City says sweeps paused for homeless count, but counters cry foul

By Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ

City officials said late last year that encampment sweeps would be suspended during an annual count of those experiencing homelessness, who are living on the street or in shelters. The agreement was to be in effect from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29 — meant to ensure that scores of homelessness advocates and volunteers fanning out across the city could get the most accurate count, which has implications for federal funding.

But some who visited cul-de-sacs, alleys, bike trails, arroyos and busy intersections, armed with clipboards to engage with those on the street, say the city didn’t live up to its end of the deal. 

“I begged the administration to keep their word and avoid encampment sweeps during the count, but they did not,” James Freeman said at Wednesday’s Albuquerque City Council meeting.

Freeman, a director at homeless services provider HopeWorks, said he was a team lead on 12 shifts during the weeklong count. He said other team leaders, volunteers and staff at the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness — the group that organizes the count — also reported sweeps were taking place.

When the city conducts a sweep, those in encampments tend to scatter. Some accept offers of services, which includes transportation to the city’s Gateway West shelter or other facilities, but many move into residential areas, in alleys, or behind vacant buildings to try to stay out of sight — the situation counters were hoping to avoid. 

But even if an accurate count — called the point-in-time or PIT count — results in a number that makes people wince or is perceived to be bad press for the city, an undercount means fewer people will receive services through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds. In 2023, the Albuquerque count was 2,394, and in 2024 it was 2,740. While both years represent historically high levels, Mayor Tim Keller’s own estimates are that there are at least 5,000 unhoused people in the city.

“It is unrealistic that any agency or group will be able to reduce the unhoused

population without an accurate count,” Freeman said. “Actively working to undermine the count is mind blowing.”

But at the same City Council meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel said the city honored its agreement.

“We worked with the advocacy groups and coordinated with them that we would not clear encampments and move people in each of the zones that they provided to us,” she said. “That does not mean that we were not still out cleaning up in the streets and working to make sure that we cleaned up refuse and trash.”

Senegal said Albuquerque Fire Rescue personnel, for example, were still responding to reports of outdoor fires that tend to pop up in some encampments.

“So, yes, City of Albuquerque staff might have been seen in the areas, but it was not to clear encampments in the agreed upon zones,” she said.

Janus Herrera, one of the most active advocates for those experiencing homelessness in the city, said there was at least some confusion from city workers about the dates of the count, however. She said on the last day — Jan. 29 — she encountered Solid Waste Department workers who appeared to be clearing an encampment.

“When I let them know the PIT was in progress and they should not be doing encampment clearings, they told me that the PIT was already over,” Herrera said. “I told them, ‘no, it’s not, because here I am doing the PIT, here’s my clipboard.’”

The results of the 2025 count are expected to be released sometime in the summer.