911 Audio: Governor Tells Police Not To Respond To Hotel Room Party, Demands Info On Person Who Complained

Police were called to a hotel party hosted by the New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez in the early morning hours on Sunday. A noise complaint was called into 911 at 1:31 a.m. after complaints were made about excessive noise in the Eldorado Hotel & Spa room where Martinez was staying. The call was made by hotel staff who informed the dispatcher that multiple people were complaining about the excessive noise and that people were throwing bottles off of the balcony in the room. The hotel staff attendant claimed that the parties in the room were warned, but that they refused to leave and that assistance was needed to “kick out” the individuals in the room for violating noise restrictions. However, shortly after the call was made, Governor Susana Martinez appeared in the lobby and demanded that she be able to speak with the dispatcher. The result was a 911 call that featured Governor Martinez telling the dispatcher to call off the police and demanding to know who called in the complaint.

KRQE reports that New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez is refusing to discuss the Sunday morning incident that left some questioning whether the governor abused her power by trying to call off police from responding to her hotel party. The governor was hosting a holiday party at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa on Saturday night that went on into the early morning hours of Sunday. However, some in the hotel felt that the party was too loud and phoned in complaints to the hotel front desk. The individuals noted the extreme noise, along with allegations that people at the party were throwing glass bottles off of the hotel balcony. Therefore, hotel staff called 911 and requested assistance in removing the disruptive party.

However, shortly after the call was made by staff, a second call was made to the dispatcher. This time, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez was on the other end of the phone line. The governor identified herself to the dispatcher and then requested that he “call off” the police. She then demanded that the dispatcher tell her who phoned in the complaint. You can listen to the full recording below.

Martinez asks the dispatcher for the information about the caller but is refused. She then notes that it is public record and says “give it to me.”

Dispatcher: I’m sorry ma’am, someone called us out there and we have to go.
Martinez: Someone? Who is someone?
Dispatcher: I can’t give you that information ma’am.
Martinez: Why can you not? It’s public record, give it to me.

When the dispatcher refuses to give the governor the information she turns her attention to the hotel staff attendant asking, “Tell me. What room number? So that… Are they on the fourth floor? … Next door? To our room?” The attendant simply states that “they’re in that area, yes” but that is not sufficient for Martinez. She presses further and says, “That area? Are they next door? And I wanna know who they are.”

Ultimately, despite Martinez’s pleas to call off the police, officers arrived to assess the situation. However, upon arriving, the officers never entered the hotel room and instead completed a “sweep” outside and claim that no broken bottles were found and then left.

“The Santa Fe officers did not attempt to contact the hotel guest who made the complaint, nor did they go up to the governor’s fourth-floor room to investigate further. Ross said the officers made a sweep of the outside of the building to look for evidence of broken bottles, but found nothing.”

Interestingly, Santa Fe’s interim police chief, Patrick Gallagher, was also at the holiday party as an invited guest when the disruption was phoned into the dispatcher. However, it was claimed that the chief was not notified of the call until Monday morning. It is unclear if the police responding to the scene knew that the interim police chief was on-site during the altercation.

What do you think about the New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez’s response to the noise complaint? Was she abusing her power?

[Image via AP]