ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has been cleaning up one of the city’s most crime-ridden streets. Last month, they announced a clean-up operation to improve the Central Corridor, and although they say it’s working, others claim otherwise. 

“We’re losing businesses and shopping centers. As the Sheriff of Bernalillo County, I will not accept that,” stated Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen. 

The Central Corridor in Downtown Albuquerque has been riddled with crime, and businesses have had enough. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) announced last week that they would be joining Albuquerque Police in cleaning up Central, an operation APD started last month. 

“This is a deal breaker for businesses not to want to be here. We want to make sure that what they see when we’re done, and we’ll never be done, honestly, but they start to see an improvement to where they might think on bringing a business back,” said Sheriff Allen. 

Since starting the clean-up operations, APD announced new data. They said they’ve made 70 arrests, cleared more than 63 felony warrants, and made 490 traffic citations, but one business owner said she still hasn’t seen the change. 

“Personally, I feel it has gotten worse. I do see this on a day-to-day basis,” said Patti Garcia, owner of Duke City Autobody. 

Patti Garcia is the owner of Duke City Autobody repair shop along Central. She said her business has been struggling to keep homeless individuals from camping outside her shop, and it’s driving away her customers. 

“We have to shut doors. People don’t want to show up. I’m very worried about our business, and I’m worried that we’ve worked so hard to have a business, and now, we’re going to have to shut doors unfortunately,” said Garcia. 

However, BCSO said that fixing all of Central’s problems won’t just happen overnight. 

“There have been root cause issues and problems on Central Corridor for – I can’t even count how long anymore. It’s going to take time to address it,” commented Sheriff Allen. 

BCSO also said they will be conducting a second phase for the Central Corridor Operation. There’s no timeline for when that will start.