DWI cases filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court reached a multiyear high in 2025 and APD arrests are on the rise following a decades-long corruption scandal that has decimated its specialized DWI unit, a City Desk investigation found.
The court recorded 2,404 total DWI filings in 2025, consisting of 2,360 misdemeanor and 44 felony cases, according to court data examined by City Desk ABQ. This represents a 8.04% jump from 2024, when the court handled 2,225 misdemeanor and 32 felony filings.
Metropolitan Court data shows a steady rise in cases since 2022, when filings hit a six-year low of 1,812 total cases.
APD arrests drive increase
City Desk initially sought data from APD whose online crime reports stopped reporting DWI arrests in 2024. After APD failed to respond to requests for those records, we sought them from local courts…