The Albuquerque Police Department shared details Tuesday afternoon on a retail crime operation they conducted that resulted in the recovery of nearly $7,000 of stolen merchandise and 31 arrests.
During this operation, detectives monitored the means of transportation that these shoplifters used to get to and from stores. Of the 31 individuals arrested, 10 of them used a city bus and another dozen walked to the businesses.
Only a handful used their own personal vehicles.
Interim Commander with the investigative enhancement division Kyle Hartsock said the department is committed to continuing similar retail operations in different parts of the city.
“We want to let you guys know this is going to continue, this isn’t going to stop. We are going to continue to pick different shopping areas and districts, work with the businesses and implement zero tolerance during those times of operation. If you are doing this type of thieving, you are going to stand a much better chance of arrest very, very soon.”
Hartsock also said the department is eager to take advantage of the new law created by the passage of HB 234, which would bump up the penalty for anyone with more than $500 worth of stolen goods to a fourth degree felony.
APD is also reaching out to retailers to foster stronger relationships to battle shoplifting and is partnering with ARAPA, the Attorney General’s Office to address this issue.
But beyond the issue of just these thefts, Chief Harold Medina is hopeful that the continuation of these operations will help connect offenders with the services they need.
“You can see quickly that taking some of these people into custody, key ones, is important. Some of them will stay in custody, but the vast majority of these individuals are released and that’s something that we want to highlight. We have to change the system, we need to bring available resources to drug addicts, we need to bring available resources to people with mental health illness and we need to bring resources to the homeless.”