Ads net arrests but not all behind bars

ALBUQUEQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque police are making arrests by the dozens in the city’s recently revived war on property crime, but a big chunk of those arrested are out of jail and back on the streets.

“The majority are repeat offenders,” Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said.

City officials have been featuring the city’s most wanted property crime offenders every month for the last three months in the Albuquerque Journal.

The full-page ads include mug shots of home and automotive burglary suspects, suspected car thieves and career crooks.

The mugs are also featured on 10 digital billboards across the Albuquerque metro area.

Despite the increased effort to catch them, the reality is the criminal justice system hasn’t changed much.

“As we talked early in the process when we brought the policy forward, we were very specific with this idea that we need to work with our allies and our friends in the judiciary and the legislature,” Berry said.

While many of the people arrested so far are still in jail—some are not. In fact, getting out was pretty easy.

As of Tuesday, of 29 identified suspects arrested so far, 14 were still in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Another six were in other detention facilities in New Mexico, or out of state.

Nine of the 29 people arrested were already out of jail.

Among them is Alvin Chief, 23.

Chief is currently facing charges in three separate burglary cases, all from 2007. He was wanted for failing to appear in court in two of the cases. He racked up another arrest warrant in the third case, while out on bond in the first two.

Chief was among those featured by the city and arrested last month. He was then placed on MDC’s community custody program.

Even though he is technically “in custody,” tracked and monitored by an electronic monitoring system, he is not in jail.

Also among those no longer behind bars is Daisy Alaniz, 23.

She was convicted of burglary in 2008, and escape from community custody in 2009, and placed on probation.

Police arrested her for failing to comply with the conditions of her probation last month. She was then released from jail on her own recognizance, without having to post bond.

It was the same story for auto theft and conspiracy suspect Jeffrey Brasher, 18.

Less than two months after posting bond in one auto theft case, police arrested Brasher in a second auto theft case in which he’s charged with 38 counts.

He was released on his own recognizance on Feb. 5.

“Our over-arching philosophy here is, we want Albuquerque to be a bad place to be a criminal,” Berry said.

According to city officials, even though what happens after arrests are made is beyond their control, they still have the power to make property crime offenders miserable by showing their mug shots and arresting them as many times as the law allows.

The war on property crime is a work in progress.

A key focus now is working with state lawmakers in the next legislative session to strengthen property crime laws and put a stop to the revolving door – at least by increasing penalties for repeat offenders.

“If we can get the laws that we need in place that the judiciary can enforce, then we’re going to make an even bigger effort on top of the positive effect that we’re already making today,” Berry told News 13.

In the meantime, expect to see more faces out there.

The $4,000 monthly newspaper ads will continue indefinitely. Wanted suspects will soon be featured on mall kiosks.