APD nabs over 100 people during 2-week bus stop sting off Central

Jul. 16—The Albuquerque Police Department says it made more than 100 arrests during a recent operation along Central Avenue that targeted drug use and public safety at bus stops.

The "point of the operation" was to make sure people who use public transportation feel safer and for bus drivers to know that the "Albuquerque Police Department cares and we're going to continue to devote resources," Police Chief Harold Medina said inside the Real Time Crime Center on Monday afternoon.

The city recently finished a two-week operation during which it made 106 felony warrant and 66 felony arrests, APD spokeswoman Franchesca Perdue said.

"The bottom line is: If you're using drugs and we find you ... we want to take you to jail and hopefully the courts will work to get you the substance abuse help you need," Medina said. "If you have a felony warrant, you should be in jail.

"So, this wasn't about anything other than making the bus stop safe, making sure that we're focused on people who have felony warrants ... who should have been in jail in the first place, and making sure that open-air drug use is being combated on the buses."

The city's crime center receives live feeds from over 2,600 cameras, Mayor Tim Keller said, that are installed on city buses and paratransit vans as well as at Albuquerque Rapid Transit stations and transit centers.

The cameras give the city the ability to respond faster "when there are issues," Keller said.

According to APD, the goal of the Real Time Crime Center is to provide relevant "real-time" information to officers at briefings and while they are engaged in high-risk calls-for-service as a situation develops.

If someone sees something "troubling," city Transit Director Leslie Keener said, they should report it.