Concerned about a “truly horrifying” increase of crime in Albuquerque, FBI Director Christopher Wray recently met with New Mexico law enforcement leaders to discuss the problem.
In a report by KRQE, Wray called Albuquerque’s surge in murders last year “truly horrifying,” and the more than 30 bank robberies so far in 2022 a “serious problem.”
Wray said the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang Task Force, made up of 40 officers from the FBI, state and local police agencies, is using its resources to come up with solutions to curb the violence and get criminals off the street.
“No matter what agency or department the task force officer comes from, they all, each of them have the ability to enforce federal statutes,” Wray said in the KRQE report. “And present investigations to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to aggressively pursue federal charges against those offenders who are committing violent offenses, really whenever and wherever we can.”
Wray said penalizing criminals with federal charges can deter crime because that means federal time, which is traditionally longer than state or municipal crimes. There are billboards in certain communities that warn the public that the police will pursue federal charges when they can. The marketing campaign launched earlier this year, but thus far hasn’t been much of a deterrent to a rise in the murder rate.
Wray committed the FBI’s support to Albuquerque law enforcement. “We expect to continue focusing on how the FBI as a whole can support the work that’s being done here whether that’s through more intelligence support, whether that’s through potentially sending dedicated teams to assist in some ways from other parts of the country if necessary,” Wray said.
Top brass from law enforcement agencies around the state recently attended a press conference. They stayed afterward to talk one-on-one with the director about their specific needs. Wray said in the last three years, the Violent Crime and Gang Task Force has made nearly 500 federal arrests in the Albuquerque area, taking about 350 guns off the street.
