ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The police chief in New Mexico’s largest city vowed Friday that the Albuquerque Police Department will “leave no stone unturned” as it moves ahead with an internal investigation into allegations of possible corruption within the Driving While Intoxicated unit.
Chief Harold Medina declined to give many specifics during a news conference Friday, saying he didn’t want to compromise the work being done by his agency or the FBI. Still, he tried to ease public concerns by saying the department has been working with the district attorney’s office to streamline the process for flagging when officers fail to appear in court for those cases in which a motorist is suspected of driving drunk or impaired.
Medina shared a timeline of DWI cases dating back to 2015. He said changes in how the department and prosecutors handle such cases has led to fewer dismissals overall in the last two years. In 2019, the dismissal rate topped 43%. Last year, only 3% of the 1,027 cases filed were dismissed.