assists.

"It's hard playing a team who is known for winning," Crum said about the Broncos' opponent Albuquerque Academy. The Chargers were shooting for their 10th state title. "But we played good and as a team and came out on top."

"Overall (Dax) did good," said Kirtland coach Steve Scott. "He had a horrible game against Artesia, but it is the nature of the team that if one is off then another picks you up. But he played good against Los Alamos and Albuquerque Academy.

"They were unknown going into state, but they made a name for themselves and all the hard work paied off," Scott added.

"It's pretty nice and exciting," the sophomore said about being name the Independent's Athlete of the Week. "I have never been honored before."

Crum was held scoreless against Artesia but had two assists and a blocked shot. Against Los Alamos, he had seven points and five rebounds.

Crum felt that the half court basket from Crawford is what kept their heads up to keep going for the championship. "We were down and thought that our season was over, but when he made it I think it just gave us life and hope back and we were humble and it inspired us."

Crum is also proud of the way his whole team came through throughout the entire playoffs and season. "We had fun and we didn't get down on each other. We played together and won."

"It was way exciting and I don't know what to say about the feeling because we laughed and cried but we all had a good time. This is the best season of basketball I have ever had," Crum added.

Crum also competes in soccer, baseball and track.

Tohatchi pitcher Kyla Bitsilly pitched a shutout game against Valley Sanders, with the Lady Cougars winning 10-0. Bitsilly stuck out 12 batters with four looking and eight swinging in her high school debut.

Freshman Bitsilly won the first game ever for Tohatchi's independent team who has just started the softball program and has already set the standard for where the program is should be headed.

"It's an honor," said a stunned Bitsilly about being named Athlete of the Week.

The 15-year-old Bitsilly has been pitching since she was eight, but says it takes a lot of hard work and training. She gets that from her father, who is also her high school coach, Alvin Bitsilly.

"As a father I am proud and as a coach I am excited," said coach Bitsilly.

Bitsilly said that being able to pitch for the first game was not an easy task. "We had to all work for our positions but I showed I wanted it," Bitsilly said. Tohatchi has six other pitchers ranging from ninth to twelfth grade.

Coach Bitsilly said he hopes to see Kyla pitch another game like she had against Valley, but with funds being donated and fundraised with 23 other girls on the team he isn't sure if that is possible.

Coach Bitsilly just hopes the girls can get through the season, but without the schools' financial support, only with transportation, the girls have just enough funds to pay the umpires. The girls buy their own meals after their games.

"As a father, I would like to see Kyla pitch another game like she had, but if the girls want her to then I will allow her to."

With Bitsilly's love for softball, she hopes to take her game to the college level which see saw this past summer in Pennsylvania. Bitsilly was able to watch and participate in a high school summer program where her father said gave her confidence to play under pressure and at a higher level than Little League.

| Top |

---

Chinle teams sweep Ganado

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

CHINLE, Ariz. — The Chinle Wildcats erupted for 10 unearned runs in the third inning to wipe out a 5-0 deficit en route to a 15-11 victory over Ganado Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference baseball game.

The Chinle Lady Wildcats completed the sweep with a 6-3 softball win over Ganado.

"No one will walk over us," said first-year Chinle coach David Dunn who hails from San Antonio, Texas. "We can beat anybody. We have a good pitching staff. We have a lot of talent on this team. There is a lot of freshmen talent that never gets recognized."

Chinle, now 2-3 overall, which includes a 3-2 win over River Valley and an 8-7 loss to Payson during the Bullhead Invitational, will be competing in the Mingus Invitational beginning Thursday. The Wildcats will play host Mingus at 1 p.m. Thursday before playing a second game against Prescott at 4 p.m...

| Top |

---

It's crunch time for Navajo Spelling Bee

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Fifty very bright, very eager, and very nervous boys and girls will be in Window Rock on Thursday for the annual spelling bee, with the winner traveling to Washington, D.C., for the national finals.

The Independent sponsors the competition, which is conducted by the Navajo Nation's Youth-Community Services Department.

During the morning in the Peterson Zah-Navajo Nation Museum, Library and Visitors Center, the qualifying spell downs will take place until 10 finalists remain. In the afternoon on the auditorium stage one at a time those 10 will come to the microphone,
pronounce the word and spell it. They also can ask the announcer to give its definition and/or use it in a sentence before they
make their attempt.

When they misspell the word, they are eliminated...

| Top |

---

---

Deaths

Mary J. Francisco

GALLUP — Services for Mary J. Francisco, 102, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 15, at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel. Minister Gene McCormick will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.

Visitation will be at held from noon to 5 p.m. today at Rollie Mortuary.

Francisco died March 10. She was born Dec. 20, 1898, in Twin Buttes into the Meadow People Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan.

Survivors include her sons, Joe Francisco and Kenneth Francisco, both of Gamerco; daughters, Lenora F. Boyd of Tsayatoh, Rose Mark of Navajo Estates and Sarah Yazzie of Gamerco; 24 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-
grandchildren.

Francisco was preceded in death by her husband, James Francisco; parents, Sam and Aszatl'chee Brown; son, Dr. Wilson
Francisco, DVM; daughter, Nellie Tso; one brother; and sisters, Glannbah Brown, Marie B. Smith and Dahnesbah Brown.

Pallbearers will be Arvis Franciso, Casey Francisco, Simental Francisco, Kenworth F. Jones, Cletis Mark and Travis Mark.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

John Franklin

RED ROCK — Services for John Franklin, 100, will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Gallup City Cemetery.

Franklin died March 11 in Red Rock. He was born Feb. 22, 1901, in Newcomb.

He was employed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a communcation specialist and as a police officer for the Navajo Tribe.
Survivors include his sons, John J. Yazzie of Gallup and Michael Franklin of Shiprock; brothers, Kee Bigman and Leo
Bigman, both of Newcomb; sister, Ena Chavez of Crownpoint; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Franklin was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy Franklin.

Pallbearers will be Leroy Yazzie, Leon Yazzie, Larry Livingston Sr., Raymond Livingston, Ernest Smith and Kenneth Smith.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Franklin Ranch.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

James Svend Lange

WINDOW ROCK — A memorial service for James Lange, 57, was held March 9 at St. Michaels Catholic Mission. Burial followed in Fairlee Village Cemetery.

Lange died March 2 in Farmington. He was born Jan. 6, 1944 in Hartford, Conn., and graduated from Bradford (Vt.) Academy and attended the University of Vermont, where he received a master's degree in health care administration from Geroge Washington University. He was employed with the Indian Health Services on the Navajo Reservation, a financial administrative officer in Kayenta, Ariz., area hospital director at Crownpoint and public health analyst in Window Rock.

He served in U.S. Navy as a 1st Class corpsman at Oakland Naval Hospital and St. Albans Naval Hospital, and in the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Divison in Vietnam, receiving the Purple Heart. His hobbies included the outdoors, hunting, basketball, golfing and playing poker.

Survivors include his wife, Sandra Lange; sons, Jacob Lange and James Lange; daughters, Rana Lange and Kellen Lange; parents, John and Irma Lange; and brothers, John Lange and Peter Lange.

Lange was preceded in death by his brother, William Lange.

Jack Cadman

TWIN LAKES — Services for Jack Cadman, 81, will be announced at a later date.

Cadman died March 12 in Gallup. He was born April 2, 1920, in Wild Cat.

A family gathering will be held at 6 tonight at Twin Lakes Chapter House.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Paddy C. Calvin Jr.

PINEHILL — Services for Paddy Calvin Jr., 28, will be announced at a later date.

Calvin died March 12 in Las Cruces. He was born Aug. 15, 1972.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Eric T. Manning

RED ROCK — Services for Eric Manning, 21, will be announced at a later date.

Manning died March 10 in Red Rock. He was born Feb. 19, 1980.

There will be a family meeting at 6 tonight at the Red Rock Chapter House.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Allison J. Bryant

TOHATCHI — Services for Allison Bryant, 64, will be announced at a later date.

Bryant died March 13 in Gallup. He was born Aug. 8, 1936, in San Juan.

There will be a family meeting at 6 tonight at Tohatchi Chapter House.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.