{"id":21650,"date":"2025-06-26T18:46:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T00:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-police-officer-resigns-after-being-linked-to-new-mexico-dwi-scandal\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:08:20","slug":"durango-police-officer-resigns-after-being-linked-to-new-mexico-dwi-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-police-officer-resigns-after-being-linked-to-new-mexico-dwi-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango police officer resigns after being linked to New Mexico DWI scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango Police Department Officer Daniel Carr was placed on administrative leave before resigning Wednesday after it was learned he may be linked to a DWI scandal in New Mexico, in which law enforcement officers took bribes to get DWI cases dismissed in court. (Courtesy of Durango Police Department)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Durango Police Department officer who had recently completed training resigned Wednesday after being linked to an alleged DWI scandal in New Mexico, where he previously served as a law enforcement officer, that raised questions about his credibility.<\/p>\n

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office placed former Albuquerque Police Department Officer Daniel Carr on its Brady-Giglio list on Monday. Carr informed his supervisor at the Durango Police Department that same day, according to DPD.<\/p>\n

Carr was placed on administrative leave Tuesday and resigned the next day.<\/p>\n

A Brady-Giglio list is a disclosure issued by prosecutors and police departments naming law enforcement officers who have \u201chad sustained incidents of untruthfulness, criminal convictions, candor issues, or some other type of issue placing their credibility into question,\u201d according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.<\/p>\n

Although he has not been charged with a crime, Carr was deemed not credible because of his involvement in a driving while intoxicated corruption scheme under federal investigation, Albuquerque television station KRQE News reported on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The scheme involved law enforcement officers and a defense attorney\u2019s office allegedly colluding to get DWI cases dismissed in court in exchange for money, according to KRQE News.<\/p>\n

The federal investigation has led to 15 other New Mexico law enforcement officers from Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff\u2019s Department and New Mexico State Police being placed on the Brady-Giglio list.<\/p>\n

Durango Police Chief Brice Current said federal investigators could have informed the Durango Police Department of Carr\u2019s involvement in the DWI investigation sooner if they had known he had joined DPD.<\/p>\n

Carr\u2019s previous supervisors at the Albuquerque Police Department provided \u201cvery positive comments\u201d about him, Current said. Still, DPD\u2019s background check revealed some \u201cconcerning\u201d details.<\/p>\n

Two complaints drew scrutiny during DPD\u2019s background check<\/div>\n

DPD Deputy Chief Chris Gonzalez said Carr had 23 internal affair reports during his long career at Albuquerque Police Department, but only two reports involved investigations in which he received a penalty \u2013 a demotion or a suspension.<\/p>\n

Other reports included minor complaints that did not involve disciplinary actions, complaints that were not sustained and four commendations. But the two instances that resulted in penalties raised concerns for DPD, he said.<\/p>\n

The first such investigation stemmed from a 2013 complaint filed by a woman Carr had charged with a DWI, Gonzalez said. Carr entered into a brief relationship with the woman, during which he told her he could help her get her DWI dismissed.<\/p>\n

No money was exchanged, but Carr had offered a favor, according to the report, he said.<\/p>\n

The woman reported Carr and he was demoted from sergeant to police officer, received a suspension and was required to attend mandatory training.<\/p>\n

The second investigation that drew DPD\u2019s scrutiny was a driving under the influence stop involving a man who said Carr had targeted him. The man said Carr was targeting him because Carr knew his girlfriend. Most of the complaint was found unsustainable and Carr received a verbal warning, Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango Police Department Officer Daniel Carr, a fairly new recruit, resigned on Wednesday after being linked to an alleged DWI scheme in New Mexico. The scheme involved law enforcement officers who allegedly colluded to get DWI cases dismissed in court in exchange for money. Carr previously worked for the Albuquerque Police Department. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gonzalez said Carr was up front and transparent about both investigations when Gonzalez and Current interviewed him.<\/p>\n

Because the concerning incidents occurred over a decade ago, and Carr demonstrated growth since then, DPD made the decision to hire him, Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually stayed with the Albuquerque PD, rebuilt his career and ended up taking a decent leadership role within the agency over the years as he recovered from this poor decision,\u201d he said, adding Carr became an instructor for the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement program.<\/p>\n

Consequences of lost credibility<\/div>\n

While the internal affairs reports share similar themes as the alleged DWI scheme in Albuquerque, they do not rise to the same level as another allegation against Carr.<\/p>\n

KRQE News investigated Carr in 2014 when he was an officer with the Albuquerque Police Department and reported he allegedly harassed a woman who worked at a strip club. The woman tolerated his advances because she believed Carr could get her boyfriend out of a DWI charge, according to KRQE.<\/p>\n

Current said when an employee\u2019s background check raises concerns, the police department examines the circumstances \u2013 the level of accountability and honesty the officer displayed, how the officer was disciplined, and whether the officer learned and improved from the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis officer earned a law degree and then became a supervisor again, and then left in good standing with Albuquerque PD,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Carr\u2019s placement on a Brady-Giglio list is likely to negatively impact any court cases he was involved in, Current said, though he is uncertain to what extent cases will be affected in Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just got off training, thank goodness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez said Brady-Giglio lists call into question the credibility of any officer whose name appears on them. Carr\u2019s inclusion on a New Mexico list could result in his name being added to a Colorado list.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, an officer can be listed for lying in court, manipulating evidence or being dishonest during an internal affairs investigation, for example, he said. An officer might also temporarily be added to a list if he or she causes serious injury in a car crash and ends up being a defendant in court.<\/p>\n

In short, Carr\u2019s credibility is called into question on every case for which he could appear as a witness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether he interviews someone and gets testimony, whether he takes evidence and puts it into our evidence storage \u2013 anything (where) his credibility is called into question will affect that particular court case,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

DPD hired Carr in November 2024, after he retired from the Albuquerque Police Department. He completed Durango\u2019s field training program in May and resigned on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was trusted to uphold the high standards of professionalism, character and accountability \u2013 values that we expect from every member of our department,\u201d DPD said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

completed training in May, resigned on Wednesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[950,1065,28,1025,52],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango","tag-durango-police-department","tag-headlines","tag-law-and-justice","tag-law-enforcement"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77400,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21650\/revisions\/77400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21650"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}