Mayor Keller, Chief Geier Boost Community Policing; State Police Identify Longer-Term Assistance Role
June 24, 2019
Mayor Tim Keller and APD Chief Mike Geier announced plans today to focus the investment in community policing as the temporarily increased State Police presence in the metro area winds down. Thanking Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the investment in Albuquerque, they announced the plan for State Police to continue to work with APD on auto theft and narcotics investigations, as well as to patrol the interstates and state roads.
“We are making steady progress toward rebuilding our police force and tackling crime from all sides,” Mayor Keller said. “Because the State Police stepped up and provided additional officers, APD had the ability to expand proactive outreach efforts. We are grateful for their work, and the vast improvements in our communication with each other that resulted from this investment. As the State Police return to their more traditional roles in our City, our job is to keep up the momentum and take community policing to the next level.”
APD has been implementing a comprehensive community policing plan during the past year. A major component of that plan is the creation of Problem Response Teams, which tackle public safety issues that are unique to each community.
As the State Police helped patrol areas of Albuquerque, APD created an additional Problem Response Team in the Southeast Area Command.
“These teams work directly with neighborhood and business leaders to tailor a response to the problems they are facing and focus on people who are victims of violent crime,” Chief Geier said. “The State Police presence allowed us to accelerate this plan, while giving us time to get more officers on the streets of Albuquerque. We have added 60 new APD officers in recent months, which means we can sustain these key efforts.”
Chief Geier said he is hopeful about the impact of the State Police continuing to keep a patrol presence on state roads within Albuquerque, including I-25, I-40, Coors Blvd, Paseo del Norte, and Tramway.
"The New Mexico State Police is committed to both short-term and long-term strategies directed at making the City of Albuquerque a safer place for our great citizens," Chief Tim Johnson said. "I very much look forward to continuing the excellent working relationships we have developed between the various agencies, created as a result of positive communication and working this operation."
Other partnerships that the City and the State announced in mid-May are still underway. These partnerships include raising awareness that the State's National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) program to track and investigate gun violence is available to all local police departments across New Mexico; Probation & Parole Division efforts related to getting guns out of the hands of violent offenders; and efforts with the State’s Regulation & Licensing Department to ramp up enforcement of liquor laws.
“We have received positive feedback from the residents of Albuquerque about the increased cooperation with the State on all of these initiatives,” said APD Deputy Chief Harold Medina. “We appreciate the work of the State Police and other agencies, and we look forward to their continued contributions to our efforts to make Albuquerque safe.”