Albuquerque police discovered nearly a dozen encampments while on patrol in the Bosque over the weekend.
The department announced earlier this year that it was changing the Open Space Division to 12 members, including seven collateral officers and five full-time police service aides.
APD Chief Harold Medina said that the change has allowed the department to have a bigger presence on the Bosque, especially on the weekends when people camp out. Officers patrolled the Bosque last weekend on horses and boats and also walked around during a proactive patrol operation, according to KOB. During the operation, police found 10 encampments.
“A lot of times, those individuals who are unhoused fall off the radar,” Medina told KOB. “This is one way where, if they fall off the radar and they think they are going to the Bosque to hide out – not necessarily, you’re probably still going to get contacted by an officer.”
For example, police said an arrest was made just south of Bridge Boulevard on the west side of the Rio Grande where officers found a motorcycle close to an encampment. Police arrested Carlos Diaz, who had an outstanding felony warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Diaz was booked into jail.
The Open Space Division had been made up of four officers and a sergeant until being revamped in January. At the time of the announcement, Medina said the Open Space Division wasn’t getting enough calls to justify a full-time group, and wanted to divert those officers to divisions that are understaffed like the homicide unit or domestic violence.
“I want to test this out for a year, see if it works,” Medina said at the time. “I’m hoping this model works. If it doesn’t work, we’ll sit, we’ll reevaluate, we’ll make changes.”
The Bosque is a cottonwood forest that borders the Rio Grande and runs through New Mexico. It’s known as “the Bosque,” which means “woods” or “forest” in Spanish. More than 500 different species of animals live in the Bosque, including New Mexico whiptail, gopher snakes, great horned owls, Cooper’s hawks, and porcupines.