APD bringing back proactive policing

Response teams increase police presence in targeted areas

A mural inside the Taco Casa near Central and Coors depicts a serene, sunny day on Route 66, but the bullet hole on the painting — left over from a gunfight about six months ago — provides a window into what this restaurant and other area merchants have to contend with.

But James Pecherski, owner of Taco Casa, said that’s beginning to change thanks to an increased police presence in the area. Since the start of the year, uniformed police officers are a common site in the shopping center.

“They’re pretty much always here,” he said of the police’s presence. “I’m hoping it really allows us to flourish and grow.”

Albuquerque police and city officials on Tuesday announced the launch of Problem Response Teams, which will exist in all six of the police area commands. One of the

teams rolled out in southwest Albuquerque in early January. The teams will focus on fighting a particular crime concern for their respective parts of the city.

The team in southwest Albuquerque — which consists of two officers and a sergeant — spends much of its time in or near the businesses by Central and Coors. The uniformed officers often meet with people who work and shop there.

Sgt. Larry Middleton, who heads the team, said that the two officers early Tuesday arrested a person for a string of felony warrants. Last week, the officers met with many employees at the shopping center to see if they were alright after someone committed suicide using an explosive device behind a business. On another day recently, one of the officers bought a homeless man a cigar and helped him with a ride to a shelter.

“It’s community policing,” Middleton said of the team’s mission.

On Tuesday, Mayor Tim Keller, City Councilors Klarissa Peña and Ken Sanchez, and several business owners gathered at Taco Casa to officially announce the creation of the teams.

Elizabeth Armijo, deputy chief of staff at APD, said there are currently three problem response teams in southwest and southeast Albuquerque, and Downtown.

Keller said the city was able to create the teams using revenue from a gross receipts tax increase the city put in place last year, which is being used in part to grow the police force.

In just a month, the team in southwest Albuquerque appears to be have had an impact, Keller said. In January 2018, police responded to 132 calls for service near Coors and Central. This year, that number dropped to 115.

But more importantly, Keller said, was how the police were called to the area. In 2018, 95 percent of calls for service originated when someone called 911 or a police non-emergency line. This year, 50 percent of calls for service and the area were made by the police themselves.

“We’re cutting out the middle man,” Keller said. “We’re actually proactively policing again and this is a direction we want to go in for the whole department.”