When I first heard about the sprawling corruption scandal that gutted the Albuquerque Police Department’s DWI unit in 2024, I, like a lot of people, assumed the specialized unit was finished. A decades-long bribery scheme involving nearly the entire squad, hundreds of dismissed cases, officers on the district attorney’s “Brady list” of untrustworthy cops, it […]
Courts, Justice & Safety
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
DWI cases rebound in Bernalillo County court after APD corruption scandal
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, […]
Posted inCity Desk ABQ, Courts, Justice & Safety
APD Interim Chief reorganizes department, eliminates 12 command positions
Albuquerque Police Department Interim Chief Cecily Barker announced a reorganization that includes new executive appointments and the elimination of 12 command staff positions, expected to save the city about $2.4 million. Three officers were promoted to interim executive roles: Luke Languit as Deputy Chief of the Field Services Bureau, Mike Hernandez as Deputy Chief of […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
APD shootings rise as federal oversight ends
Albuquerque Police police officers shot 15 individuals last year, according to department statistics, an increase from each of the previous two years when the department was under federal oversight. Data examined by City Desk ABQ shows last year’s total number of police shootings is up from 13 the previous year and 14 in 2023. Those […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety
APD reports significant decline in homicide
Albuquerque Police Department officials report 63 homicide incidents in calendar year 2025, with a total of 65 people killed. That total is down by more than one-third from 2024, when 98 people were killed in the city. Police say 87%, or 55 of 63, of 2025 homicide cases have been solved, along with 25 cases […]
Posted inBernalillo County
Firefighters agreed to the Sheriff’s drug testing demands but still can’t fly
Sheriff John Allen said he removed Bernalillo County firefighters from the Metro Air Support Unit because they refused to meet his drug testing standards, but county records show firefighters agreed to those same standards in July and the sheriff still has not allowed them back on the unit. Allen quietly pulled firefighters from the helicopter […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety, Housing & Homelessness
Estancia’s economic fate hinges on expired detention facility contract
Former Estancia Mayor Nathan Dial expressed concern for the town’s economy if the Torrance County Detention Facility ceases operation, as newly released data shows a surge and decline in detainees during the contract period. The six-month contract between CoreCivic and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was enacted in April and expired at the end of […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety, Sandoval Signpost, Town of Bernalillo
Bernalillo Baby Box a new option for dropping off infants
The Bernalillo community Wednesday celebrated the launch of something many hope is never needed. Dozens of people attended a blessing for the town’s first “baby box,” at the main fire station. The secure chamber is designed to provide a safe, anonymous place in which a parent can voluntarily surrender an infant up to 18 months […]
Posted inCourts, Justice & Safety, Westside Albuquerque
Federal judge orders Iranian bodybuilder’s release from New Mexico jail
This article was originally published by Source NM. By Patrick Lohmann A federal judge in Albuquerque on Monday ordered the immediate release of an Iranian man held at an Estancia immigration lockup for the last six months, agreeing with his lawyers that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was not acting quickly enough to deport […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., Courts, Justice & Safety
Albuquerque’s Tiger King? Drug trafficker sentenced for wildlife smuggling
The leader of a drug trafficking organization that moved tens of thousands of fentanyl pills from Mexico into Albuquerque was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in federal prison. David Mendoza-Enriquez, 42, a Mexican national illegally present in the United States, pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, alien smuggling and illegal […]