Albuquerque Community Safety's New Alvarado Transportation Center Location
ACS presence in city’s central hub expands support in Downtown and beyond
ALBUQUERQUE – Today, Mayor Tim Keller announced the expansion of Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) into a new office at the Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC), the city’s primary transit hub. The ATC is a central point of convergence for residents and visitors, making it an ideal location to house a dedicated team of ACS supervisors and responders professionally trained to connect individuals experiencing mental health issues, homelessness and addiction to resources.
“There are thousands of residents and visitors going through the ATC every day, including folks who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, making it the right place to have an expanded ACS presence,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “Dispatching ACS from Downtown will help us respond to calls faster and better connect people to the resources they need.”
“Having an office at the ATC will help us better connect the public to resources and providers,” said ACS Director Jodie Esquibel. “We are positioning ourselves in a vital and bustling downtown location where we will be able to better serve our community, provide timely support, and work collaboratively with other organizations to foster a safer Albuquerque.”
Over the last 6 months, ACS has responded to over 1,000 calls in the ½ mile radius around ATC. Dispatching responders from the ATC will allow for quicker responses in Downtown and an increase in proactive outreach to people in the area. The move also brings additional public safety resources to the transit system, part of the City’s collaborative approach to making buses and bus stops safe for everyone.
“Having immediate access to ACS services for those coming and going through our facility – is a great benefit to our riders, staff, and the community who interacts with our facility,” said Transit Director Leslie Keener. “This is a great demonstration of the One Albuquerque approach as we are all working together to provide solutions for the problems we are seeing on the streets.”
In addition to the expansion of ACS to the ATC, the department will continue to host “Connect to Care” outreach events at the ATC in collaboration with University of New Mexico Hospital. “Connect to Care” events meet people where they are, brining resources and providers directly to the people.
Moving ACS to the ATC is part of the City’s Metro Homelessness Initiative, the City’s all-in approach to get more people into houses and off our streets.
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About Albuquerque Community Safety: ACS is the City of Albuquerque’s third branch of public safety. Responders take calls for service involving behavioral health, substance use, and other non-criminal and non-medical issues. Request an ACS Responder by calling 911 for emergencies and 311 for non-emergencies.