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Former Albuquerque Public Schools police Chief Gil Lovato on July 3 filed a lawsuit against the district claiming wrongful termination, defamation and violation of his civil rights.

Lovato drew his last paycheck on June 29 after the district declined to renew his contract. He had been suspended with pay since January amid allegations of improper practices in the department he had run for 16 years.

The lawsuit filed in state District Court in Albuquerque on July 3 claims Lovato was trying to blow the whistle on wrongdoing within the school district when he was told by Superintendent Beth Everitt that his contract would not be renewed.

This, the lawsuit claims, deprived him of due process and violated his constitutionally protected right to free speech.

"The conduct of the Albuquerque Public Schools and lack of due process has been outrageous," Lovato's attorney Sam Bregman said on July 3.

District lawyers have said Lovato asked for $500,000 to settle the dispute, but they rejected the offer and promised a court battle.

An APS audit of Lovato's department cited 20 infractions including poor evidence-room inventory and record-keeping, mismanagement of employees, improper use of APS resources and using confiscated money as unauthorized petty cash.

It also addressed an improper relationship between Lovato and the supervisor of his dispatchers, Cynthia West.

Also named in the lawsuit is Daniel West, who was Cynthia West's husband at the time.

The audit, made public May 11, showed a department Everitt called "insulated" from proper oversight — including her own.

Bregman has said Lovato's termination was Everitt's attempt to protect her own job and reputation.

APS is retaliating because Lovato has complained about issues, including APS' use of a private investigator as a "semi-secret police," the lawsuit says.

Everitt has said she expects the lawsuit to be "scandalous" and that the battle in court will be a dirty and nasty one. Everitt has said she's heard the lawsuit will include allegations that she bullied Lovato into giving her a police car for her personal use and that at one point she was apprehended for DWI.

The lawsuit asks for punitive and compensatory damages as well as costs for the lawsuit from the school district and the school board members.

In light of the audit and Lovato's ouster, a commission is looking into options for the district police force, including abolishing it and contracting with local law enforcement agencies.