4 Investigates: Riding along with Albuquerque Community Safety

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4 Investigates: Riding along with ACS

Albuquerque Community Safety is rewriting the book on how to better handle mental health emergency response. However, the most common call is often their least prioritized and that is leading the most common outcome: 'no person found.'

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the wake of protests after George Floyd’s murder and a police department under federal oversight for killing civilians, the Albuquerque Community Safety Department was born in 2020.

ACS promised to be a new branch of first responders offering “the right response at the right time.” Unarmed behavioral health responders answered the call.

In many ways, ACS is leading the nation and innovating emergency response. However, as the department grows, so too does its challenges. 

The Graveyard shift 

Initiating around-the-clock service was a priority for ACS administrators. They started the graveyard shift in August 2023. For a year, 4 Investigates pushed to see how the work happens after dark. 

An ACS union survey showed 90% of responders felt unsafe with how the city rolled out the graveyard shift.

However, the latest ACS data shows the graveyard shift is not more dangerous than responding in the daytime. A police response was needed for less than 1% of graveyard shift calls.

Union members still feel more training is needed to prepare responders for the realities of the job. 

Growing demand and time to clear calls 

ACS has seen a steady increase in call volume since its inception. A vast majority of calls now come through the 911 dispatch center.

While ACS can be dispatched through 311, an ACS triage specialist coordinates calls that come through 911. Since then, 911 calls have been the dominant source of calls for service. 

The time to clear calls is trending up. In January 2024, it took one hour and 52 minutes to clear a call. By November 2024, it took four hours and 25 minutes to clear a call. 

4 Investigates saw an example of this on our ride-along. A man had called ACS on himself after having concerns about his mental health diagnosis. He agreed to have ACS transport him to the hospital.

After arriving at the psychiatric wing of the University of New Mexico Hospital, hospital staff told ACS the wait time to see the man would be several hours long.

Instead, the man opted to be transported to Lovelace. That increased the time it took to clear the call. 

“Our response is person-centric,” said Walter Adams, the deputy director of field operations for ACS. “If he wants to wait here and he feels comfortable waiting with us, we’ll wait with him because it’s about that individual at that time.” 

Prioritizing calls 

ACS calls end up on a priority board and supervisors dictate which calls get responded to first. Immediate health and safety calls are prioritized first, and people wanting help from ACS are prioritized higher.

Calls regarding homeless people or encampments are generally prioritized last. That is despite “unsheltered individuals” accounting for the most common call for service. 

The latest quarterly stats show 40% of all calls were for homeless individuals. The most common call outcome was “no person found,” which happened 30% of the time. 

Additionally, only 10% of homeless people accepted transport to a shelter and only 9% are actively working with a case manager to help get off the street. 

“As we make the footprint and make an impact, that demand is going to go up,” said Jodie Esquibel. the new director of ACS.

Esquibel would like to double the size of ACS to meet demand, improve response times and effectiveness. The department currently has a budget for 143 positions. As of now, they have filled 109 of those positions.

“We’re seeing things on the street that we haven’t ever seen before,” Esquibel said. “People are multi, dual-diagnosis, multi-layer issues, and like, how can we fix that?”