Full letter from Bernalillo County DA’s Office on DWI missing appearances

“In a letter dated February 1, 2024, to the Albuquerque City Council, the APD Chief of Police stated “the District Attorney’s Office currently has the responsibility to notify APD of missed appearances.”  This is simply not true and has never been true.  

The Federal DWI investigation is about alleged misconduct by DWI police officers.  Instead of focusing on that issue, the Albuquerque Police Chief is blaming the District Attorney’s Office, the Law Office of the Public Defender, and the Metropolitan Court for the dysfunction and mismanagement of his DWI unit. He should refocus on putting things in place to prevent this type of disaster from happening again. 

Although the District Attorney’s office has never been under any obligation to ensure officers show up for scheduled court appearances, we have put in place an additional ROBUST notification system so APD will be aware when their officers miss court.  

The bottom line is holding accountable those people who are drinking and driving and the safety of our community.”

-Nancy Laflin, the communications director for the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney