The Albuquerque Police Department has officially launched a drone program that has already assisted in four arrests and conducted more than 200 flights in its first month of operation, city officials announced Thursday. The program, which began in August, features drones housed in strategically placed “hives” on rooftops and city facilities throughout Albuquerque that can […]
Category: Courts, Justice & Safety
4 days after mistakenly releasing an inmate, MDC finally notifies the public
Late Thursday afternoon, the Metropolitan Detention Center said it was investigating another erroneous release of an inmate that had occurred on Monday. According to MDC, an inmate booked over the weekend on three misdemeanor trespassing charges and a charge of resisting, evading or obstructing arrest was ordered released on two of the trespassing charges, but […]
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office wins national drone award for disarming children armed with loaded gun
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has won a national award recognizing how deputies used drone technology to safely disarm two young children who were armed with a loaded handgun. The sheriff’s office was awarded the 2025 Lifesaving Achievement Award and People’s Choice Award at Skydio’s Aerial Achievement Awards ceremony, according to a statement from the […]
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office nominated for national drone award after disarming children
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has been named a finalist for a national award recognizing how deputies used drone technology to safely disarm two young children who were armed with a loaded handgun. The sheriff’s office is competing for Skydio’s 2025 Lifesaving Achievement Award, with the winner to be determined by public voting at skydio.com/vote, […]
Santa Fe court launches mental health diversion program for arrestees
The First Judicial District Court has announced a new program designed to divert people with severe mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into treatment services. The competency diversion pilot program will serve individuals charged with misdemeanors, excluding DWI and nonviolent felony offenses. It marks the fourth such initiative established by New Mexico […]
Central Avenue gets a ‘huge glow-up’ as city implements new safety features
Albuquerque officials have announced a comprehensive set of roadway safety improvements along Central Avenue, building on significant reductions in traffic crashes that have occurred this year. The city reported a 47% reduction in all fatal and serious injury crashes along the Central Avenue corridor year-to-date, with pedestrian and bicycle serious injury crashes down 56%, according […]
Albuquerque man pleads guilty to federal charge for online threats against Trump
A New Mexico man who was charged with making threats of violence against then-President-Elect Donald Trump on social media pleaded guilty Thursday. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico announced in a press release that Tyler Leveque, 37, of Albuquerque, changed his initial not guilty plea to one count of […]
Bernalillo County Sheriff calls for accountability on homeless crime
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 37-year-old man on felony charges after he allegedly caused more than $10,000 in damage at an Uptown Albuquerque hotel, prompting Sheriff John Allen to issue a stern statement about violent crime among the homeless population. The man was arrested Sunday on two counts of criminal damage to property […]
Judge blocks Trump from cutting funding to more ‘sanctuary cities,’ including Albuquerque, for now
Late Friday, a federal judge extended a block of the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze federal funding to more cities, including Albuquerque, that restrict law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration efforts. Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended an earlier preliminary injunction barring the federal government from withholding funds or conditioning federal funding on having […]
Superintendent after five APS students were arrested with guns Wednesday: ‘Something is broken in our society’
Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Gabriella Blakey sent a letter to families Friday afternoon, two days after five students were arrested with firearms at or near APS campuses Wednesday in what Blakey called a “deeply troubling” day. On Wednesday, four guns were found on students at two different schools, with a fifth student arrested with a […]