We want safe neighborhoods that we can walk without fear. We want to know that when we return home, our belongings will still be there. We want to know our loved ones are safe when we are not there to protect them. 

These are not Democratic or Republican values. They are basic human needs. But New Mexico’s elected officials ignore our basic need for safety – while our governor and mayor have security details to protect them. 

My construction company has experienced burglaries and vandalism. Our equipment and trucks have been stolen. Our construction projects have been damaged by thieves stealing installed materials and equipment. A few years ago, when I noticed my stolen company truck being driven by a man with two passengers, I’d had enough. I called 911 and gave chase. The car thieves stopped, abandoned the truck, and walked away. Albuquerque Police Department arrived too late apprehend them. Later the APD forensics team arrived to take fingerprints and sort through the thieves’ belongings. Despite the recovery of their fingerprints and personal letters and bills, no arrests were made.

A month before she graduated from medical school, our daughter survived a home invasion. As the intruder came through the front window, our daughter ran to the back of the house and climbed out the back window. The intruder followed her into her neighbor’s home and then abandoned his chase. The intruder’s partner at the front of the house was chased away by that neighbor. Forty-five minutes after the initial 911 call, APD arrived to fill out paperwork. Meanwhile, the Albuquerque Fire Department was a few blocks away, treating the intruder for severe lacerations. Despite APD collecting fingerprints and blood samples, and the AFD having information on the intruder they treated, no arrests were made. 

My family’s experience with Albuquerque’s criminals is inconsequential compared with families who have been victims of shootings and murders. 

In the early morning of May 4, 2019, University of New Mexico baseball player Jackson Weller was gunned down just blocks from UNM. Security video I viewed showed the murderer exchanging words with Jackson as he walked up to him. The murderer turned away, but then turned back and shot Jackson point-blank in the chest. Then he walked away, slowly. His calm demeanor showed that he was an experienced shooter. Weeks later, the accused murderer’s arrest record was published. Six months earlier, he had been arrested for walking up to a person and shooting him point-blank in the stomach. Four months earlier, he was arrested for shooting at a group of people from a moving car. Both times, judges released him on his own recognizance. This time, Jackson has stayed behind bars. Why? He finally shot and killed a person that our mayor and governor cared about. 

What has gone wrong? New Mexicans have put their faith in politicians and a criminal justice system that protects criminals, not law-abiding New Mexicans. 

Responsible police officers deserve our support. The few out-of-control police must be rooted out and fired. Unfortunately, police unions protect out-of-control police officers at our expense.

Because of failed leadership by the Albuquerque Police Department and Albuquerque Mayor’s office, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to fill the void. But the DOJ’s priority is compliance with federal regulations, not our safety. From DOJ’s window in Washington, our crime wave doesn’t look threatening.

Albuquerque’s mayor has raised the threshold for what constitutes a prosecutable property crime, and he has manipulated crime reporting standards to make our city’s crime wave look less severe. By the mayor’s standard, stealing a bicycle isn’t a crime. Tell that to the family of the man who was killed while defending his bicycle from being stolen. 

Bernalillo County’s District Attorney was swept into office with the support of Washington’s Justice and Public Safety Political Action Committee, on a promise of being fair to criminals. But what the DA delivered was staff incompetence, such as one assistant DA who played video games on his phone in court prior to a criminal hearing. Result? The violent criminal was released on his own recognizance.

In 2016, New Mexico’s legislature passed bail bond reform with bipartisan support. Their promise was to keep New Mexicans safe while being fair to criminals. But the result was to return violent criminals immediately into their neighborhoods to intimidate the witnesses against them. 

Three recent conversations I've had: 

• A twice-convicted felon told me it was just too much pressure to avoid a third conviction in his home state, so he moved to New Mexico. 
• A Hell’s Angels member told me that Albuquerque’s crime is out of control. 
• A young woman told me she was thankful that a convicted felon fought off her attacker when APD failed to come to her aid. 

After a particularly violent weekend, the mayor’s office stated that violent crime is surging all across America, not just Albuquerque. It may comfort the mayor that he is not the only Democratic mayor whose city is besieged by crime. But for those of us who must live in those cities, it is terrifying to know that our safety isn’t our elected leaders’ priority, and that criminals roam our neighborhoods unrestrained.

What can we, the people, do?

1. We must regain control of our police force. End oversight by the DOJ. Reduce the power of the police union. Police officers who believe they are above the law must be fired.
2. The New Mexico legislature must repeal the Bail Bond Reform Act of 2016. This failed law resulted in the deaths of innocent New Mexicans and criminals
3. Allow law-abiding citizens to carry firearms (concealed or unconcealed) without a permit, so that they can defend themselves.
4. State and local governments must follow FBI protocol for tracking and reporting crime. All property crime must be reported and prosecuted. State and local governments have no right to “give away” citizens’ property by ignoring crime.
5. We must recall or defeat at the ballot box all public officials – governors, mayors, judges, and district attorneys – who fail in their primary task: keeping their citizens safe. Judges’ decisions should be presented on a public website for citizen review.

Whether or not you like the police, that simple phrase “To Protect and To Serve” means so much to the vast majority of Americans. Our most vulnerable citizens must be able to rest easy, confident that when they need help, it is reliably nearby. Criminals must know that their illegal acts will have consequences they will regret. And those of us who work hard for the American Dream must know that it will not be stolen.

In the past three months, I have reached out to the Albuquerque Mayor’s office, Albuquerque Police Department, Albuquerque Police Association, Bernalillo District Attorney’s office, and the New Mexico Attorney General’s office to discuss why Albuquerque is in the top 10 cities for violent crime, and what we can do about it. My calls were either unanswered or my request declined. 

Mick Rich is host of the public affairs broadcast “To the Point with Mick Rich,” which will air statewide in New Mexico on KCHF-TV and in Albuquerque on 96.9FM / 700AM.