Crime and Public Safety

Expanding the presence of City operated unarmed patrols with priority call authority directly to the Albuquerque Police Department would greatly help. Patrols mean prevention, quick crime spotting and fast responses to shoplifting and other less serious crimes. Increased community safety presence means that citizens are less exposed to situations that can turn dangerous. Increased Albuquerque Community Safety means that the Albuquerque Police Department will have time for more serious crimes. It is also important that we expand the City's Crisis Intervention Team, an APD team that is a good idea but is not working as intended and must be expanded. 

APD and ACS cannot solve every problem in District 6 alone. Albuquerque needs increased collaboration between individuals/organizations and public safety professionals. Community policing increases trust throughout the community and gives our people a voice in the safety of our city. The collaboration between public safety officials and other government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and faith-based service providers will amplify the voices of the people most affected by crime in our city. Our city needs to work together to solve crime! Jeff will host community meetings that bring people together to promote community policing.

We need APD to set up mobile command units near problem properties for up to 90 days. We all know that crime festers and emanates from problem properties. Certain properties generate more calls than anywhere else and there are basecamps for criminal behavior. We need to make the jobs of these organized criminals much harder.  

While detained, repeat offenders should have access to substance abuse and behavioral health services including follow up visits once released. We need to provide ongoing support and contact, particularly with repeat offenders.  

People who are shoplifting in our district fall into two categories: professional thieves and people in poverty. These groups should be dealt with differently. When a store has repeat 911 calls and allows criminals to frequent the area, we should impose restrictions on their operations such as alcohol sale restrictions. In terms of poverty, our businesses should not have to suffer from our city’s inability to provide basic resources for our people. If we were to offer, without charge, frequently shoplifted items like socks, personal hygiene products and batteries, we could disrupt the cycle of shoplifting and let people know the community is on their side. 

For too long, Lead/Coal traffic and speeding issues have been negatively impacting our neighbors. I will ensure that the Road Safety Audit recommendations are implemented. More speed cameras are needed on Lead and Coal. Additional technology such as Rest on Red should also be added to deter speeding.