The list of New Mexico police officers who face possible sanctions against their certifications is even longer than officials have previously said.
This week, the state Department of Public Safety released a list of 115 officers whose cases are pending before the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, which issues and has the authority to revoke officers' certifications.
Three of those officers have two cases pending.
Academy board members have accused the state Attorney General's Office of doing a poor job of prosecuting certification revocations in administrative hearings and of contributing to the long backlog of cases. The result, they say, is that officers who have been disciplined or even fired by their agencies can go to work at any other law enforcement agency that will hire them while their cases go unheard at the academy.
The AG's Office had said previously that about 90 cases were pending at the academy.
Among the officers on the list are:
Levi Chavez, who was fired from the Albuquerque Police Department in April after being indicted in the 2007 death of his wife.
Jonathan Riedel, a Dona Ana County sheriff's deputy and son of a state district court judge who was "involved in an aggravated assault with his roommate" in April, "failed to report the incident" to police, and was "not initially truthful with detectives," according to a police report. Riedel was never charged and is still working for the sheriff's department.
Christopher Pino, who retired from the Rio Rancho Police Department in November 2009 after he was arrested on suspicion of DWI. It is unclear whether Pino is working in law enforcement again.
Troy Baker, Steve Cosban, Matt Champlin and Daniel Parsons -- Santa Fe Police Department officers who were involved in a March 2010 incident in which their takedown of a man in a Walmart parking lot was caught on dashcam video. Baker and Cosban were initially fired -- a decision that was later overturned by an arbitrator -- for falsifying reports. All four were found to have violated the department's use of force and arrest procedures and were suspended, but they are still working for the department.
The list provided by DPS did not say when the academy received any of the cases.
All of the officers with cases pending at the academy are still certified to carry badges and guns in New Mexico.
APD, the state's largest law enforcement agency, has the most officers on the list with 30. The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office has the second most with 11, and State Police has the third most with 10.
Walter Drutok of APD, Soloman Romero of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and State Police officer Jerry Nixon each have two cases pending at the Law Enforcement Academy. The list provided by DPS did not include the allegations against those officers.
New Mexico law enforcement agencies are required to file reports with the Law Enforcement Academy after an officer has been convicted of a crime or disciplined for conduct that indicates "a lack of good moral character" or dishonesty.
After that, the academy's director is supposed to have an informal meeting with the officer and try to reach an agreement about what sanctions should be leveled against his or her certification -- anything from a short suspension to lifetime revocation.
If the two can't agree, a hearing is held in which a prosecutor from the AG's Office presents the state's case, the officer and a defense attorney give testimony, and one of the academy's hearing officers makes a decision and recommends sanctions to the board.
At a meeting earlier this month, the Law Enforcement Academy board ousted the assistant attorney general who handles administrative prosecutions against police officers' certifications. The board also voted to delay taking action on all pending cases by 45 days so members will have time to review each one.
Attorney General Gary King, who also serves as chairman of the board, cast the sole vote against both motions during the meeting, defending his staff's work. The AG's Office previously released to the Journal a list of only nine names, contending the full list contained "matters of opinion" that are not subject to public records requests. After being told the Department of Public Safety had released a complete list, the AG's Office released a list containing the names of 54 officers. Online
For a complete list of officers facing possible sanctions against their certification, go to ABQJournal.com.
Copyright 2011 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
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