ALBUQUERQUE – An analysis shows that Albuquerque police are taking 93% longer to respond to 911 calls from nine years ago.
KOAT-TV reports an examination on the Albuquerque Police Department’s response times shows officers now take an average of 48 minutes to arrive to a scene. That’s a 23-minute jump from 2011.
Albuquerque Emergency Communications Center manager Erika Wilson says police are during the best they can with the resources available.
Albuquerque police say currently it has about 950 officers. In 2011, it had around 1,100 officers.
“We are in a pickle,” said Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, the union that represents Albuquerque cops. “The Albuquerque Police Department is understaffed. It has been for a number of years.”
FBI statistics show Albuquerque had a violent crime rate of 1,365 per 100,000 residents in 2018. The national rate was about 369 violent crimes per 100,000 residents that year.
Last year, the country of Uruguay issued a warning to its citizens about traveling to Albuquerque.
