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Mayor says third term would bring a new police chief but is 'on the same page' as Medina
Mayor Tim Keller (left) speaks to APD Chief Harold Medina (right) after the press conference at the Northwest Transit Center in October.
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Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said he would search for a new police chief if reelected for a third term.
The statement in an interview with KOAT-TV reviewing the year and touting Keller’s accomplishments aired Monday night, two weeks after Police Chief Harold Medina told the Journal he was not planning to retire in December 2025 as had been previously indicated. Medina and the mayor were together at the Journal when Medina made that statement.
A week before Medina’s remarks, Keller told the Journal that the chief was likely to retire in December 2025 since he is eligible for retirement.
Medina was not present for that interview.
“I’ll be looking for another police chief with another term, for sure,” Keller told KOAT-TV. Keller did not specify a timeline for finding a new chief.
“We’re not putting the cart before the horse; chief is committed to seeing us get to the finish line on APD reforms and setting up the department to continue the progress we’ve made fighting crime,” Staci Drangmeister, a spokesperson for the mayor, said in a statement to the Journal on Tuesday.
She added that Keller and Medina are “on the same page.”
During Keller and Medina’s visit to the Journal, the police chief said he wanted to mentor someone to take over the department, specifically noting Deputy Chief Cecily Barker could take the reins.
Keller is up for reelection in 2025 and would be the first Albuquerque mayor to serve three consecutive terms if he wins.
Medina has been police chief since 2020, taking the reins after Keller asked his predecessor Mike Geier to resign.
