A handful of fliers that read "Save a life, kill a cop" was found in Journal newspaper distribution boxes near the University of New Mexico on Friday, prompting a law enforcement investigation.
The fliers came amid other threats to Albuquerque Police Department officers over the past few weeks as frustration with the department's use of force has boiled over. Substations were vandalized and vitriolic comments popped up on social media both before and after the U.S. Department of Justice announced that APD has a "pattern or practice" of violating residents' rights through its use of force.
Brian Fantl, senior vice president for the Albuquerque Publishing Co., which handles distribution and circulation for the paper, said seven of the fliers were found in University of New Mexico-area distribution boxes. The fliers have a picture of a generic officer with a black "X" across his face.
"To us, it's vandalism," Fantl said. "We're taking what steps we can to find out who it was and we will take whatever legal recourse we can."
He said someone called the Journal after buying a paper with a flier in it and it's unclear how many may have been sold with those fliers.
APD spokeswoman Tasia Martinez said fliers were also found posted on light poles and electric boxes near UNM. She wouldn't release any information about other threats to the department.
"I'm not able to discuss specific threats on police officers," she wrote in an email.
Paul Chavez, director of the New Mexico Investigative Support Center, which is investigating the threat, said five to 10 fliers were posted on light poles and electric boxes.
"It's a serious threat because someone's encouraging people to harm police officers but, beyond that, it's too general to be elevated to extreme," Chavez said.
He said there was no suspect in the investigation Monday and that local law enforcement agencies have been notified, which is routine.
"It could have been anyone with a computer who passed by Kinko's," Chavez said.
Fantl said a woman who said her husband was a police officer reported that a flier made it into their home delivery Saturday. Fantl said the carrier was questioned and it's not believed he was involved.
Copyright 2014 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
