Survey: APD, government concern for citizens

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A recent survey showed residents in Albuquerque would recommend living in the Duke City to other people, but when it comes to city government and the Albuquerque Police Department, most people said there's a lot of room for improvement.

The survey, conducted by Research and Polling Inc. in February, asked 406 Albuquerque residents a number of questions. The city paid $11,770 for the study.

"We wanted to know how people felt when they came down to get a building permit, or when they came to pay for something at the city treasury or when they dealt with some of the city departments whether its calling solid waste or the parks department," said Mayor R.J. Berry.

According to the study, only 5 percent of people strongly agreed that city government was responsive to their needs.

"Every section of town doesn't get the same treatment," said resident Grace Justiniano. "I just don't think that a lot of the money in Albuquerque is spent fairly all across the board. It's spent mostly in the Northeast Heights than any other area."

Overall, most people also felt roads aren't well maintained and keeping up with a growing city. Sixty percent of people agreed that a solution to fixing roads and supporting other vital services would be to cut government and raise taxes and fees.

"We're looking at different options to make sure we can keep some of these amenities in great shape," said Mayor Berry. "One of the big things we're trying to do in this administration is re-emphasize investing in our community and that's going to make a big difference."

Mayor Berry said he plans to improve city services by rolling out his 25-year plan for the city.

But how did people feel about the Albuquerque Police Department? While the majority of people agreed APD did a good job responding quickly to situations and addressing public safety, only half of people polled felt APD treated citizens with respect.

"Since I've been here, there's been a lot of killings and police officer shootings and it's a little excessive," said resident Toland Collier.

Mayor Berry said regaining public confidence in APD is a top priority for his administration.

"We want to make sure we're going out there everyday and getting the trust of the community," said Berry.

Less than half of all people felt "very safe" outside at night in the city. Only 13 percent felt "very safe" downtown at night. Mayor Berry wants to address that by attracting more business and families to the downtown area.

"Whehter it's eating, entertainment, whatever it happens to be, to bring more people down there with their families, I think it will get better over time," said Berry.

The survey also showed only about a third of people think the city's red light cameras make them safer. It could shed some light on how people will vote in October. City councilors voted to put the issue on the ballot to gauge how people feel about them. The city is contemplating whether it should kill the red light cameras altogether.