Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina has admitted under oath that he and other high-ranking officials have been deleting text messages related to official business since 2018. This practice violates a state law requiring government agencies to retain communications for at least one year. Legal experts argue that this undermines transparency laws designed to keep the public informed and hold the government accountable.
The city of Albuquerque has already paid over $1.4 million in settlements for public records violations, yet there is no policy in place for retaining text messages. Medina's testimony came during an October whistleblower lawsuit filed by seven APD academy training officers. He said that he was "advised time and time again" to delete texts continuously, a directive allegedly from City Clerk Ethan Watson’s office and the city’s legal department.
Medina explained that the deletion practice began as a way to manage the volume of public records requests. APD officials were instructed to retain texts only under specific circumstances: when they receive a preservation letter for litigation, when a message includes an official policy directive, or when there is no other "final resting place" for the information.
During his testimony, Medina discussed an incident on August 17, 2023, involving text exchanges with APD Commander George Vega about hazing allegations against Vega's son at the police academy. Both men deleted these messages on the same day. The incident led to seven training officers being removed from the academy and investigated for hazing Cadet Joshua Vega. These officers later filed a whistleblower lawsuit, resulting in a Bernalillo County jury awarding them $155,000 each in emotional damages.
Despite forwarding hazing allegations to Deputy Chiefs Mike Smathers and Cori Lowe for investigation, Medina admitted he never saw documentation proving that information from his deleted texts was preserved.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway by the Albuquerque Police Department to enhance crime prevention measures downtown with new surveillance technology. Seven advanced cameras have been installed along Central Avenue to help monitor criminal activity more effectively (https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/albuquerque-installs-surveillance-cameras-downtown-to-deter-crime/).
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