Friday afternoon, the city of Albuquerque and its local law enforcement agencies proposed a plan to tackle crime in the city. They want to do it by catching people with felony warrants. “If you ask any law enforcement person in Albuquerque, what is the number one thing, we could do in the next month to reduce crime? It is getting those warrants served,” said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. There are 5,360 people with felony warrants in Albuquerque, those warrants date back to 1978 and 64 of those warrants are for murder. The city is now proposing a $10 million “Warrant Overtime Fund” to tackle felony warrant arrests. “We know we can do this. It’s just a question of officer power and officer resources, and that’s where the state can really help,” Keller said. The city will be requesting $5 million in the upcoming legislative session. If granted, the money will allow members of law enforcement to work overtime and participate in warrant roundups in conjunction with the U.S. Marshalls Office. “The immediate effect of dealing with this warrant backlog will have a profound effect on crime in this city,” said Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman. But some disagree that it will have any impact at all. “It’s what I call fluff. You know, the politicians, they can talk tough and say, we’re going to really crack down. We’re going to get some legislation that’s tough on crime. None of it amounted to anything,” said Gerald Madrid. Madrid is the only remaining bondsperson in Bernalillo County. Since bail reform occurred in 2016, there are no bounty hunters in New Mexico to pick up warrants for people who do not appear in court. “When the bondsperson went out, all the bounty hunters went out too, because if we don’t have anybody on bond, there is nobody to chase. So, the bounty hunters, there’s no work for them now. So, they all had to go, too,” Madrid said. “When I became sheriff 20 years ago, there was a significant backlog. In fact, it was 5,000 warrants or more,” said Darren White White, the former Bernalillo County Sheriff said he supports the city’s efforts. However, he believes it will have little impact because judges are likely to release people shortly after a warrant is served “We don’t have bail anymore. I mean, we’ve talked about bail reform from the standpoint of we are releasing a lot of violent criminals because of this new law,” White said. During Friday’s news conference, Target 7 asked city officials if the lack of bondspeople and bounty hunters has contributed to the large number of felons with warrants in Albuquerque. Keller was at the podium when the question was asked and referred the question to District Attorney Sam Bregman who said he didn’t want to answer it. APD Chief Harold Medina did answer the question. He said there is an impact from a lack of bondspeople and bounty hunters. He said it’s something that needs to be acknowledged. White said when he was sheriff, they would catch anywhere from 200 to 300 people in a weekend when they would conduct warrant roundups.
Friday afternoon, the city of Albuquerque and its local law enforcement agencies proposed a plan to tackle crime in the city.
They want to do it by catching people with felony warrants.
“If you ask any law enforcement person in Albuquerque, what is the number one thing, we could do in the next month to reduce crime? It is getting those warrants served,” said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.
There are 5,360 people with felony warrants in Albuquerque, those warrants date back to 1978 and 64 of those warrants are for murder.
The city is now proposing a $10 million “Warrant Overtime Fund” to tackle felony warrant arrests.
“We know we can do this. It’s just a question of officer power and officer resources, and that’s where the state can really help,” Keller said.
The city will be requesting $5 million in the upcoming legislative session.
If granted, the money will allow members of law enforcement to work overtime and participate in warrant roundups in conjunction with the U.S. Marshalls Office.
“The immediate effect of dealing with this warrant backlog will have a profound effect on crime in this city,” said Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman.
But some disagree that it will have any impact at all.
“It’s what I call fluff. You know, the politicians, they can talk tough and say, we’re going to really crack down. We’re going to get some legislation that’s tough on crime. None of it amounted to anything,” said Gerald Madrid.
Madrid is the only remaining bondsperson in Bernalillo County.
Since bail reform occurred in 2016, there are no bounty hunters in New Mexico to pick up warrants for people who do not appear in court.
“When the bondsperson went out, all the bounty hunters went out too, because if we don’t have anybody on bond, there is nobody to chase. So, the bounty hunters, there’s no work for them now. So, they all had to go, too,” Madrid said.
“When I became sheriff 20 years ago, there was a significant backlog. In fact, it was 5,000 warrants or more,” said Darren White
White, the former Bernalillo County Sheriff said he supports the city’s efforts. However, he believes it will have little impact because judges are likely to release people shortly after a warrant is served
“We don’t have bail anymore. I mean, we’ve talked about bail reform from the standpoint of we are releasing a lot of violent criminals because of this new law,” White said.
During Friday’s news conference, Target 7 asked city officials if the lack of bondspeople and bounty hunters has contributed to the large number of felons with warrants in Albuquerque.
Keller was at the podium when the question was asked and referred the question to District Attorney Sam Bregman who said he didn’t want to answer it.
APD Chief Harold Medina did answer the question. He said there is an impact from a lack of bondspeople and bounty hunters. He said it’s something that needs to be acknowledged.
White said when he was sheriff, they would catch anywhere from 200 to 300 people in a weekend when they would conduct warrant roundups.
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