4 Investigates Preview: Albuquerque Community Safety

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Albuquerque and New Mexico often finds itself on the bottom of a lot of lists, but there is a way we are leading the nation.

Albuquerque Community Safety has reinvented emergency response. Unarmed social workers are taking 911 calls that previously went to police.

The Albuquerque Community Safety now has a graveyard shift. While behavioral health responders had a lot of concerns about safety working after dark, the latest stats from the city show it has not been more dangerous. KOB 4 went a ride along after dark to see for ourselves.

The numbers show less than 1% of all ACS calls require a police response, and that is the same as daytime calls. While union members had concerns about the safety policies, we have not seen major safety incidents.

The people behind the numbers, the responders doing this work, really have some inspiring stories about why they want to help others.

“I grew up in a very traumatizing household, a lot of mental illness, my mother has personality disorder that she has left undiagnosed pretty much my entire life. I had a stepfather who was selling drugs, I remember he got shot six times for a bad drug deal. We were squatting in houses, practically homeless. He was dumpster diving to try and feed us. At one point it got so bad in the home, I decided to be homeless,” said Chris Blaystone, a behavioral health responder. 

ACS has been branded by Mayor Tim Keller’s administration as “the right response at the right time,” meaning police with guns are not showing up to situations where people might be agitated and situations can escalate. 

However, the right response cannot happen if it takes too much time to respond. This is part of what we’ll be examining in our next 4 Investigates, airing on KOB 4 after Sunday Night Football.