The Albuquerque Police Department announced Wednesday afternoon that three members of the department’s Inspection of Public Records Act unit were put on administrative leave.
The release says that they were placed on leave “pending an Internal Investigation” regarding “allegations of unprofessional conduct, workplace safety and inadequate supervision which have impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of the IPRA Unit.”
Javier Urban was named as the acting Records Custodian for APD. Reynaldo Chavez was previously listed as the records custodian for APD on the department’s public media inquiries page on the City of Albuquerque website.
The release came from APD spokeswoman Celina Espinoza and had very little information.
The department says that there will be no further information released on the investigation because it is a personnel matter.
According to the Attorney General’s guide on IPRA, one exception to the public records law is “letters or memorandums which are matters of opinion in personnel files.”
The release says that this should will not impact the unit’s ability to provide services to the public as “experienced IPRA personnel have been assigned to the unit.” KOB-TV reported that there are seven members of the unit.
IPRA is a powerful state open government law that allows anyone to request public information from public entities, including police departments.
