The Albuquerque Community Safety department will send first responders to emergency calls both with and without police and fire departments, according to the City of Albuquerque.
These responders include social workers, peer to peer support, clinicians, counselors, or similar fields, according to the City of Albuquerque.
Mayor Tim Keller’s administration decided to create the new safety department, which serves as the third branch of the City of Albuquerque's first responder system in summer 2020, according to the City of Albuquerque's website.
"When a police or firefighter is not an appropriate response, we'll be able to send someone from ACS who has a background behavioral health, social work and counseling," Mariela Ruiz-Angel, the director for ACS, said in a KOAT video. "This is about relieving the public safety system so that officers can really concentrate on fighting crime."
Calls that come into 911 involving homelessness, inebriation, addiction or mental health will be answered by a two-person ACS team instead of officers, according to KOAT.
Backgrounds of some of the responding members of the ACS team encompass clinicians, social workers, counselors or others in similar fields, according to KOAT.
Training on how to handle calls regarding mental and behavioral health issues will begin this week, KOAT reported.
