ABQRAW staffPosted: December 22, 2021 03:30 PM
Updated: December 22, 2021 5:00PM
APD SWAT team members respond to a shooting at Old Town in Albuquerque, NM on June 15th, 2020. (ABQ RAW file photo)
Albuquerque –
Around 2:00AM yesterday morning a call came in to APD where a victim called to say they were being held against their will by a person armed with a knife. The call was at 1913 Alvarado Dr. NE. When APD went on scene the armed person refused to come out of the apartment. Once the armed person refused to come out APD decided to initiate a SWAT callout. By 9:00AM the scene had been cleared and the armed man had been taken into custody without further incident.
About a month and half ago, the Albuquerque Police Department had a fully staffed SWAT team. Sources have revealed that an incident within the veteran SWAT team with a brand new member caused an internal affairs investigation and the team was all but disbanded.
APD last week transferred 5 newly tested officers into SWAT after the mentioned incident and they are currently training to become fully certified and operational team members.
At this latest SWAT call out APD was the primary agency for the call for service but APD had to call in Bernalillo County Sheriff’s SWAT team for assistance since they don’t have a fully staffed SWAT team currently.
Typically, a fully staffed APD SWAT team has around a dozen team members.
Spokeswoman Jayme Fuller with BCSO confirmed in the last 2 months they have been called to assist APD SWAT 3 times. Fuller went on to say that BCSO and APD always had mutual aid agreements amongst their agencies so it is not uncommon for one agency to ask the other for assistance.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Lt. Mark Soriano said since November of 2021, the New Mexico State Police Tactical Team has assisted the Albuquerque Police Department SWAT Team with 3 missions. In 2020 and 2019 during the same time frame the New Mexico State Police Tactical Team also assisted the Albuquerque Police Department SWAT Team with 3 missions.
Neighboring agency Rio Rancho Police Department SWAT Lieutenant Richard Koschade told us they have assisted APD twice in the past two months.
We reached out to APD for comment and they did not respond. It is unclear how many calls have required a SWAT team since the shake up at APD. We have requested public records to see what exactly lead to the veteran team being dissolved. We will have another story when those records come in.