The newly formed Albuquerque City Safety Department (ACS) has concluded its first full month of service to the community, according to a press release from the City of Albuquerque.
The ACS was established in order to offer a third option for 911 responders who need to dispatch someone to a non-emergency involving "mental health, homelessness, drug abuse, or other public health problems."
“Over the past year, our incredible team has brought this first-of-its-kind department to life, starting with an innovative idea and pushing all the way to training first responders and taking its first calls,” Mayor Tim Keller said in the release. “With each call that trained behavioral health and community responders take, we are strengthening our entire public safety system. We are relieving pressure on police and fire, allowing officers to focus on violent crime and our EMTs to focus on urgent life-threatening situations. And we’re finally finding better ways to help connect people struggling with behavioral health, homelessness, and addiction access to trauma-informed services to make a difference in their lives.”
During the first month, the ACS responded to 212 calls, an average of nine calls per day, and arrived on the scene in an average of 14 minutes per call; previously, these calls packed police officers' lines, forcing those in need of less urgent help to wait for hours.
One of the most important priorities of the ACS is the recruiting of responders, according to the press release.
Currently, there are four different kinds of responder jobs available, and 23 of the 41 available field-staff positions have been filled. ACS is currently hiring for Behavioral Health Responder and Community Responder roles.