On June 5, the New Mexico National Guard began assisting the Albuquerque Police Department with administrative tasks, according to a statement from APD Director of Communications, Gilbert Gallegos.
In a statement to the Daily Lobo, Gallegos said the National Guard is helping with “non-law enforcement duties,” including monitoring surveillance cameras at the Real Time Crime Center and helping with scene perimeters.
National guard members will not be on the University of New Mexico campus because they are working solely with APD, not UNMPD, according to Gallegos.
City of Albuquerque Press Secretary Shannon Kunkel said that APD has an officer shortage, and the National Guard will help fill some of the roles.
“We want to make sure that officers are actually doing the true, crime-fighting police work and not stuck behind a desk doing paperwork or directing traffic for hours,” Kunkel said.
On May 29, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said during a town hall that the National Guard will be here indefinitely.
The NMNG will allow police to be “proactive in the community” and work on other jobs, National Guard Maj. Gen. Miguel Aguilar said during the town hall.
NMNG assistance in the city is “civilianizing the police force,” Kunkel said.
“It's using more public service aids, using the National Guard, using technology to make sure that we're supplementing our police force the best we can,” Kunkel said.
Kunkel said Albuquerque’s use of the NMNG is not like what was seen in Los Angeles earlier this month when President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines in response to immigration protests.
According to NPR, National Guardsmen cooperated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the immigration raids that triggered the protests in early June intensified with the presence of the troops.
Kunkel said the National Guard will not be working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of Albuquerque’s Immigrant-Friendly Ordinance.
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The ordinance maintains that APD officers cannot stop, question, detain or arrest any person solely on the ground that they may be an immigrant who lacks permanent legal status.
“It is nothing like what we're seeing in Los Angeles, about trying to squash people's First Amendment rights,” Kunkel said. “Our National Guard was called by the governor, which is a stark difference from the President, who, in our view, acted inappropriately by calling the National Guard, since my understanding is that that's the responsibility of a governor.”
According to the City of Albuquerque website, guardsmen are dressed in black polo shirts and brown pants. The guardsmen are unarmed, but wear protective vests, carry pepper spray, wear body cameras when on scene security and drive “Public Service Aid” vehicles, according to the city’s website.
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa0
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
