Albuquerque Police Department has four times the amount of police officers per city resident than UNM Police Department has for each UNM student.
Albuquerque has a population of 494,236 residents, which means there is one APD officer for about every 450 city residents.
UNMPD spokesman Lt. Robert Haarhues said UNMPD has about three officers on duty at any given time. That’s about one police officer to every 2,000 students.
Haarhues said he doesn’t think UNMPD is understaffed.
“We are at our authorized strength,” he said. “We have 25 officers, three sergeants, two lieutenants and a Chief.”
UNMPD has 31 officers to protect the 24,105 students attending Main Campus. With the addition of Lobo Village, which is on south campus near the Pit, UNMPD now has jurisdiction over a larger area. Lobo Village houses 800 students.
Student Jessica Lindsey said she rarely sees UNMPD officers on campus.
“I have yet to see an officer actually on campus outside their car this semester,” she said.
According to UNMPD’s website, “standing and/or walking for more than four hours per day,” is a minimum requirement of the job.
Student Amanda Long said she too has noticed a lack of officers on campus.
“We see them driving around on the street, but there’s been a decline of officers patrolling the heart of campus where the bulk of students really hang out,” she said.
Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman Tasia Martinez said APD sometimes helps UNMPD when a high volume of calls comes in from Main Campus or Lobo Village.
“APD works in conjunction with UNMPD and we will respond to calls for service on UNM campus or in Lobo Village anytime they become inundated or request our assistance, and APD currently has 1,055 Officers,” Martinez said.
Martinez said APD will assist with calls from Lobo Village, but they don’t patrol the condos.
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She said when APD has to assist UNMPD with calls it takes officers away from patrolling the city.
