How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in New Mexico

The public records law that gets you the video

Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, 14-2-1 to 14-2-12

15 days unless excessively burdensome

“Every person has a right to inspect public records of this state” except as the Act lists (NMSA 1978, 14-2-1), and “person” includes any individual, corporation or other entity (14-2-6(E)), so you need not live in New Mexico. Public records include “tapes, photographs, recordings and other materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics” held by or for a public body (14-2-6(H)). How to ask: you may ask orally or in writing, but the Act’s procedures and penalties apply only to a written request, which includes email or fax; it must give your name, address and telephone number and identify the records “with reasonable particularity,” and you need not state a reason (14-2-8(A), (C), (F)). For law enforcement video or audio, the request must also specify at least one of: the computer-aided dispatch record number; the police report number; the date or date range with reasonable specificity plus the name of an officer or first responder, the approximate time or the approximate location; or other criteria the agency has published (14-2-1.2(B)). Deadline: the custodian “shall permit the inspection immediately or as soon as is practicable under the circumstances, but not later than fifteen days after receiving a written request,” and if inspection is not permitted within three business days must explain in writing when the records will be available or when the public body will respond; the three days begin when the request is delivered to the custodian’s office (14-2-8(D)). If the custodian decides the request is excessively burdensome or broad, it gets a reasonable additional period and must say so in writing within fifteen days; you may treat the request as denied if inspection is not permitted within a reasonable time (14-2-10). A request sent to the wrong person must be forwarded promptly to the right custodian, if known, and you must be told why and who that custodian is (14-2-8(E)). The custodian must separate exempt from nonexempt information and release the nonexempt part, and must give an electronic copy in its existing format if you ask for one (14-2-9(A), (B)). Fees: reasonable copy fees unless a different fee is set by law, no more than $1.00 per printed page up to 11 by 17 inches, the actual cost of downloading to a disk or storage device including the device, actual mailing or transmission costs, advance payment allowed, and no fee for determining whether a record is subject to disclosure (14-2-9(C)). The Act has no video-specific fee. The Department of Justice’s IPRA Compliance Guide (Ninth Edition) says storage-device fees cannot include staff time spent receiving requests, searching or reviewing records. Examples from official pages: the Department of Public Safety charges no fee for records delivered electronically through its GovQA portal and $6.75 for discs; Albuquerque’s 2026 fee schedule charges $1.00 per video produced through its evidence.com (Axon) platform for requests with a New Mexico address.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Body cam kept 120+ days by policy

Body cameras are required. Municipal police, county sheriffs, the New Mexico State Police and the Department of Public Safety must require officers who routinely interact with the public to wear a body-worn camera on duty (with exceptions for sanctioned undercover and explosive disposal operations), and must adopt policies that require activation on every call for service or other law enforcement or investigative encounter, prohibit deactivation until the encounter ends, and require “that any video recorded by a body-worn camera shall be retained by the law enforcement agency for not less than one hundred twenty days” (NMSA 1978, 29-1-18(A), (B), (D)). Officers who do not follow those policies “may be presumed to have acted in bad faith” and may be liable for negligent or intentional spoliation of evidence (29-1-18(C)). We found no statute on dashboard camera recordings or their retention; the Department of Public Safety says dashcam video, photos and diagrams of State Police crashes can be requested if available. Release: “Law enforcement records are public records, except as provided by law and this subsection,” and nonpublic information “may be redacted from a written record or digitally obscured in a visual or audio record” (14-2-1.2(A)). What may be obscured that matters in a crash video: a “visual depiction of a dead body,” a “visual depiction of great bodily harm, as defined in Section 30-1-12 NMSA 1978, or acts of severe violence resulting in great bodily harm,” in each case unless an officer acting as such caused or is reasonably alleged or suspected to have caused it; depictions of intimate body parts; the “visual or audio depiction of the notification to a member of the public of a family member’s death”; confidential sources, methods or information; medical examination and treatment records unless relevant to a criminal or misconduct investigation; and, before charges are filed, identifying details of people accused but not charged and of victims and witnesses of listed sexual and stalking crimes (14-2-1.2(A)(1) to (8)). These are redactions, not grounds to withhold a whole video: the presence of such information “does not exempt the record from inspection” (14-2-1.2(D)), and the Department of Justice’s guide calls them “Not operating as blanket exceptions.” Viewing on site: except for confidential sources, methods or information, a request to view video or hear audio at the public body’s premises is not subject to those redaction and specificity rules, though any recording or copying from that viewing is (14-2-1.2(C)). The guide warns that reviewing and redacting video is “extremely time consuming” and that requests with many video files can become excessively burdensome, so narrow yours to the crash. Where to send it: for State Police crashes, the Department of Public Safety’s GovQA portal (nmdps.govqa.us; questions (505) 476-2400); for a city or county crash, that agency’s records custodian, for example the Albuquerque City Clerk for Albuquerque Police video.

When police can hold video back

No blanket open-case exemption

New Mexico’s records law has no general exemption for records of an ongoing investigation. In Jones v. City of Albuquerque Police Department, 2020-NMSC-013, the Supreme Court held that the law enforcement records exception “does not create a blanket exception from inspection for law enforcement records relating to an ongoing criminal investigation,” and ruled for a requester whom the Department of Public Safety had refused records while the FBI investigated a shooting, because the Department had not shown that specific records revealed confidential sources, methods or information or individuals accused but not charged, nor separated exempt from nonexempt information. The case was decided under the earlier version of the exception, which the Legislature moved in 2023 into 14-2-1.2 (Laws 2023, ch. 67); the Department of Justice’s guide still cites it for the same rule. What the current statute allows while a case is open: redaction or digital obscuring of confidential sources, methods or information at any stage, and, before charges are filed, of the names, addresses, contact information and personal identifiers of individuals accused but not charged with a crime and of victims and non-law-enforcement witnesses of listed sexual and stalking crimes (NMSA 1978, 14-2-1.2(A)(1), (2), (7)). The guide says that information becomes generally subject to inspection once charges are filed, explains that a misdemeanor is charged when an officer files a criminal complaint and a felony only after a grand jury indictment or a judge’s probable cause finding at a preliminary hearing, and adds that “Depending on the stage of the criminal investigation or prosecution other laws may permit withholding certain law enforcement records,” and that applying an exception is “permissive, not mandatory.” The general catch-all, records exempt “as otherwise provided by law” (14-2-1(N)), can also apply; the compiler’s annotations cite a 2024 Court of Appeals decision reading it to take in the confidentiality provisions of other statutes, regulations, court rules and constitutional privileges (Beck v. State ex rel. CYFD, 2024-NMCA-082). So in a crash with criminal charges in prospect (for example DWI or a hit-and-run), expect redactions, not a refusal of the whole video, and ask again after charges are filed if identities were obscured. A denial must be in writing and explain itself (14-2-11(B)).

Do traffic cameras in New Mexico record?

No NMDOT recording policy found

The Department of Transportation’s traveler site, NMRoads, shows permanent roadside cameras, weather-station cameras and portable construction-zone cameras “that allow observing traffic and road conditions,” but neither NMRoads nor any NMDOT page we read says whether the cameras record or how long any footage is kept; its disclaimer covers only the accuracy of road information. Because a recording that does exist is a public record in any form (NMSA 1978, 14-2-6(H)), ask NMDOT’s Records Custodian at once if a state camera faced the crash: email IPRA.Requests@dot.nm.gov or use its IPRA submission form, which asks you to include the date range, mile markers, county and closest city; phone 505-469-0724; mail NMDOT Records Custodian SB-5, P.O. Box 1149, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1149. NMDOT’s public records page says records on media other than paper are charged at no more than the current supplies cost to reproduce them. Cameras owned by a city, such as Albuquerque’s, belong to that city, so send a separate IPRA request to the city’s custodian. License plate readers are different: from July 1, 2026, automated license plate reader information is confidential and “not considered a public record” under IPRA, and users may not share it with anyone other than law enforcement and their vendor (29-22-3(C), (D)).

Red-light and speed cameras

Local programs; ABQ speed cams

No New Mexico statute expressly authorizes or bans red-light or speed cameras for cities or counties, but two state laws assume and regulate local use. When a county or municipality uses a “camera monitor” with a traffic signal to detect red-light violations, it must install warning signs on the approaches, supplemented by a warning beacon or rumble strips, telling drivers the signal is photo-enforced (NMSA 1978, 66-7-103.1). And a municipality, including a home rule city, may by ordinance define and penalize nuisances, but the total penalties and fines for failing to obey a traffic signal, including a red light violation, or for speeding may not exceed $100, no fees or costs may be added, half the net collected after vendor fees goes to the state general fund, the program must be audited, and a contested violation is heard by a hearing officer appointed by the presiding judge of the district court’s civil division or, where offered, by a mail-in alternative, with the burden of proof on the city (3-18-17(A)). A 2025 bill to let the Department of Transportation run speed cameras in highway construction zones (SB 241, 2025 regular session) died, per the Legislature’s bill page. Programs are local. Example, Albuquerque: its Automated Speed Enforcement Ordinance was enacted in 2021 and implemented in 2022; the city says its fixed cameras are triggered when radar detects a vehicle more than 10 mph over the limit, that Albuquerque Police review each event, that citations go to the registered owner as civil violations issued under the city’s home rule authority with no license points, that “The City of Albuquerque does not have red light cameras,” and that “Our cameras do not record footage of vehicles traveling past below the enforcement threshold.” Its fine notice tells the recipient, “You have the right to review electronic images or video on the Internet” at usview.cite-web.com using the citation details. So a speed camera is unlikely to hold footage of a crash unless a vehicle was speeding past it, and only the cited owner gets the online review; anyone else would have to ask the city for any images under IPRA, which may be refused or redacted if an exception applies. Other cities and counties run their own programs under their own rules.

If your request is denied

District court; DOJ complaint optional

A written request not granted within fifteen days of receipt (unless the custodian has determined it excessively burdensome or broad) “may be deemed denied,” and a written denial must describe the records, name each person responsible for the denial, and be delivered or mailed within fifteen days after the request was received (NMSA 1978, 14-2-11(A), (B)). A custodian who does not deliver that written explanation on time can be sued, and if the failure is unreasonable the court must award damages of up to $100 per day, from the day of noncompliance until a written denial issues, paid by the public body (14-2-11(C)). Court: the Attorney General, the district attorney, or “a person whose written request has been denied” may sue to enforce the Act; the district court may issue a writ of mandamus, an injunction or other remedy; “The exhaustion of administrative remedies shall not be required”; and a requester who wins must be awarded damages, costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees (14-2-12). The Act creates no administrative appeal. You may instead, or first, file a complaint with the New Mexico Department of Justice, whose Government Counsel and Accountability attorneys review IPRA complaints, often resolve them informally by helping the requester get the records, and can sue if they find a violation (complaint form linked from the Department’s IPRA page). Deadline: the Act sets none; the Department of Justice’s guide says general statutes of limitation apply, generally three years for an action against a municipality and probably four years for other public bodies (citing NMSA 1978, 37-1-24 and 37-1-4). Because body camera video need only be kept 120 days, ask the agency in writing to preserve the footage while you dispute the denial.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send an IPRA request today

   Email the agency that worked the crash for all body camera and dashcam video, giving the report or dispatch number, or the date with the approximate time or location.

2. 2

   Ask the agency to preserve the video

   Agency policies must keep body camera video at least 120 days, and we found no rule for dashcams or NMDOT cameras. Ask in writing that the footage be kept.

3. 3

   Check other cameras now

   Ask NMDOT and the city whether any traffic camera recorded the crash, and post the crash on the bounty board for nearby dashcam footage.

4. 4

   If refused, get it in writing

   A denial must be written and name who denied it. File a complaint with the Department of Justice or sue in district court; the Act requires no administrative appeal first.

Frequently asked questions