As Albuquerque embarks on a two-pronged system of policing – a chief to concentrate on combating violent crime on one hand and a superintendent to make sure the division is on monitor with constitutional reforms on the opposite – the resounding cry from readers is to simply cease thugs from taking our stuff.
After an UpFront column on Feb. 22 centered on auto burglars hitting a number of members of our Editorial Board, the e-mail bag has been overflowing with comparable tales. Right here’s only a pattern:
What would you like?
One reader stated that after his automotive was burglarized: “I noticed the identical man on a neighbor’s property. He ran after I confronted him. I started to contact APD by way of the non-emergency line over the course of the subsequent three weeks, every time I noticed this identical particular person in our neighborhood. … On one name, as I noticed this particular person trying to take away a display on the facet of a home, the particular person on the opposite finish of the APD line truly stated, ‘Depart him alone and go house.’ I’m not paraphrasing right here.
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“So, I took it upon myself to search out out extra about this particular person. One time, I truly approached him … he was blissful to provide me his title and, extra importantly, the place he was residing. … I started calling the non-emergency line to APD, demanding that one thing be accomplished. … After one other week of this, I lastly bought THE name. An APD officer was on the opposite finish of the road. He knowledgeable me he was standing head to head with my burglar. He confirmed his title and the truth that he lived there. Then got here what I’ve discovered to be a query that typifies APD’s response to property crime. He requested me, ‘What would you like me to do?’ ”
23 stolen tonight
“I had my automotive stolen out of my storage, together with mountaineering and tenting gear, and landscaping instruments. I had heard the perps about 4 a.m. … and I walked in on them – they darted out of the storage in my automotive proper earlier than my eyes. I instantly known as 911 and an officer confirmed up an hour and half after my name. The perps left behind their backpack stuffed with heroin and their driver’s licenses. APD ‘misplaced’ the proof and nobody was ever caught. … The response I bought from the 911 operator: ‘Sir, your automotive is the twenty third automotive stolen tonight. Please chill out, we’re on our means.’ ”
Thefts on digicam
From Nob Hill, “I used to be putting in our safety cams one night, and as I got here again into the home to examine the digicam alignment and recording course of, I noticed on the display a thief had come up the driveway proper behind me and attempt to open our automotive doorways. My first view on the cam was that. … One other time, we had a yard sale happening and my spouse’s cellphone went lacking. … I ran the cam again and we noticed a girl stroll behind my spouse and choose up her cellphone the place she had set it down. … We tracked (the cellphone) to a motel and, later, to the Downs on line casino, which is state property. We known as the State Police, they descended on the on line casino en masse. The thief noticed all of the police arrive, and walked over and turned it in to safety, saying she discovered it.”
Victimized 5 occasions
“The power I at present work at has been sufferer to property crimes not less than 5 occasions this yr. As a retired police officer, it’s disheartening to see the once-great APD fall to its knees with the Division of Justice and anti-police rhetoric in our county. The police career is at a breaking level and it’s no marvel officers aren’t proactive … ”
Tech replaces cops
A member of regulation enforcement shares that “businesses rely too closely on know-how to deal with crime victimization reporting. All too typically, police departments are forgoing basic regulation enforcement investigative practices of face-to-face interactions and canvassing a neighborhood. … Heavy reliance on phone reporting and on-line reporting serves to discourage victims from coming ahead, leading to offenders getting away with crimes. The know-how barrier is actual.”
APD ignores crimes
“Throughout my 10-plus years in EMS on the streets of Albuquerque, I had event to be on many, many scenes with APD. A really massive variety of these people are fantastic public servants. Nonetheless, too many are steeped in self-pity. Too many are solely there for the retirement. … ”
Cops have given up
From an area legal professional, “The mayoral election will hinge on crime – who of their proper thoughts needs to maneuver to a metropolis the place the crime fee is uncontrolled and the police have given up?”
Confronted thieves
“Our automobiles are all the time within the storage. It eliminates a number of issues on a avenue the place nearly each neighbor has had their automotive damaged into and a pair have been stolen, (however) it seems like nobody was house. A number of years again, some youngsters assumed that, ringing the doorbell simply to make certain. I answered. I very unwisely gently confronted them. … I may have been shot and killed like (home-owner and theft sufferer) Steven Gerecke, who lived solely a few miles away. It was very silly of me; I realized, and can by no means try this kind of factor once more.”
Downward spiral
“We’re in a downward spiral when, as a society, we will’t have a pleasant automotive within the driveway or be safe within the house. How can we stay in concern as we do in the present day? Is that this what we would like for our children?”
A standard query from readers has been “aside from locking my automotive doorways, what will we do????” And it bears noting that nearly each letter ends with one thing alongside the strains of: “Thanks for the article, and perceive we’re all pissed off.”
Is Metropolis Corridor getting that?
UpFront is a every day front-page information and opinion column.
