State Police investigating fraud claims at APD

New Mexico State Police is investigating allegations of fraudulent time-card activity within the Albuquerque Police Department.

Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo confirmed an investigation Thursday but said she couldn’t elaborate until it’s finished.

Albuquerque police, meanwhile, said they, too, are investigating “possible time card fraud” and will cooperate with the state.

APD wouldn’t detail the specific allegations.

“We take our commitment to the taxpayers and community seriously,” APD spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said, “and we will thoroughly investigate this issue and cooperate with any other investigating agency.”

The investigations come at a particularly tough time for the Albuquerque police force. Staffing levels in the department have fallen about 23 percent over the past six years, and a federal investigation in 2014 concluded that APD had a culture of aggression and a pattern of violating people’s rights through the use of force.

As for the state investigation, Armijo said State Police “recently received information about alleged fraudulent activity within the department and the NMSP Investigations Bureau is investigating these allegations.”

Espinoza said APD opened its own investigation — before State Police did — after “allegations of possible time card fraud.”

The police union said it wasn’t aware of the investigation, and City Hall’s inspector general and internal auditor said the allegations didn’t come from their offices either.

State Police officers aren’t the only state agency investigating APD. The state Attorney General’s Office is reviewing APD’s awarding of a no-bid contract to Taser International for body-camera equipment, after State Auditor Tim Keller said last year that his office had found “very clear violations” of law.

ABQ Free Press, an alternative newspaper, first reported the State Police investigation Thursday.