Albuquerque Police are moving a successful retail crime operation in Nob Hill, a decision business owners in that area say couldn’t come soon enough.
Kenny Chavez, manager of Masks Y Mas, said thieves have made a habit of stealing items and then reselling them. “He was coming in, stealing, getting on ART right across the street from us, selling the merchandise, coming back and repetitively doing it,” Chavez told KOB 4 News. “He was doing it in a lot of the stores that are around this bus stop.”
The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is moving its retail crime operation to Nob Hill after making 31 arrests implementing the same operation at Coronado Center and Cottonwood Mall. During a press conference last week, APD announced a wide effort to target retail crime.
“This isn’t going to stop,” APD Interim Commander Kyle Hartsock said, according to KOB 4 News. “We are going to continue picking different areas and districts, and enact a zero-tolerance enforcement during those times of operations.”
Theft and vandalism have become so rampant the owners of The Bike Coop decided to shut down their Nob Hill shop.
“Nob Hill is the next step,” APD Chief Harold Medina said at the press conference. “We are fortunate that our federal delegation has been really good at getting us funding at the federal level for cameras.”
Chavez, who has owned his gift shop in Nob Hill for 24 years, said he and area business owners have been forced to look out for each other’s safety.
“I have a telephone community going on with the owners at Astro Zombies and the folks at Off Broadway,” Chavez said. “They are the two stores on either side of us. So if something does happen, we call each other and we support each other that way. I would personally like to see more cop presence, like walking."