NOT SAFE ZONES Ordinance

Albuquerque can be both compassionate and safe, vibrant and humane. O-26-14 achieves none of these goals. This ordinance deepens the criminalization of poverty, addiction, and mental illness. 

It also reaches far beyond our unhoused population, threatening the protected First Amendment right for all of us to enjoy public spaces—criminalizing our elders resting while on a walk or our kids taking a break from their games.

WELCOMING DOWNTOWN

Downtown Albuquerque deserves investment, safety, foot traffic, clean streets, thriving businesses, and public spaces where everyone feels welcome. But we cannot arrest our way to a healthy downtown. 

COSTLY APPROACH

The City already spends millions of our dollars to incarcerate the unhoused—an approach which has led us to this moment of crisis. We are ready for solutions. Real public safety comes from housing, behavioral health care, addiction treatment, outreach, sanitation, and consistent community presence — not policies that punish people for existing in public while poor.

THE ASK - VETO O-26-14

We ask Mayor Keller to veto O-26-14 and lead Albuquerque toward solutions that reflect our highest values: dignity, safety, freedom, and community.