APD comes under fire at City Council meeting

Allegations of unchecked corruption, lack of leadership, lack of communication and a call for accountability dominated the Albuquerque City Council meeting Monday. Councilors had sharp words for leaders of the Police Department and Mayor Tim Keller after recent FBI raids on the homes of police officers as part of a federal investigation. The investigation led […]

Posted inBernalillo County, Courts, Justice & Safety, Local Gov.

How a cry for food sparked Christmas Day trouble in New Mexico’s largest jail for kids

By Joshua Bowling/Searchlight New Mexico The sun was setting as parents waited for the Christmas Day call from their incarcerated children, unaware of the fraught situation that had broken out hours earlier: a so-called “riot” at New Mexico’s largest jail for kids. The news media were depicting a violent uprising inside the Bernalillo County Youth […]

Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety

Ten percent of DWI cases filed by APD in 2023 have been dropped in fallout from FBI investigation

The Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office has now dismissed four felony DWI cases, in addition to 152 misdemeanor DWI cases, following a federal investigation into Albuquerque Police Department officers.  This means that just over 10% of the 1,026 DWI cases submitted by APD officers in 2023 have now been dismissed. In addition to 106 cases […]

Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety

The feds are investigating APD officers. What are some of the department’s other notable scandals?

Late Thursday, after months of investigation, federal authorities conducted “law enforcement activity,” at several homes of Albuquerque Police Department officers. At the same time, a local defense attorney’s office was also raided by the FBI. Then the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office dismissed 152 misdemeanor DWI cases, with DA Sam Bregman saying his “prosecutorial ethics” […]

Posted inAlbuquerque, Education

And then there were two

Albuquerque Public Schools announced today that one of the three superintendent finalists chosen by the Board of Education last week, has withdrawn from the search. Mason Bellamy, who currently serves as the Chief of Academics and Schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools, informed the search firm over the weekend that he is no longer pursuing […]

Commission to debate making camping and loitering in arroyos illegal

Making camping in county arroyos and waterways illegal, doling out nearly a quarter billion to a solar panel company and extending the 1/16th healthcare gross receipts tax until 2029 are just a few of the items on the the January 23 agenda of the Bernalillo County Commission. Arroyo Safety Commissioners will debate making it illegal […]

Posted inBernalillo County, Courts, Justice & Safety, Local Gov.

BCSO may start using artificial intelligence for report writing 

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is researching the use of artificial intelligence to aid deputies in writing incident reports, but it isn’t something that’s going to be implemented anytime soon.  If adopted, BCSO could be one of the first law enforcement agencies in the nation to use artificial intelligence for report writing. “I would project […]