ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rene Barraza is a southwest area commander for the Albuquerque Police Department. One of the problem areas he patrols is Pat Hurley Park and the surrounding neighborhood.

“Well, if I could double my staff, that’d be one key thing,” said Barraza. 

Barraza has been in the post for two years now. He says the area has crime just like other parts of the metro. But he’s very aware of problem areas like Pat Hurley Park. 

Barraza says all the area parks in his command area are now part of what he calls a problem-oriented policing tactical plan. 

“We looked at all the stats throughout the parks within the Southwest. We identified all the parks and which ones where we saw the increase in crime. And we made sure that we are deploying our officers intelligently and efficiently to make sure that we’re actually showing a better presence of patrols,” Barraza said.

He says understanding where crime happens lets him use his resources more efficiently. 

He also says he relies on help from the community. For example, one neighbor told him about issues at the park on the Fourth of July.

“They would ignite fireworks. And I guess after fireworks were done, they would sometimes they’re shooting their firearms up in the air, which is obviously a huge concern. Both fireworks and fire has been being lit up or fired in our neighborhoods,” Barraza said. 

He says because he knew about the issue, he was able to activate his proactive response team at the park. 

Neighbors told him this past Fourth of July was one of the quietest holidays they’d had in years. 

He hopes that can continue to foster these community relationships. That way, neighbors will feel comfortable reporting crime.

“If you don’t care about your care community, then we’ll never know until we get there. Right? So I would tell people, ‘Please call when you hear something,’” said Barraza. 

Along with community communication, Barraza says he makes sure any officers rotating into his area command get a full understanding of the issues APD is facing in that area.