Latest news with #AlbuquerqueCommunitySafety
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Southwest Public Safety Center nearly completed in Albuquerque
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – More than a year after breaking ground, Albuquerque is now just months away from opening a major new hub for fire, police, and social workers on the corner of 98th Street and Amole Mesa. Story continues below Entertainment: First-of-its-kind indoor pickleball facility coming to northeast Albuquerque Community: Albuquerque church leaning on faith after 2 members killed by their son Environment: What should New Mexicans do if they come across a raccoon? That station is just one part of a newer experiment for Albuquerque, making its first regional public safety center with space for firefighters, police officers, and Albuquerque Community Safety. It was March of last year when they broke ground, and now, the Southwest Public Safety Center is just months away from opening its doors. 'Starting in August, we will open this station with an ALS engine. So it'll be an engine, fire engine that carries the water, the hose, all of that. And then it'll also be staffed with one paramedic and then three firefighters that have our EMT basics so that we can provide paramedic coverage and fire suppression coverage,' said Albuquerque Fire Rescue Chief Emily Jaramillo. The new hub will serve the Southwest Mesa, one of the fastest-growing areas of the city that's only expected to get bigger. AFR said it's planning for that growth by building extra space for more fire engines expected to call Station 23 home over the next decade. One of the biggest benefits will be faster response times for AFR in that area. 'We've really relied on our automatic aid agreement to meet response times in this area of the city with Bernalillo County fires. So right now, Bernalillo County Fire is covering quite a bit of this area for us to make sure that we are meeting response times. However, now, AFR being here, this is all city jurisdiction. We're going to be able to meet those response times with our own apparatus,' said Jaramillo. The center will be one of two planned spaces for ACS on the Westside. 'We're going to have an admin staff here. The thing with our responders is that they're always responding to calls. And so, this will be a nice touch point for them to be able to come in and finish a report. But it'll be a nice space for everybody to collaborate. We can receive referrals from our counter departments here, and we're really excited to be here,' said Jodie Esquibel, director, Albuquerque Community Safety. Phase one of the project should be open by August. Eventually, the city is also hoping to transit center and a community center on the property. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KRQE Newsfeed: Pena sentenced, Capital outlay, First day of spring, Turquoise alert, 100,000 celebration
13-year-old accused of hitting and killed bicyclist for fun in Albuquerque held Albuquerque City Council votes to let plans move forward for Mesa Film Studios Police arrest man accused of fatal shooting in northeast Albuquerque APS Board of Education defends change in media policy amid criticism Santa Fe County to hold wildfire mitigation and preparedness event New Mexico residents fight to protect their mobile homes from rising rents [1] Man accused of orchestrating shootings at NM lawmakers' homes found guilty – The man accused of being the mastermind behind shootings at four New Mexico lawmakers' homes has been found guilty on all charges. Solomon Peña was charged federally for his role in the shootings which investigators believe was in revenge for his loss during the 2022 election for the New Mexico House of Representatives. [2] Lawmakers seek more than $1.2 billion to fund infrastructure projects in New Mexico – More than 1,400 projects statewide may soon be getting more than a billion dollars in funding. This comes after lawmakers passed the capital outlay bill through the House. The funding will go towards upgrades for Balloon Fiesta Park, a new facility at the University of New Mexico, the Domingo Baca Aquatic Center, and improving water lines and fire stations, especially in rural communities. [3] Warmer weather on first day of spring for New Mexico – Breezier and warmer weather returns Thursday, bringing a critical fire danger back to parts of New Mexico. Much warmer and calmer weather will move in by early next week. Breezier conditions will occasionally return late this week into the weekend with relatively mild air returning as little to no precipitation will fall ahead, even for the northern communities. [4] Turquoise Alert System for missing Indigenous people heads to governors desk – A bill aimed at addressing the missing and murdered indigenous people crisis in the state is heading to the governor's desk. Lawmakers say on average more than 200 indigenous people are missing in New Mexico at any given time. Senate Bill 41 would create a new alert system called 'Turquoise Alert.' It would send a statewide notification to law enforcement and the public. The bill now heads to the governor's desk for final action. [5] Albuquerque Community Safety celebrates 100,000 calls for service – Albuquerque Community Safety will be holding a special celebration in recognition of a pivotal achievement. In just over three years of service the department has responded to more than 100,000 calls. ACS is the first civilian-led public safety agency in the country that provides an alternative first response instead of getting the police involved. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Albuquerque community safety helped record number of homeless escape the cold
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Officials with Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) are reporting a record number of homeless people connecting with the department to escape the cold winter nights. Story continues below Local: Bryan Cranston makes surprise visit to Albuquerque 'Breaking Bad' store Crime: 12 horses at All American Futurity had illicit drug in their system DWI Scandal: Prominent ABQ attorney admits to running 'DWI Enterprise' scandal ACS says its overnight shelter transportation service helped 2,341 people between November and January. In January alone, ACS transported just over 1,200 people to overnight shelters. That marks an 88% increase over December's numbers. 'This month, our overnight team has successfully assisted more individuals than ever, emphasizing how critical this service is during these cold nights,' ACS Deputy Director of Field Operations Walter Adams said in a release. ACS overnight transportation services can be reached at their hotline number (505) 418 – 6178. The overnight transportation services operate between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Lawsuit accuses former ACS employee of abusing women he met on the job
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It's a department tasked with lightening the load off police by responding to calls to help some of the metro's most vulnerable. But a new lawsuit is accusing a now former Albuquerque Community Safety employee of abusing his role and the people he was supposed to help. Specifically, it accuses him of financially and sexually abusing a female patient he met on the job. Story continues below Crime: Man accused in shooting outside Isotopes Park pleads guilty to separate drug charges New Mexico: Bill aims to make New Mexico a major hub for trade in the United States Don't Miss: Crayola brings back 8 retired colors: Here's what they are According to the lawsuit, in November 2023 ACS responded to help a female veteran having suicidal ideations. The lawsuit said the ACS employee helped get her to the VA before things took a turn. The suit claims after that initial call, the city employee soon started texting the plaintiff saying he was glad to have met her and telling her she was 'pretty.' The lawsuit claims things escalated from there. 'An employee of the city who worked for ACS, which is a crisis unit, essentially coerced our client into a sexual relationship while she was in a mental health crisis,' said Ryan Villa, the attorney for the plaintiff. KRQE News 13 is not naming the ACS employee as he is not currently facing charges for the allegations within the suit. The lawsuit says in December of 2023 the employee told the plaintiff he lost his job because of their relationship. The suit accuses him of then financially exploiting her by borrowing thousands of dollars from her and never paying her back. ACS confirmed to KRQE News 13 that the employee resigned from the department in January 2024 in lieu of termination. But the lawsuit claims despite what the employee told the plaintiff, he was actually going to lose his job for a different assault. According to an Albuquerque Police report, in December of 2023, the then-ACS employee had another sexual relationship with a patient he met on the job who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After responding to a call to help the woman, the incident report said the employee started texting with the patient. The report said the texts were explicit and eventually led to intercourse. The woman told police it was consensual but her court-appointed guardians said otherwise. The employee resigned on January 2, 2024. While the city placed the employee on leave and planned on terminating the employee, the plaintiff's lawyer claims the city did not do an adequate investigation after these allegations came to light. 'As far as we can tell the city took no steps whatsoever to see if it had happened in any other instances,' said Villa. 'The city didn't take any steps at all to investigate whether this was a pattern, whether he'd done this to any other people. In fact, he had done it to our client in this lawsuit.' 'Albuquerque Community Safety takes allegations of misconduct seriously,' said an ACS spokesperson to News 13 in an emailed statement. 'Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to provide further comment at this time. Our department remains committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability.' Villa also argues the city shouldn't have hired him in the first place, noting the employee's background check was not thorough enough. 'We have allegations that they failed to do a proper background investigation,' said Villa. The lawsuit notes his history of domestic violence and battery charges, though they were either dismissed or dropped. It also states the employee had a short criminal history in Colorado for weapons charges. The suit also claims he was previously fired from the Socorro Fire Department in 2017 and from the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in 2010. 'Why the city didn't conduct that type of background investigation before hiring this person who they knew was going to go work with some of the most vulnerable people in our population is beyond me,' said Villa. He said he hopes this lawsuit will spark change. 'We want to make sure this never ever happens again to anyone else. That's first and foremost in our client's mind,' said Villa. He said they also want justice for her. Documents also show after his resignation from ACS, the employee applied for a job with the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department. CFYD denied his application following a background check. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Albuquerque looking to help people get connected to social services
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is introducing a new streamlined process called Unite Us to help get social services out to the people who need them. Albuquerque Community Safety meets with public for feedback It's an online platform that connects health providers across the city to better keep track of patients who are receiving care from multiple services including the homeless population. 'So whenever somebody starts with a certain provider, say they need certain behavioral health services. Then they could be referred to a behavioral health expert who can provide them with their services, while also being able to track that progress. So before there was not really a streamlined continuum of care for this,' said Connor Woods, City of Albuquerque Health Housing, & Homelessness Department. Health, behavior, and social service providers were invited to Thursday morning's event to get more organizations signed on to the program. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
