Response times, meaning the time from calling the police — to when officers physically show up, are being improved, according to the Albuquerque Police Department. However, there are doubts, even from inside the department. “This was a goal for 2023 to reduce these response times, and as they started at the end of 2022, we've already seen big reductions,” APD Chief Harold Medina said.In a press conference on Friday, Feb. 3, APD says they have made strides in improving their response times to calls. “The overall response time was down to 47 minutes from one hour and 38 minutes,” Deputy Chief J.J. Griego said. That's an improvement in response time by 51 minutes. Others believe more can be done to improve response times. “I've received phone calls at the union hall from individuals who waited days for a police officer to take a report,” said Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association.On average, the department said they receive 60,000 calls a year. Willoughby said there is still a problem with how officers respond to calls — and it comes down to not having enough officers. “They're going from call to call, they don't have time to do anything, the reform effort of this particular police department has bestowed such an administrative burden on our police officers,” Willoughby said. The department is still looking for 1,200 officers to fill for staffing. Medina said the department has shown a 'quality over quantity' mindset. "We're getting more and more out of them, they're working harder, they're executing more arrests,” Medina said.Willoughby said if the department really wants to improve response times, “you need to do something to get people in the door... We have less officers today than we had in 1989."Back in 1989, Willoughby said the ABQ Police Department had 899 officers. Now, he said the department has less than 850.