Police target crime-plagued hot spots

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Seven people newly arrested or cited prove that a new operation targeting “hot spots” is working, according to Albuquerque police.

Undercover officers said “Operation Hot Spot” is netting an average of 25 felony arrests a week.

Thursday morning detectives said seven people were either charged or cited in a 24-hour period.

Two were picked up near an apartment in southeast Albuquerque and now face drug charges. Another area hit was Central Avenue and Pennsylvania, where a man was arrested for prostitution and two other people were charged for trafficking drugs.

Police said those areas are highlighted on maps, pinpointing what type of crimes take place there so detectives know who to keep an eye out for.

They said the area around the Big I, where Interstates 25 and 40 meet, is known to be a hot spot for auto thieves. That’s the same place where a recent chase involved four women police said were running from cops in a stolen truck as a police chopper recorded the action from above.

However, detectives said they’re not waiting for thieves to break into cars or homes; they're trying to catch them before they act. Undercover officers said drugs are often associated with property crimes so they are keeping a close eye on drug users and pushers.

Police said since the operation has been up and running property crimes have gone down. They said commercial burglaries are down 6 percent, auto thefts dropped 28 percent and narcotics are down 14 percent.

Police said residential burglaries have dropped 7 percent in the past couple months.