Rethinking Albuquerque Public Safety with Mayor Tim Keller

In this episode, we sit down with Mayor Tim Keller to explore how Albuquerque became a national leader in public safety transformation. Confronted with a federal consent decree over police misconduct and the urgent calls for change following the 2020 social justice movement, Keller and his team launched the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) department — a first-of-its-kind initiative that sends trained, non-police responders to behavioral health, homelessness, and substance use crises.Mayor Keller shares how his team reimagined what was possible, took bold risks, and built an entirely new model of emergency response — all while maintaining day-to-day city operations. This candid conversation reveals the challenges, breakthroughs, and lessons from one city’s ambitious effort to redefine public safety.