ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque’s top leader, Mayor Tim Keller, weighed in on the DWI dismissal scandal involving the city’s police officers that federal investigators believe dates back more than two decades.
KRQE Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret asked Mayor Keller how a scheme like this could be prevented in the future.
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In response, Mayor Keller acknowledged the scheme involving APD officers accepting bribes to make DWI cases disappear, and he said he has faith in the current leadership of the police department to fix the culture and restore public trust.
“It is literally unconscionable that anyone, let alone a police officer, could accept a bag of $5,000 and somehow think, one, that that was moral, or appropriate, or justified. Two, that they would get away with it. So, that is like unconscionable. I can’t understand that. And I think that’s why there’s a lot of shock, even hearing just how brazen it was and then how long it lasted.”
-Mayor Tim Keller
It has been one year since we first learned of the FBI’s investigation into what they’re now calling a “DWI Enterprise.” Mayor Keller said he and APD Chief Harold Medina told the feds they didn’t need to use subpoenas, as they would fully cooperate with investigators.
The mayor said the two also looked into the top of the department to make sure no deputy chiefs were involved so they could help, making the mayor feel comfortable stepping back and receiving investigative updates every three weeks.
The allegations against APD officers had many people calling on Chief Medina to step down. Mayor Keller backed the chief and asked for patience as the investigation played out. Flash forward to today, and Mayor Keller credits the chief with helping the FBI root out any suspected players in the scheme.
“It takes a lot, I think, to be the team that cleans it up and owns it. And that’s what we’ve done. So I do feel optimistic going forward that this department is in a vastly different place on a number of fronts. And I have to believe that, you know, this would be caught much, much sooner if it were to happen again,” Keller said.
Mayor Keller doesn’t believe it will happen again, pointing to APD’s agreement with the District Attorney’s Office to streamline missed court notifications and the creation of an independent internal affairs office. The mayor said he would like to see that structural change solidified in city law; that way, the extra layer of protection he believes it creates doesn’t fall by the wayside under future administrations.
Federal officials are still making progress with the investigation, which FBI Albuquerque Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda says is actually probably only at a “midpoint.”
Last week, the case surrounding the so-called “DWI Enterprise moved forward in federal court.
Paralegal Ricardo “Rick” Mendez pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, admitting he worked with officers mostly from APD to get DWI cases dismissed in exchange for cash.
Mendez also implicated law enforcement from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police.
According to federal court documents, Mendez worked directly with law enforcement to funnel their drunk-driving defendants to his boss, who KRQE News 13 believes is Attorney Thomas Clear III.
Clear III, who has not been charged with a crime, was ordered by a federal judge to prove he played no part in getting DWI cases dismissed. He has thirty days to meet the judge’s request or he could be disbarred, suspended, or face other disciplinary action.
So far, no law enforcement members have been charged.