Community Celebrates Grand Opening of ACS 1st Permanent Headquarters

ALBUQUERQUE – Today, Mayor Tim Keller along with about 400 members of the community celebrated a ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of the new headquarters for the Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS) located at 1210 San Mateo Blvd. SE.

ACS is a first-of-its-kind department, and these new headquarters are the first for an alternative health response department in nation. Since its inception two and a half years ago, ACS has responded to over 75,000 calls, employing an innovative behavioral health model with a non-law enforcement-led response. In prior years, many of these would have been calls fielded by first responders in the police and fire departments. Now, ACS diverts about 3,000 911 calls from those departments each month.

With its success as an innovated third branch of public safety, ACS has woven itself into the fabric of emergency response for the City of Albuquerque, but had no permanent home. The department had been leasing temporary space for its base of operations at the Gateway Center property. Now, ACS has its first permanent headquarters at a new 10,800-square-foot facility, located in the International District.

“Today marks a milestone for behavioral response departments all across the country.” said ACS Director Jodie Esquibel. “Our team takes incredible pride in being a national leader and we look forward to continuing our growth alongside the community.”