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Incumbent John Allen is poised for a second consecutive term as Bernalillo County sheriff, declaring victory Tuesday over former Quay County Sheriff Philip Snedeker, whom Allen also defeated in a previous race.

Allen, 51, led Snedeker by more than 45 percentage points, according to unofficial election results as of 9 p.m. Tuesday. He does not face a Republican challenger in November鈥檚 general election.

鈥淭hank you to the voters for choosing me again,鈥� Allen told the Journal. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to continue to fight crime. BCSO is proactive, and we鈥檒l be even more proactive as we move forward in my second term.鈥�

Allen previously defeated Snedeker and five other challengers in the 2022 Democratic primary, winning 41% of the vote before becoming the first Black sheriff of the Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.

He will continue overseeing a department of approximately 300 deputies in New Mexico鈥檚 largest sheriff's office. Allen said he hopes to keep the agency staffed at 96% or higher.

During his campaign, Allen emphasized expanding the use of technology to improve response times and data collection. He said the goal is to provide deputies with more tools to address higher-priority calls, making response times his top priority.

Allen also said he is working to expand behavioral health and addiction services to better serve both incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county.

鈥淚鈥檓 the first sheriff in the state who鈥檚 hired a behavioral health coordinator and manager,鈥� Allen said in a previous Journal interview. 鈥淚鈥檝e always said we can respond to a call for service involving someone in crisis, but we never had the proper follow-up.鈥�

Allen said he also plans to become more involved in addressing homelessness while maintaining a balance between compassion and accountability. He said homelessness has expanded into unincorporated areas of the county.

鈥淚鈥檓 pretty proud of our deputies, the compassion they鈥檙e showing and what we鈥檙e dealing with,鈥� he said.

As Allen begins another four-year term leading BCSO, he said his overarching goal is to make the department even more proactive, both internally and in its efforts to combat crime throughout Bernalillo County.

鈥淚 want that to become even stronger, which we鈥檒l be doing pretty quickly here after the primaries,鈥� he said.

One way Allen hopes to increase proactive policing is by assigning more deputies to crime hotspots. He identified areas on sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 West Side near Gibson Boulevard and 98th Street, as well as the International District, as locations where crime occurs more frequently.

Allen said another priority is 鈥淥peration Schlatty,鈥� a project dedicated to BCSO Sgt. Michael Schlattman, who died in the line of duty.

鈥淚 see people changing their tires on the side of the road, along with tow truck drivers and construction personnel,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a lot of that, and I want those people to be able to go home to their families. That won鈥檛 just be an operation. It鈥檒l continue as long as I鈥檓 here.鈥�

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news for the Journal. You can reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com.