Darren White pauses while telling the media about his wife’s car crash during a press conference at the Mayor’s Office on Monday. On Friday, White announced he was stepping down as Albuquerque’s Public Safety director. Photo Credit - Morgan Petroski/Journal
Albuquerque Public Safety boss Darren White on Friday announced his retirement as scrutiny of his involvement with his wife’s July 6 single-vehicle crash continued.
The announcement ends a career of more than 20 years in law enforcement, during which White also served as an Albuquerque police officer, secretary of the state Department of Public Safety and Bernalillo County sheriff.
White also stepped down from the Judicial Standards Commission, to which he was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Susana Martinez, according to her spokesman.
In a statement released by city spokesman Chris Ramirez, White said he was stepping down to “end the distraction surrounding my wife’s recent accident and allow Mayor Richard Berry and city leaders to focus on the important issues the people of Albuquerque deserve to have addressed.”
Berry held an impromptu news conference late Friday to address White’s retirement.
“It’s a difficult day, no question,” the mayor said. He said White had informed him that he would retire. Berry didn’t say whether he thought White’s decision to step down was the right one.
“I think he feels this is best for the city of Albuquerque,” Berry said.
In the statement, White maintained he did nothing wrong when he arrived at the crash scene with the emergency lights engaged on his city vehicle, picked up his wife and took her to seek medical attention. He said he did not interfere in the accident investigation.
Berry said that a planned investigation into the incident will continue.
White in his statement applauded the decision to continue the investigation.
“I intend to work hard to clear my name and stand-up for my wife, whose medical condition was improperly made public through the illegal leaking of confidential medical records,” White wrote.
He was referring to a fire department incident report, which has been cited in some news accounts but which has not been part of the Journal’s coverage.
White and his wife voluntarily released medical records from the hospital where he took her.
Kathleen White crashed her Porsche into a curb in the Northeast Heights shortly after 8 a.m. on July 6. Police and fire emergency personnel arrived at the scene, as did Darren White.
He ended up driving his wife from the scene to the hospital after she declined to be taken by ambulance, and later he said that doctors told the couple she had suffered from a seizure.
In his report, the first officer to respond checked the box “under the influence of drugs or medication” in a section on “apparent contributing factors,” and another officer’s report said the two officers discussed the possibility of a drug recognition expert being called to the scene.
No DWI investigation was conducted. Police Chief Ray Schultz said there was no probable cause to do so.
According to a police report, Kathleen White told officers and paramedics that she was taking Lamictal for anxiety. According to the Physicians Desk Reference, Lamictal “may cause blurred vision or impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert and able to see clearly.”
Under New Mexico law, it is illegal to drive if impaired by alcohol or any drug “to the slightest degree.”
On Monday, White, Schultz and city Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry held a heated news conference in which the three took turns scolding the news media for inquiring about the circumstances surrounding Kathleen White’s crash and her husband’s involvement.
At that news conference, officials announced that Perry and Mayor Richard Berry had sent a letter to city Independent Review Officer William Deaton, titled “Review of Public Safety Director Darren P. White involvement in wife’s car accident.”
Some city councilors questioned whether it’s within the IRO’s jurisdiction to investigate top officials like White or any non-police officers. They suggested an outside investigator.
Berry, speaking to reporters, said the Independent Review Office had assured his administration that it could investigate.
Berry said he will talk with Perry and the police and fire chiefs about whether to fill White’s position as director of public safety, for which he was being paid $120,000 a year. Some councilors have questioned the need for the job.
Berry said the position has been instrumental in crafting policy and overseeing public-safety spending.
“If I didn’t think the administration needed one, I wouldn’t have one,” Berry said. “I think the position was very effective with Darren there.”
Berry said he didn’t know how much unused leave White would be able to cash out upon retirement. The city’s Human Resources Department will handle the details of White’s retirement, he said.
Berry said White had shown passion in his commitment to the community while working for the state, county and city governments. He noted that crime rates in Albuquerque have fallen.
IRO questions
The letter sent by Perry and Berry to Deaton assured the IRO that police and fire department reports — as well as Kathleen White’s medical records — would be available for his review and that “those parties involved shall completely cooperate in immediately providing you any requested information.”
“It has come to our attention that certain members of the community have expressed concerns about Director White’s involvement at the scene,” Perry wrote, “and Director White has expressed concerns about the conduct of certain city employees at the scene.”
But Deaton does not have the authority to investigate Darren White or the AFD personnel who showed up to the crash scene, according to City Councilor Ken Sanchez.
That’s because the ordinance governing Deaton’s job makes clear he is only to investigate citizen complaints against sworn police officers and make recommendations to the chief of police.
Prior to stepping down, White was not a sworn law enforcement officer. Neither are the AFD paramedics who responded.
Sanchez has said the incident should be investigated by an entity from outside New Mexico.
“For starters, my understanding of the ordinance is that the IRO does not have the authority to conduct this investigation,” Sanchez said in a telephone interview Friday.
“And secondly, because of Darren White’s involvement with the Judicial Standards Commission and his relationships in Santa Fe, I just feel like something from outside the state would be more unbiased.”
That comment preceded White’s decision to resign from the commission.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
Here is the statement issued Friday by Public Safety Director Darren White:
I am announcing my retirement today in order to end the distraction surrounding my wife’s recent accident and allow Mayor Richard Berry and city leaders to focus on the important issues the people of Albuquerque deserve to have addressed.
However, the investigation must move forward and I intend to work hard to clear my name and stand-up for my wife, whose medical condition was improperly made public through the illegal leaking of confidential medical records.
Getting the truth out is very important to me and I am confident any investigation will show:
• I made it clear to the police officer that he was in charge of conducting any investigation and that I would not interfere.
• Nearly an hour after the accident and when it was clear that the scene investigation was complete, I took my wife to get medical attention. No one at the scene disagreed with that action.
• I did not take my wife to the hospital with lights and sirens on, nor did I violate any policy regarding the use of emergency equipment.
• My wife was diagnosed with a seizure by a neurologist at Presbyterian and was subsequently hospitalized for two days.
• No doctor, including my wife’s own physician, believe that the medical condition that caused the accident had anything to do with the medication she has been taking daily without complication for over a year.
• The speculation in the illegally leaked paramedic report that the symptoms might have been caused by “opiates” was conclusively disproved by a drug test administered at the hospital.
• We never would have released any of my wife’s personal medical history until we learned from the media that someone illegally leaked her confidential, and misleading, medical records to the press.
• The leaking of the paramedic’s report in this case broke federal and state laws.
I am very proud of my lifetime record of public service, beginning as a member of the 82nd Airborne in the US Army, continuing as a police officer, sheriff, and public safety administrator at both the state and local level.
I dedicated my life to public safety and hope I made a positive difference in my community. I feel honored to have worked with some of New Mexico’s finest public servants. Our challenge is never easy and the circumstances often difficult, but we rise to the task every day. I deeply appreciate having been given the honor to serve.
