ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she would deploy the National Guard to help tackle crime.

The city says they will not be making any arrests, only acting in a support role for Albuquerque police officers.

According to APD Chief Harold Medina, 12 guardsmen will work with the Real Time Crime Center to expand and operate APD’s Drone Program.

Another 12 will work with the prisoner transport center to help with evidence collection, and 36 will help with scene security during critical incidents and investigations.

“We’re in the process of working on the details of the last 36 individuals who we’re trying to split up city wide to ensure every area command has National Guard personnel ready to take over the scene immediately when an officer is called upon,” said Medina. 

“These folks are not doing any law enforcement, they’re not armed, they’re not in fatigues, they’re not using military vehicles. What they are doing is supporting the police department, and if you look at it that way, I think we should all support anything that supports our police department,” said Mayor Tim Keller. 

The governor’s plan has plenty of critics. The ACLU of New Mexico calls this a show of force, and argues bringing military personnel to Albuquerque – even if it’s just a support role – won’t solve our problem with crime.

While APD says having the guard will free up more officers to be on patrol, the ACLU says that’s a problem.

“New Mexicans already experience incredibly high rates of police violence, some of the highest in the country. So anytime we talk about more police in our streets, more police interacting with vulnerable people, we are worried about outcomes for folks,” said Daniel Williams, a ACLU of New Mexico policy advocate. 

Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen says he’s hesitant about the idea of bringing in National Guard troops.

Right now, BCSO is not part of the plan, but Allen told KOB 4 Friday he was in talks with the governor.

Allen says those talks surrounded deputizing National Guard members, which would essentially give them law enforcement capabilities, but the sheriff says he wasn’t on board with that.

“It has been asked if I would, and that would I be responsible for that. My answer is, ‘No.’ I’ll just stop it right there. I don’t think it sends the right message. It is a lot of liability and a lot of other things people have not questioned,” said Allen. 

When it comes to liability, Allen brought up body cameras as an example.

APD’s Public Service Aides or PSA’s wear them, and the guardmens roles will be similar. We don’t know if the National Guard will be wearing cameras.

Allen says he supports the governor, but he also believes it sends the wrong message that law enforcement can’t do their jobs.