Local law enforcement officials join forces to fight youth crime in downtown Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Police and prosecutors said they see an increase in the number of juveniles and young people committing crimes in Albuquerque, especially downtown.

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Thursday morning, city, county, state, and federal law enforcement officials announced they are joining forces to put more eyes to try and curb the youth crime trends. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller called this “the biggest problem in the City of Albuquerque.” “We all believe in downtown, we are never going to give up on downtown and we are going to invest resources and we’re going to collaborate together to continue to make downtown safe,” said Keller.

The Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State Police, and the FBI joined forces to send a clear message. “I think the most important thing is that we recognize that we have seen an increase of youth displaying and using firearms downtown,” said APD Chief Harold Medina.

“Some of them come, they start drinking in the parking structure, things get carried away and what should have been a simple argument, all of a sudden gets elevated because of the intoxication level,” said Medina.

It’s a problem that Medina hopes an increase in officers downtown will solve. “What we’re doing is by reaching out to our partners, we’ve increased the amount of officers in the area that we could cover,” said Medina.

Bernalillo County District Attorney, Sam Bregman says there is an apparent legal leniency when charging youthful offenders. His office has indicted nineteen children for first-degree murder in the eighteen months he’s been DA. “Whether or not they be juveniles or 18 years old, if you commit adult crimes, we will charge you as adults, we will prosecute you to the full extent of the law,” said Bregman.

The combination of teens and guns is something that all local agencies are working together to prevent. APD said besides their downtown patrols during the weekends.

The DA’s Office will add six investigators to this project, four deputies from BCSO, and five additional officers from state police. “And we are here to send a message that it’s not acceptable, we’re looking for you, and we’re coming for you,” said Bernalillo County Sherrif John Allen.

In addition to more officers on the street the city plans to add more security cameras and lights to help in the effort to cut down on crime.

The FBI said they will be looking to provide investigative help in this project. It also looks to see which juvenile cases could see federal charges instead of just charging them on a state level. “We have a united message that is simple, we will not tolerate this type of crime,” said Keller.

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