ABQ sees rise in property crime

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The Mayor and the Police Chief have made it their priority to stop burglars, robbers and thieves. So why are those crimes up in Albuquerque?

It's no secret that stopping thieves has been Mayor RJ Berry’s platform. But APD's own statistics show property crime is up.

“Property crimes are up a little bit and again crime stats fluctuate,” Chief Ray Schultz told KRQE News 13 Tuesday.

Property crime was up six percent in 2011 from the year before. So are all those Mayor Berry initiatives to crack down on crooks failing?

“The initiative has been very, very successful,” said Schultz.

The Albuquerque Police Department has focused more attention on the burglary and robbery units and auto theft; as seen with all the bait car stings.

“I think that it's too early to tell if the initiative itself isn't successful but you have to have people. It doesn't matter what plan you have, it doesn't matter how good the plan is, if you don't have the boots on the ground to make that plan work it's not going to worK.,” APD Union Boss, Greg Weber, said.

The union says the two percent rise in the overall crime from 2010 to 2011 shows there are too few cops, especially on patrol.

“Their ability to respond has become increasingly difficult as the number of officers on the street has dwindled,” said Weber.

Chief Schultz denies that.

“We do have the right number of officers, our goal is making sure we are sending them and focusing them in the right direction,” Schultz said.

The Chief admits it's hard to get good new cops.

“It is difficult right now to hire good quality people who want to be police officers,” Schultz said. “Many different reasons for that, some of it is generational. This next generation of worker is not a fan of seniority-based organizations.”

Chief Schultz says even though the crime rate rose two and a half percent last year, the population also went up about two percent.

He says his department will continue to focus on stopping thieves because their crimes affect everyone in Albuquerque.