Fired police officer sues former chief for defamation
Jeremy Dear believes Eden’s statements ruined his career
Former Albuquerque police officer Jeremy Dear filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the chief of police damaged his reputation by publicly making false statements about him.
Dear was at the center of the controversial killing of 19-year-old Mary Hawkes in April 2014. And then-Chief Gorden Eden has said Dear was terminated in December 2014 for repeatedly failing to use his lapel camera, even though he had been directly ordered to do so.
At issue in Dear’s lawsuit are instances in which Eden said Dear was untruthful and insubordinate.
“Two traits, of course, which are foundational requirements for anybody seeking to be in or remain in law enforcement,” Dear’s attorney, Tom Grover, said in an interview Thursday.
Those comments, he said, stand in the way of his client’s ability to obtain a job elsewhere as a police officer.
“Jeremy’s reputation has been damaged such that until these claims are purged, he’s not going to, and hasn’t been able to, get a job with other law enforcement agencies,” Grover said.
The decision to fire Dear was later overturned by the city’s personnel board. The city appealed
the board’s decision in District Court, where it is pending.
The defamation and false light lawsuit filed Wednesday in state District Court claims that Eden’s comments were false. Internal investigations did not find that Dear was untruthful with investigators, it alleges. And Grover said that Dear was not insubordinate, because he was never ordered to record all citizen encounters on his lapel camera, and so he could not have violated that order. The lawsuit also alleges that such an order would not be lawful.
Named as defendants are Eden, the Albuquerque Police Department and the city. Mayor Richard Berry’s spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
The lawsuit points to two public statements by Eden that it says were “meant to, and did, discourage others from associating with Mr. Dear.”
In one case, the Journal quoted Eden speaking before a class sponsored by the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce in April 2016. He did not mention Dear by name.
“How can I, as a police chief, bring a person back that I witnessed lie? That I witnessed act in insubordinate ways? His own colleagues said, ‘He’s not going to change,’ ” the story quoted Eden saying.
In the second case, the lawsuit alleges, Eden issued a statement to the media: “Insubordination tears at the very fabric of public safety especially when the officer makes a choice not to follow a lawful order.”
Dear says the statements harmed his “good name and character” and resulted in personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.