Councilor asks law enforcement board to investigate APD chief for not turning on body camera after crash

After failing to secure a vote of no-confidence against police Chief Harold Medina last spring, Councilor Louie Sanchez is now asking a state board in charge of suspending or revoking an officer’s law enforcement certification to investigate him.

On Friday, Sanchez submitted a misconduct report — called an “LEA-90” — to the Law Enforcement Certification Board alleging that Medina had failed to comply with state statute on Feb. 17 when “he drove carelessly and crashed into a citizen and deliberately chose not to activate his (on body recording device) video camera.”

According to a news release, he filed the LEA-90 “in the light of Medina’s admission to Albuquerque Police Department Internal Affairs that he intentionally and purposefully did not activate his body-worn camera when involved in police action.”

“Such action by Medina appears to violate Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2020 public safety accountability bill which requires police officers to wear the body worn cameras and record encounters with citizens,” the release states.

Todd Perchert was driving east on Central in his gold 1966 Ford Mustang when Medina accelerated through a red light to avoid nearby gunfire. Perchert was seriously injured and his heirloom car was totaled. He filed a lawsuit against the city this week.

Read more about his story here .

Sanchez said it was his first time filing an LEA-90 and he did so because APD — specifically the superintendent of police reform — did not.

“A lot of people say that I have something against him,” Sanchez said. “No, it’s my job as a city councilor, to make sure that the citizens of Albuquerque are protected and to make sure that there are checks and balances put in place in the system. You have to hold the police chief to the highest standards possible.”

Staci Drangmeister, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, said Sanchez has carried a grudge against Medina for years.

“This looks to be a publicity stunt aimed at continuing that vendetta,” she said in a statement. “Chief has repeatedly acknowledged the issue, the crash has been extensively reviewed, and a final decision has been made.”

Misconduct report

It is unusual for an LEA-90 to come from a source other than the law enforcement agency that employs an officer, but it does happen.

Sonya Chavez, the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy director, told City Desk ABQ that police officers are accustomed to reports being submitted by law enforcement agencies, but the board receives them from “a multitude of avenues.”

“Collectively as a community, we all have an obligation to do our best to reinforce ethical, good behavior,” Chavez said. “If someone has credible information about alleged police misconduct, it is incumbent on each of us to report that and to bring them forward.”

Chavez said the board has received Sanchez’s submission but it would be premature for her to comment on it. She could not say whether the allegations could result in a suspension or revocation of law enforcement certification.

“All LEA-90s are treated in the same way,” she said. “They go through the same review process, the same scrutiny, we do the same amount of research and investigation for each case individually, regardless of who submits it.”

Internal Affairs findings

An Internal Affairs investigation found Medina violated department policies because he did not have his lapel camera on and he did not operate his vehicle in a safe manner. He was given two letters of reprimand.

Read that story here .

Sanchez’s referral included the last page of the investigation, which stated that the chief said he chose not to record the “interaction of the crash because he was invoking his 5th Amendment right not to self-incriminate.”

“APD SOP does not allow for officers not to record mandatory recording incidents based on the fact that the evidence captured on that video may be used in a subsequent criminal investigation,” the investigator wrote.

Gilbert Gallegos, an APD spokesperson, said Medina disagreed with some of the findings, but accepted the discipline.

He stressed that the chief called for APD’s top traffic officers to investigate and sat for an interview with criminal investigators. The findings of those investigations were forwarded to the New Mexico Department of Justice and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office reviewed them.

“As part of an internal investigation to determine whether Chief Medina followed APD policies, he expressed his opinion that he was not required to activate his On-Body Recording Device in the aftermath of the Feb. 17 accident because he was not investigating the crash,” Gallegos said. “The public knows every detail of the crash because those officers who responded to the scene recorded their interactions with Chief Medina and witnesses, as they are required to do during the investigation of an incident.”

He said so far in 2024, the department has seen 174 crashes and 77 cases where officers were found to not have their body cameras running. He said none of those cases have resulted in the submission of an LEA-90.

The IA investigator also found that a commander violated procedural orders by allowing the incident to be reviewed by the Crash Review Board since it is not supposed to handle those that resulted in serious injuries.

Cmdr. Benito Martinez previously told city councilors the crash review board would not normally have handled this case but did so because of its high-profile nature and to make sure “everybody’s doing everything in their due diligence to make sure they do not mess up in this investigation.”

APD’s Fleet Crash Review Board and Fatal Crash Unit concluded that Medina’s crash was not preventable and he should not be charged.

Read that story here .

BCSO review

Sanchez also attached to the LEA-90 a supplemental report from a Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy who conducted a follow-up investigation at the request of the New Mexico Department of Justice. That review was launched weeks after APD reached its findings.

The deputy found “Medina operated his vehicle in a careless or inattentive manner, clearly without due regard for the safety of the motoring public.” The deputy also said as a certified law enforcement officer the chief should be held to a higher standard “despite the dynamics of the situation.”

However, he did not think the infraction amounted to a serious crime.

“I do not feel that his actions rise to the level of recklessness, which is the standard to elevate charges to felony-level great bodily harm by vehicle,” the deputy wrote. “If charges were to be pursued, my recommendation would be careless driving.”

The New Mexico Department of Justice declined to prosecute Medina for the misdemeanor, saying “a prosecution would not be warranted because of substantial evidence showing that Chief Medina’s actions were the result of duress,” according to a letter sent from a deputy attorney general to the sheriff.

A lawsuit filed

After Perchert was struck by Medina’s truck, he was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. According to the lawsuit he filed this week, he broke his collarbone, shoulder blade and eight ribs and had a collapsed lung.

“He underwent seven hours of surgery for his injuries,” the lawsuit states. “Titanium plates had to be placed on all but the two top ribs. Mr. Perchert will have this metal in his chest for the rest of his life, and has been in constant pain since the crash.”

The lawsuit alleges Medina was negligent in operation of the motor vehicle and he spoliated evidence by not activating his body worn camera. It also alleges the city was negligent in its hiring, training and supervision of the chief.

It asks that Perchert and his wife be awarded unspecified damages.

Gallegos said the city will answer the allegations in court.

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