The Albuquerque Police Department's Fleet Crash Review Board, which consists of four officers and a civilian, has unanimously deemed a February 17 accident involving Police Chief Harold Medina "non-preventable." That conclusion, a local TV station reports, "got some city councilors asking questions" during an Albuquerque City Council meeting on Wednesday night.
It is not hard to see why. Medina severely injured the driver of a car that he broadsided with his unmarked, department-issued pickup truck after he ran a red light while fleeing an altercation between two pedestrians that escalated into gunfire. He did that two weeks after promising a thorough investigation of allegations that Albuquerque police officers had for years made DWI cases disappear in exchange for payoffs. The alleged corruption, which the FBI is investigating, probably "started decades ago," Medina said while promising to "leave no stone unturned and make sure that we get to the bottom of this." But his fishy account of the crash has further undermined public confidence already shaken by the DWI corruption scandal.
