#askAPD provides new way to get information from Albuquerque police

Tamara Lopez | KOB

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – If you’ve ever been driving home from work and can’t go your usual route because police have it blocked off, or you’re sitting at home and hear sirens and wondered what happened – Albuquerque police have created a way to find out.

“It’s a way for us to try and hopefully get as much information as we can out to the public when they do have those questions,” said Rebecca Atkins with Albuquerque Police Department.

Atkins is talking about a new social media campaign to give you updates in real time. All you have to do is open Twitter and use #askAPD and tag @APD_PIO to ask about what you saw.

Atkins said social media is a way to connect with the public more.

“We might get inundated with questions, but we will do our best to respond to all of them. But yeah, I think it’s a great way to be transparent and keep that communication flowing with the public as best as we can,” she said about the new hashtag.

APD does stress this is not a replacement to calling 911, and they said there are a lot of calls to the non-emergency line or 311 asking about police presence. They want to funnel those calls toward this new hashtag.

“It was really something that our communications unit here at APD kind of came up with and kind of brainstormed, how can we better respond to these questions when they come up,” said Atkins.

Again, she wants to make it clear – you should still call 911 for emergencies because the hashtag is not manned 24/7.

“This is just a way if you’re curious, and you want to know what was going on, we can hopefully help get you that information,” Atkins said.