Opportunity missed for police reputation

Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice is facing harsh criticism for his handling of criminal allegations against a former cop. From here, it looks like Rice is not the only one to blame for justice delayed.

The trouble began in February 2023 when a burglary suspect told Clovis police investigators she “knew some information about a cop who was providing her with information and drugs,” court records show.

Eighteen months later, that Clovis police officer, Frank Careri, was arrested on charges that include drug trafficking and accessory to residential burglary.

Critics correctly point out it’s taken too long to get from the alleged crimes that last occurred in December 2022 to Friday, when Careri turned himself in to authorities.

Rice isn’t the only reason, but he is the target of those who believe Careri received special treatment because he was a police officer.

KOAT-TV reported last week that Rice “allowed Careri to resign … he stopped the internal investigation and he never notified the state’s law enforcement academy what he learned about his officer.”

Comments left on the Clovis PD’s Facebook page include:

“Officer Rice is so crooked” and “Gotta love the ‘good ol’ boy system.”

Rice said last week he never tried to cover up anything, and he never tried to stop the criminal investigation. He didn’t report allegations against Careri to the Law Enforcement Academy until last week because criminal allegations are not criminal charges.

Rice is largely the target of the critics because of an internal memo he sent to Clovis City Manager Justin Howalt in April 2023.

In that memo, which recently became public, he wrote “it was decided … there was not enough evidence to get a conviction … All we would end up doing would be placing the department and profession in a situation to either prove the profession is unethical or get an acquittal and allow Careri to come back to work at CPD.”

Soon after Rice sent the memo, he said he talked again with Clovis’ district attorney. Quentin Ray said he made the decision to send the case to the district attorney’s office in Tucumcari so there would be no appearance of conflicting interests.

From there, it took 15 months before a warrant was issued for Careri’s arrest.

“It appears there may have been a lack of communication between agencies,” said special prosecutor Andrea Reeb, who ultimately secured the charges about five weeks after she became involved.

Court records show the location of the witness against Careri, Alexandra Romero, was not immediately known when the case went to Tucumcari. Things became more complicated in August 2023 when Romero said she shot and killed a man in self-defense. Romero was charged with murder in January. Meanwhile, the district judge in Tucumcari retired, the district attorney was appointed to fill the judge’s seat and a new district attorney was appointed for the Tucumcari office in April this year.

Several weeks after that, new DA Heidi Adams contacted Reeb and hired her to prosecute the case against Careri.

So Roy Rice is not solely responsible – he’s not even mostly responsible -- for the wheels of justice turning slowly in this case.

But it was a wasted opportunity for the policing profession to disprove any perception that “the profession is unethical.”

Don’t forget, we may ultimately learn Frank Careri is innocent of the allegations against him. It’s not fair to him either that this has been dragged out for so long before even coming to court.

— David Stevens

Editor, The Eastern New Mexico News