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Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina told the Albuquerque Journal in Dec. 2024 that he would retire at the end of Mayor Tim Keller’s current term, but he quickly walked that back by saying he might instead of he would. Fast-forward to Nov. 2025 and Keller confirmed
Who will be Albuquerque’s next police chief? Mayor Tim Keller and current Chief Harold Medina have both said that Medina would retire at the end of Keller’s current term, sparking social media fights over Medina’s legacy and speculation over whom Keller might nominate to be the city’s next top cop.
Keller promises a new chief for a third term
Speaking to KKOB afternoon radio host T.J. Trout on Nov. 25, Keller confirmed that Medina was making retirement plans. “Chief and I, we do have a relationship of trust,” Keller said. “We decided a long time ago, like beginning of this year, that if there was a third term I definitely shoudl get a new police chief for a number of reasons, and he agrees with that. He’s been planning out his retirement since then.”
Asked by City Desk this week about Medina’s next steps, APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said the department will “discuss Chief Medina’s future plans soon,” but declined to comment on succession.
Nonetheless, Medina’s own social media plans teasing retirement sparked a short but bitter Election Night online clash with defeated challenger Darren White over a crash that left a driver permanently injured.
The exchange Tuesday night came hours after Keller defeated White in the mayoral runoff, with Medina declaring on X that he would “retire on my own terms.”
White, who made firing Medina a central campaign issue, responded by invoking the February crash in which Medina critically injured a motorist while fleeing gunfire. City officials declined to discuss succession or provide a timeline, leaving unclear who will lead APD as it operates independently for the first time since a 12-year federal consent decree ended in May.
White responded: “While you’re using your city Twitter account to spike the political football — too bad the driver you recklessly crashed into and left with permanent, life-changing injuries, doesn’t get to retire on his own terms.”
The exchange came after White made Medina’s job a central campaign issue, calling for the chief’s firing during a televised debate and saying in campaign materials that Medina’s “top priority is protecting the mayor’s political standing, not protecting the public.” White also promised to “appoint a respected, proven leader” if elected.
The post, made less than an hour after White’s concession speech, suggests Medina could leave before Keller’s unprecedented third term ends, though no formal retirement has been announced.
Who is on the list?
Albuquerque Police Officers Association President Shaun Willoughby told City Desk that Medina’s “retirement is going to be sooner than later,” though no formal date has been set and Medina has not informed the union directly.
Willoughby said the union strongly prefers promoting one of APD’s four deputy chiefs rather than conducting a national search.
“I think it is vitally important, especially at the juncture that we’re at in this city with this brand new opportunity of being independent, for the first time in 12 years, to have a chief that comes from inside rather than out,” Willoughby said.
The four deputy chiefs are Cecily Barker of the Field Services Bureau, George Vega of the Investigative Bureau, J.J. Griego of Support Services and Josh Brown of the Special Operations Bureau. Barker would be APD’s first female chief if promoted. Willoughby said all four “have good officer support.”
Willoughby said Mayor Keller has not consulted the union on succession, despite the APOA endorsing Keller’s reelection in October.
The union president criticized the federal consent decree that ended in May, saying, “The DOJ destroyed Albuquerque, and we need to get it back and we need to fix it.” He said the union wants to change “hundreds and hundreds” of policies implemented during 12 years of Justice Department oversight, calling them “bureaucratic” obstacles to “catching bad guys.”
City Councilor Dan Champine, who served 22 years with APD and was vice president of the police union, said he plans to closely scrutinize whoever Keller nominates. Under the city charter, the mayor must appoint a police chief with City Council confirmation.
“I’m going to take that role very seriously and not just rubber-stamp whatever he’s deciding should run that department,” Champine said. “I sacrificed 22 years of my life for a department that I feel is a completely different department than when I left.”
Champine said the next chief should have direct experience with DOJ oversight. “They have to have some sort of connection with it,” he said, arguing against a national search. “A lot of people argue and say it gives you a fresh approach, but they don’t know the history and what we’ve been through.”
Willoughby dismissed Champine’s plan to scrutinize nominees as “a little ridiculous,” saying the council’s role is fiscal oversight. “It’s not in their purview to rubber-stamp or dictate who the chief’s going to be,” he said.
A November 2024 voter-approved charter amendment lets the council remove police or fire chiefs without cause with a 7-2 vote, giving councilors more power over public safety leadership beyond the confirmation process.
Medina became chief in March 2021 after Keller asked predecessor Mike Geier to resign. His tenure has been marked by controversy, including a CityDesk investigation revealing he routinely deleted text messages in violation of state records law, the February 2024 crash that White referenced in his response, and a federal investigation into APD’s DWI unit that resulted in dismissal of more than 150 cases.
Keller told KOAT last December he would search for a new police chief during his third term but did not give a timeline. Mayor’s office spokesperson Staci Drangmeister said in a statement to the Albuquerque Journal, Medina was “committed to seeing us get to the finish line on APD reforms.”
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Really Willoughby? The blatant foot dragging and lack of cooperation caused greatly extended DOJ proceedings and cost the City millions more dollars. Our police activities were a national embarrassment.
I support a new chief from outside.