Reading a tweet this morning…I don’t know. It struck me that Albuquerque was taking the Lori Lightfoot approach to crime rates in the city.
Hopefully, you remember what I mean by that allusion – when the almost-former, unlamented mayor of Chicago blamed Miracle Mile businesses for the string of violent crime, smash and grab, and bold as brass daylight robberies suddenly plaguing their establishments?
“Where are the cops?” they had every right to wonder. Bristling with indignation at the temerity, she of little honor put them straight in no uncertain terms.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames smash and grab robberies on retailers.
The retails are “not doing enough,” according to the Mayor. pic.twitter.com/4XQrI1cLip
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) December 7, 2021
Precisely the vibe I initially got from this.
Albuquerque city leaders announced Thursday that they are taking action against a convenience store at Central and Pennsylvania, called Adam Food Market. https://t.co/wpn7DUW4FC
— KOB 4 (@KOB4) March 3, 2023
According to the city, this little convenience store is crime central. It certainly does sound as if the place is a hellhole.
Albuquerque city leaders announced Thursday that they are taking action against a convenience store at Central and Pennsylvania, called Adam Food Market. It was formerly called In & Out Market.
“Every week, we’re seizing firearms, we’re seizing fentanyl, and we’re seizing other illicit drugs,” said Luke Languit, APD Southeast Area commander. “We’re making felony arrests on an every day, every other day basis.”
Since August 2020, the Adam Food Market was the scene of six homicides. APD officials said there were more homicides there than any other place during that time span.
On top of that, APD also responded to 500 calls there in just one year.
“This property is literally out of control,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said.
Plus, the city council’s twelve ways to mad about all the money and resources being eaten up having to take care of perpetual rumbles in that parking lot.
…City officials estimate they have spent approximately $100,000 for officers’ time responding to calls for service and arrests that the store in the past year.
Wow. Maybe the city has a point, right? Especially if this owner hasn’t done anything to try to curb the rampant lawlessness on his doorstep. He hasn’t, has he?
Oh.
…But the property owner said the city is essentially shifting responsibility for crime and homelessness onto businesses.
Sharif Rabadi said the site is fenced, has 24/7 security cameras, and that the store operator — who rents from him — has offered to provide Albuquerque police rent-free space across the street to run a substation or pay an off-duty officer to help with security.
He said he’s not sure what else they can do, but that adding another vacant property to Central is not going to help.
“You can’t just come and take my building and knock it down and ask me to pay for it. This is not fair,” said Rabadi, who owns the building and the land at 7817 Central NE. “I pay taxes. I’m a good citizen.”
Well, hang on. I mean, what else is he expected to do? Even with fentanyl busts in the store, there’s nothing in any of the news reports about employees being arrested for drugs – they could have shut them down in a heartbeat had that been the case. The only mention of anything related to violence and store personnel is an employee shooting at a car in the parking lot (You have to ask yourself, “Is it any wonder?”).
…And in January, police alleged a man — who they identified as the store owner — shot at a vehicle, while two other store employees retrieved the casings.
Schaffer said the man was not the owner but an employee.
She said Delgado’s partner at the store has proactively worked with police in an attempt to curb crime, as staff have been victims, too.
Asked about the defendants’ offers to provide police rent-free space nearby or to hire off-duty police, an APD spokesman responded in only general terms.
“The City has been working with the property owners and business management for years. They have gone through the same process as other businesses with nuisance problems. Violent crime and drug trafficking has gotten worse, and we need to take action as quickly as possible to address this threat to public safety,” APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said.
So the cops are just blowing off the owner’s offers and admitting violent crime and drug trafficking has “gotten worse,” but that’s somehow the store’s responsibility? Hang on there. What’s the neighborhood look like?
Oh.
This little convenience store is smack dab in the middle of one of the most dangerous areas of Albuquerque, which in itself, has a whale of a reputation for civic safety. For example, a tourist website gives the whole city a rousing endorsement.
Crime in Albuquerque
In Albuquerque, crime rates are high across the board. According to the Albuquerque Police’s annual report on crime, there were 46,391 property crimes and 15,765 violent crimes recorded in 2021.These numbers place Albuquerque among America’s most dangerous cities. Tourists visiting Albuquerque are at increased risk of experiencing aggravated robbery, auto theft, and petty theft.
The chances of becoming a victim of property crime in Albuquerque are 1 in 20, an alarmingly high statistic for tourists looking for a peaceful vacation.
Simple assault, aggravated assault, auto theft, and larceny are just some of the most common criminal offenses in Albuquerque. Burglary and sex offense rates In Albuquerque are also higher than the national average.
Avoiding Bad Neighborhoods
The simplest way to avoid bad neighborhoods in Albuquerque is to travel with a local. However, that option won’t be available to everyone.
Unfortunately, the next best way to avoid Albuquerque crime is to plan a trip somewhere else. But, if you have your heart set on visiting Albuquerque, here are some areas that should be on your radar.
For those who have to live there, and can’t “go somewhere else,” the neighborhood this store is in is the East Central/Foothills area. Central Ave, where this store is located, is the old Route 66 (I wouldn’t advise doing a retro tour after researching.). Part of Albuquerque’s problem has always been its location. Its proximity to Mexico makes it perfect for cartels to operate in and around the city. But another part is the climate. It’s warm, it’s liberal and much of what is going on around that little store and surrounding neighborhoods is homemade misery.
Curbing high crime on East Central
…Travelers on the TripAdvisor website give dismal reviews of some of the area motels, with one reporting checking into a room, only to pack up and leave within hours because of “all kinds of shady stuff going on all night long.”
“I’m seeing people walking down the streets with actual swords, and that’s a scary thing,” said Vance Kabella, an Albuquerque Realtor who grew up near the area. “These are mentally unstable people walking down the streets … heavily armed and very dangerous.” Along with 20- and 30-year-old vagrants, “they’re really running the streets.”
…Members of the Foothills Area Community Policing Council have concluded Albuquerque police can only do so much to fight the chronic crime in the East Central corridor. The volunteer council says other city agencies need to step up to improve public safety.
“Police are very limited in what they can do unless there is actually a violent crime in progress,” said Robert Carleton, chair of the Foothills community policing council, one of six such volunteer councils set up around the city under its 2014 police reform settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department.
The Foothills council has stirred controversy with its conclusion that crime in the corridor is being exacerbated in part by a city-funded voucher program intended to provide temporary housing to people living in several motels west of Tramway on Central.
“Businesses, residents and motel residents have expressed concern of the extreme danger (highest # of calls per week in any concentrated area in both the city and the state) at Tramway/Central motels. We are told these vouchers are issued at-will with NO oversight or monitoring. These vouchers are not tracked or coordinated among agencies. As a result, many of these vouchers are issued to non-vetted repeat offenders,” says a report and recommendations unanimously approved by the policing council on June 14.
“The objective reality is that conditions along East Central, and the situational, preventable crime ridden motels have become a serious problem for the businesses in the area,” the report says.
In addition to draining police resources that could be used to answer calls to the rest of the Foothills Command, crime at or near the motels presents “an unfortunate spectacle to tourists and travelers passing through Albuquerque,” the council stated.
The policing council recommends tighter controls over the voucher program and urges more aggressive code enforcement of nuisance properties along the corridor.
The “crime-ridden” hotels filled with city voucher sponsored homeless, repeat offenders, drug addicts, ad nauseum they are talking about are sprinkled in the mile or so distance from the little convenience store on Central and Pennsylvania to Central and Tramway Blvd.
The pink circle is Tramway Blvd and the arrow is where the store is located. I can read a map. According to the Albuquerque Journal above, that area is Walking Dead Central. Or Zombies With Swords, pick your poison. I find it hard to believe the store owner has anything to do with that. He gets to deal with it.
In late summer of 2022, the city shut down one of its parks which had hosted a large homeless encampment. It’s about 7 miles from the store. At the time, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller worried about the effect on the city’s crime rate that displacing the population might have.
…Keller had previously maintained that closing Coronado Park would create more problems by scattering the park population throughout the community, but he and other top officials said in July that crime and overall property condition had warranted a change in philosophy.
The mayor on Wednesday said the yearslong “status quo” and public safety risk – including drug and human trafficking – to those who lived at the park and those who provided them services had become “no longer acceptable.”
Wheeler, the APD commander, said many of the people who lived at the park were “afraid to get services.”
So, maybe there are mitigating circumstances for all the mayhem in the parking lot? Police have even used the store’s surveillance tapes to solve the murders in the parking lot – one fellow was wrapped up in two different fights before someone shot him as he ran off.
I am struggling, in light of everything I’ve learned in a short period of time, with what more the owner, operator, and employees at the mercy of these lunatics could do, when they have obviously no constant police presence in the area.
Does the council have a better deal for that lot? Is that it?
I don’t know. It surely seems they are blaming the business owners and planning to punitively punish them for the missteps of the city leaders.
