A partnership between the Coronado Mall and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is proving effective at battling retail crime.
“So for those would-be thieves out there, look out, because there's a new sheriff in town,” Randy Chavez, general manager for the Coronado Mall, told KOAT.
The sheriff’s office has a new substation at the south entrance of the mall, putting officers on-site for any potential crime. Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales said a recent operation at the mall apprehended more than 100 thieves over two weeks.
“One hundred percent of the property was recovered, leading to tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise that was not stolen,” Gonzales said in the KOAT report.
New Mexico lawmakers are trying to address retail crime in the state. During the last legislative session, Republican state Rep. Bill Rehm introduced a bill that would charge someone based on the collective amount of products stolen, as opposed to the amount taken at each individual store.
“I think Rep. Rehm’s bill was excellent,” Democrat state Rep. Joy Garratt told KOAT. “I stood in Victoria's Secret with my daughter-in-law, while a criminal ran out with hundreds of dollars of things. So, we really must address retail crime pretty immediately.”