New Mexico police chief investigated for hidden camera in office vent
A New Mexico police chief was investigated for his role in planting a hidden camera in the station to spy on his officers. When the camera was exposed, a female sergeant, Sergeant Monica Torres, said it left her feeling violated. Video obtained by KRQE News 13 shows two high-ranking officials installing a hidden camera inside a ceiling vent in the sergeant’s office at the Bernalillo Police Department. Bernalillo (N.M.) Police Chief Broderick Sharp, and Lt. Chris Stoyell, appear to be looking at the footage through a cell phone screen that Stoyell is holding.
At the time of the hidden camera’s installation, Torres was out on vacation. “I freaked out,” Torres recalled. “I had changed numerous times in there,” she added. “I changed in my office with the expectation of privacy,” she wrote. She asked what the town was doing with potential images of her exposed. When asked if she ever got answers to those questions, Torres replied, “No. No one would ever answer me.”
What Chief Sharp told state police investigators does not line up with what the installation video shows. “The blue light is on, clearly showing anyone that looks, cameras are on,” Chief Sharp told state police. However, during the camera’s installation, Lt. Stoyell can be heard asking, “The blue light stays on all the time?” The IT tech responds, “I wonder if we can disable it in settings?” After the tech appears to hide the camera more, Chief Sharp states, “I can’t see it now. I can’t see it.”
When asked if there was an expectation of privacy when she was the only one in her office, Torres replied, “Absolutely. I was told I could breastfeed in there. Pump my breasts when I had my daughter.” After the hidden camera incident, Torres said she was fired from BPD for failing to search a suspect and mischarging him. She refutes those allegations. “It’s disgusting, it’s humiliating,” said Torres. “This has been the most traumatizing thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.”
The Town of Bernalillo sent KRQE News 13 a written statement on Wednesday, stating in part,
“The Town of Bernalillo stands by its policies and would like to state that nothing improper was identified on our end.”
https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/new-mexico-police-chief-investigated-for-hidden-camera-in-office-vent/