How Albuquerque Police Department Enhanced Community Safety with ECAM
About Albuquerque Police Department
The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) serves New Mexico’s largest city, an urban center facing one of the nation’s highest violent crime rates, driven largely by gang activity. At the same time, APD continues to manage ongoing staffing shortages. To maintain public safety despite limited resources, the department sought innovative solutions to strengthen situational awareness, improve officer efficiency, and reduce overall crime.
The Challenge for Albuquerque Police Department
Although APD operated a state-of-the-art Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) monitoring more than 1,000 fixed cameras citywide, significant coverage gaps and blind spots remained.
Criminals had learned to avoid static surveillance areas, and expanding fixed infrastructure was prohibitively expensive.
The department needed a mobile, cost-effective solution that could:
- Fill surveillance blind spots in high-crime areas
- Seamlessly integrate with the existing RTCC system
- Support intelligence-led policing (ILP) strategies
- Enhance officer response efficiency and community visibility
With limited personnel and high crime concentration in specific zones, APD required flexible technology that could move with the city’s evolving security landscape.
How ECAM Helped the Albuquerque Police Department
To extend APD’s coverage and strengthen intelligence-led policing efforts, ECAM deployed Mobile Surveillance Units (MSUs), custom-built, self-contained monitoring systems providing 360° visibility and real-time data integration with APD’s RTCC.
Key actions included:
- Mobile Surveillance Units (MSUs): Each MSU integrated high-definition PTZ and fixed cameras with solar power and cellular connectivity, enabling flexible deployment across the city.
- Full RTCC Integration: ECAM configured the MSUs to connect directly to APD’s Real-Time Crime Center software, ensuring seamless operation alongside the city’s existing surveillance network.
- Training and Support: ECAM technicians trained RTCC staff and patrol officers on system operation and response protocols, ensuring immediate adoption and effective field coordination.
- Two-Way Communication: The MSUs were equipped with loudspeakers, allowing operators to issue verbal warnings or crowd dispersal messages in real time.
- Data-Driven Deployment: Using intelligence and heat maps, APD could strategically reposition MSUs in high-risk areas, maximizing deterrence and optimizing resource allocation.
Ozzie Flores and his team are phenomenal. They’ve been efficient, timely, and incredibly knowledgeable about the products and best practices for addressing our needs.
Don Lewis III
Albuquerque Police Department
The ECAM Difference
The introduction of ECAM’s MSUs revolutionized how the Albuquerque Police Department approaches urban crime prevention, enabling smarter deployment, faster response, and improved community confidence.
Key results included:
- Significant improvement in officer efficiency, allowing APD to “do more with less”
- Expanded surveillance coverage across high-crime zones and public areas
- Reduced crime rates through visible deterrence and proactive monitoring
- Enhanced community trust, citizens reported feeling safer and voiced support for continued use of the units
- Positive public feedback: Residents even requested MSUs remain stationed in their neighborhoods
The Real-Time Crime Center’s integration with ECAM’s mobile camera technology allowed APD to prioritize verified incidents, allocate resources effectively, and reduce unnecessary dispatches.
