Drugs and handouts are the real problem

RECENTLY, A group of women in Southeast Albuquerque requested a meeting of the Albuquerque Police Department to discuss the problem of crime radiating from the corner of Tramway and Central.

Thank you officers Ramkowsky, Saenz and Warth from the Foothills area for your concerns for and care of our neighborhoods. At the meeting at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, the officers made an immediate arrest in the Singing Arrow Park while we were waiting for them at a pergola in the park. It was a timely example of our concerns.

Tramway and Central — and other major corners of the city — are permanently populated by what some people call “homeless.” Ninety-five percent or greater of these individuals and groups are not “homeless.” They choose to live permanently in tents with their belongings strewn about the parks and businesses. They panhandle for money, and ask only for money. They move from low-level crimes to residential and commercial property crimes and theft. They leave the area strewn with trash and medical biohazards. And the problem is not going to be solved by building shelters for these individuals. What those who have been on the corners with them know is:

1) the panhandlers make too much money to leave the corners,

2) if good folks wouldn’t give them money, they wouldn’t be there, and crimes would lessen,

3) they don’t want food, water or lodging — they want money for alcohol, meth and heroin,

4) there are more than ample services for the homeless throughout Albuquerque for food, housing vouchers, health and rehab.

From low-level up to highlevel crime, these panhandlers do not want organized-drugfree homeless services because they already get all the free food they want everywhere in Albuquerque. They want this lifestyle and no APD officers can induce them to change, as much as they try. They want their freedom to camp, to do drugs, and most of all, they want the money — big money they can make on the corners, more than $100 per day on Tramway and Central. Unknowing citizens have the misconception that these people are poor, helpless, homeless and need money, and they think that no one gives them money, and they can feel better if they give them money. The panhandlers have tons of money and pay for motel rooms near Interstate 40. If most people knew how much money they make, they would be out on the streets panhandling for themselves.

Unfortunately, for the health and well-being of the entire community, most of this money goes to drugs, and the corner panhandlers are very satisfied with the status quo — they will not go to a homeless shelter.