More police boots desperately needed
RE “Tech Firm Fed Up With ABQ Crime” in June 24 Albuquerque Journal:
Good to see that the CEO of the high-tech firm Lavu, which is located in Downtown Albuquerque, is raising Cain over the criminal activity and harassment of the firm’s employees in the area around the company’s building and parking structure. He has gone straight to the governor, mayor and police chief with his complaint. I empathize with the CEO and say welcome to the club of the thousands of victims in our increasingly crimeridden city and an administration that has failed in the No. 1 action to deter the spiking crime rate: More police boots on the ground. I suggest that the Lavu CEO check the crime reports in a ¼- to ½-mile radius around his building to really see the amount of crime in that area. Any citizen can view crime data for their neighborhoods at www.crimemapping. com and see how bad crime is becoming in our city with no real improvement visib(le). Over the past decade the rise in crime in Albuquerque has been commensurate with the drop in police officers on the streets and in special units. The city desperately needs 300 to 400 additional officers to effectively cope with crime. The city also needs to go to a broken-window concept of policing wherein even the most minor crimes are quickly addressed and neighborhood revitalization and clean-ups are emphasized.
... I strongly recommend a “Troops To Cops” program wherein the city reaches out to military members leaving the armed services, nationwide, and provides an attractive incentive program to draw them here . ...
Instead of focusing on deadend projects like ART, an all-court push must be implemented to increase and fully support our *police officers and allow them to effectively perform their duties. Crime is the No. 1 problem in Albuquerque... I’ll certainly be screening the candidates in the upcoming mayoral election for someone willing to commit to the crimereduction priority and providing a plan to make it happen. DAVE COULIE Albuquerque