On September 3, it was reported that the city had its 53 homicide this year. The Albuquerque Police Department found a man dead around 2 a.m. Thursday morning near Menaul and Pennsylvania. According to an APD spokesman, officers were dispatched to the 7700 block of Prospect NE in response to a suspicious situation involving a man face down in a front yard. Upon arrival, they determined the man was dead and “appeared to have suffered an unknown type of trauma.” A homicide call-out was initiated. Police said there is no suspect information to release at this time and the victim had not been identified yet. This is the city’s 54th homicide of 2020 .
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/police-investigate-homicide-in-ne-albuquerque-/5849995/?cat=500
On August 18, Mayor Tim Keller introduced his Violence Intervention team and said in part:
“… This is about trying to get these people not to shoot each other. …This is about understanding who they are and why they are engaged in violent crime. … And so, this actually in some ways, in that respect, this is the opposite of data. This is action. This is actually doing something with people. …”
A WIDE RANGING INTERVIEW
On Tuesday, August 18 Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference that discussed a wide range of topics related to crime in Albuquerque. Mayor Keller insisted that his administration was “chipping away” at Albuquerque’s high crime rates. The statistics do not support the Mayor’s contention.
DISCUSSION OF VIP AND RAPID ACCOUNTABILITY DIVERSION PROGRAMS
During the press conference, Keller elaborated on one of his 4 new programs to address violent crime that he believes will get results in less than two years. According to Keller, the city will be working with 20 other cities that are cooperating with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The strategy involves law enforcement leaders understanding that half of 1% of a city’s population drives most violence. With that information, experts believe police officers will be able to dramatically realign resources to focus on that small percentage.
Mayor Keller introduced a team of experts by use of a video behind the Violence Intervention and Rapid Accountability Diversion Program that will help reach the small percentage of violent offenders. They include a former gang member, a juvenile justice professional, a mediator, and a police commander. They say they will make a difference by identifying and intervening with potential crime drivers.
According to Keller vulnerable communities and law enforcement will be working together and building trust has proven results for public safety. The goal of the team is to find crucial common ground, build new relationships, and significantly reduce gun violence in our neighborhoods.
The four individuals introduced as part of the program are:
Jerry Bachicha, Violence Intervention Program Manager
APD Commander Luke Languit
Tonya Covington, Division Director of Rapid Accountability
Angel Garcia, Social Services Coordinator
A video presentation by all 4 individuals can be viewed here:
https://www.facebook.com/MayorKeller/videos/961920580949259
According to Mayor Keller:
“This isn’t about Power Point slides or interesting analysis. … This is about trying to get these people not to shoot each other. …This is about understanding who they are and why they are engaged in violent crime. … And so, this actually in some ways, in that respect, this is the opposite of data. This is action. This is actually doing something with people. This is not just running reports and I think that’s a marked difference with what the city has done in the past.”
Keller said other cities with the same initiative have seen violent crime reduce by 10%-30%. Keller said he expects to see results in 9-18 months.
CLEARANCE RATES
During the August 18 press conference, Mayor Keller was asked questions about APD’s homicide clearance rates. APD reports that it is making arrests for about half of all homicides. Keller had this to say about the clearance rates:
“We know that the clearance rate is a little bit lower than it has been. It’s not out of line with the national standards … But, I will say the reason why we’re challenged is because there are so many homicides. So, the more homicides there are, the lower the clearance rate is going to be.”
The FBI reports that the national homicide clearance rate is 61%. In 2019, APD’s clearance rate was 52.2% when the city reached 82 homicides in one year. In Albuquerque, so far it’s 57% for 2020. It more likely than not the clearance rate will fall even further in 2020 as more murders occur.
According to the proposed 2018-2019 APD City Budget, in 2016 the APD homicide clearance rate was 80%. In 2017, Mayor Berry’s last year in office, the clearance rate was 70%. In 2018, the first year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 56%. In 2019, the second year of Keller’s term, the homicide clearance rate was 52.5%, the lowest clearance rate in the last decade.
As of September 3, there have been 54 homicides reported in Albuquerque for 2020. With 54 murders thus far for 2020, the city is on track to match or exceed the all-time record of 80 homicides in one year or come very close to it by the end of the year.
HOMICIDES
The city’s homicide rates have continued to spike during Mayor Tim Keller’s term in office. In 2018, during Mayor Keller’s first full year in office, there were 69 homicides. In 2019, during Mayor Keller’s second full year in office, there were 80 homicides. Albuquerque had more homicides in 2019 than in any other year in the city’s history. The previous high was 72, in 2017 under Mayor RJ Berry. Another high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides.
VIOLENT CRIME
The city’s violent crime rates continue to increase during Keller’s term. In 2017, during Mayor RJ Berry’s last full year in office, there were 7,686. There were 4,213 Aggravated Assaults and 470 Non-Fatal Shootings. In 2018 during Mayor Keller’ first full year in office, there were 6,789 violent crimes There were 3,885 Aggravated Assaults and 491 Non-Fatal Shootings.
In 2019, the category of “Violent Crimes” was replaced with the category of “Crimes Against Persons” and the category includes homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping and assault. In 2019 during Keller’s second full year in office, Crimes Against Persons increased from 14,845 to 14,971, or a 1% increase. The Crimes Against Person category had the biggest rises in Aggravated Assaults increasing from 5,179 to 5,397.
OPERATION LEGEND DISCUSSED
It was on Wednesday, July 21, 2020 President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr announced during a White House news conference that 35 federal agents were being sent to Albuquerque as part of “Operation Legend” The murder of Jacqueline Vigil, who was shot and killed allegedly by a gang member in her driveway was highlighted during the July 21 Presidential Press conference. Sam Vigil, Jacqueline’s husband, spoke emotionally and recounted during the press conference the day his wife was killed.
The city was offered financial help to combat crime if it participated in Operation Legend. Mayor Keller had the city decline the help because he did not believe Operation Legend was in line with the “values” of the city. In a statement reacting to Operation Legend announcement by President Trump, Mayor Tim Keller said Trump was ready to incite violence in Democratic cities and is forming a reelection strategy “built on gaslighting immigrants and people of color ” and said:
“We always welcome partnerships in constitutional crime fighting that are in step with our community, but we won’t sell out our city for a bait and switch excuse to send secret police to Albuquerque. Operation Legend is not real crime fighting; it’s politics standing in the way of police work and makes us less safe. … There’s no place for Trump’s secret police in our city. … If this was more than a stunt, these politicians would support constitutional crime-fighting efforts that work for our community, not turning Albuquerque into a federal police state.”
During the August 18 press conference, Mayor Keller said he was not aware of any federal agent doing anything out of line with the city’s values and said:
“The federal government can do what they want to do and not tell the mayor about it. … So, I’m just saying I have not heard anything, but that’s all I can speak to. I can’t speak for those organizations.”
Keller said he is willing to work with federal agencies if he has something in writing that states that their objective aligns with the city’s values.
ARRESTS IN JACQUELINE VIGIL CASE
On August 19, it was revealed that the FBI and the Department of Justice had made 4 arrests in the murder of Jacqueline Vigil and that the prime suspect was Luis Talamantes. He has been charged with being in the United States illegally and is facing up to 5 years in federal prison for illegal entry and federal prosecutors are asking to enhance his sentence by another 20 years for the murder. The Bernalillo County District Attorneys office intends to charge Talamantes with the murder once it receives the completed case from APD.
Mayor Tim Keller released the following statements reacting to the arrest, custody and prosecution of Luis Talamantes.
“This senseless murder shook Albuquerque because we all felt the loss of Jacqueline Vigil. We vowed to bring the killer to justice and to continue the fight against violent criminals in our city. For many months we have been aware that we were making real progress on the case but couldn’t comment publicly, or push back on a lot of myths being said about our police department. We are fortunate that APD has been doing the hard work over the last nine months to identify a suspect and ensure he was locked up and not able to commit additional crimes while they investigated the murder. We are all calling again on the prosecutors to move this case forward swiftly so the killer is brought to justice for the harm he has caused to our community.”
THE POLICE UNION SURVEY
On July 23, the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association (APOA) released the results of its annual “State of Policing Survey”. The police union has been doing the survey of its membership only since 2015. This year was the first time the union ever asked rank-and-file officers if they feel supported by the mayor.
The highlights of the survey released are as follows:
80% of APD officers who responded have considered a new line of work in the past couple of months and of those 84% said it was due to the “current view on policing, the increased scrutiny on officers, new reform efforts and job insecurity.”
62% of sworn police officers do not feel they are being supported by Police Chief Michael Geier.
96% of sworn police do not feel supported by the City Council.
83% of sworn police do not feel supported by Mayor Tim Keller.
68% of officers said it was “unlikely or very unlikely” that they would recommend police work as a career choice to others.
88% of sworn police are concerned about losing “qualified immunity”.
EDITORS NOTE: Qualified Immunity” is where sworn police officers are not personally held liable for anyone they injure or killed on the job. Under “qualified immunity” the city assumes full responsibility for any and all conduct, intentional or negligent, by sworn police.
A NEW TWIST TO THE UNION SURVEY
The Police Union this year added a new twist to its survey. The survey added 405 community members asking their outlooks on local policing, crime and public safety.
The survey of community members revealed the following:
67% believed crime was getting worse.
83% wanted more officers to make the street safer.
11% believed “not enough officers” was a contributing factor to crime in Albuquerque.
During the August 18 press conference, Mayor Keller reacted to the APOA survey that said 83% officers did not feel supported Keller, and that 80% would consider getting into a different line of work. Keller said:
“I think that survey has been pretty much the same for the last 10 years. It has said that about anyone in any position. And so, I always want to see better numbers. But, I think we got to push forward. The concept that we both believe in together, is can we make this safer city and how can we make it a better department.
And actually the union and myself, we agree on the goals. And so, the long-standing, decade-long challenges we’ve had – it’s going to be a long way to dig out. I will say this, they got the largest raise they’ve had in a decade under my administration and my direction. And we’ve had more officers than we’ve had for at least the last five or six years, then we’ve ever had. So I think our administration, at least on a relative basis is doing, much, much better.”
The annual union survey has only been around 5 years and not the 10 years as Keller stated.
2019 VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION PROGRAMS
In 2019, Mayor Tim Keller reacting to the spiking crime rates announced 4 plans in 9 months to deal with and bring down the city’s high violent crime rates . Those APD programs are:
THE SHIELD UNIT
In February 2018 the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) created the “Shield Unit”. The Shield Unit assists APD Police Officers to prepare cases for trial and prosecution by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office. The unit originally consisted of 3 para legals. It was announced that it is was expanded to 12 under the 2019-2020 city budget that took effect July 1, 2019.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1325167/apd-expands-unit-that-preps-cases-for-prosecution.html
DECLARING VIOLENT CRIME “PUBLIC HEALTH” ISSUE
On April 8, 2019, Mayor Keller and APD announced efforts that will deal with “violent crime” in the context of it being a “public health issue” and dealing with crimes involving guns in an effort to bring down violent crime in Albuquerque. Mayor Keller and APD argue that gun violence is a “public health issue” because gun violence incidents have lasting adverse effects on children and others in the community that leads to further problems.
APD is tracking violent crime relying on the same methods used to track auto thefts, weekly reports summarizing shootings, refining policies, and learning from best practices used by other law enforcement agencies. One goal is for APD to examine how guns are driving other crimes, such as domestic violence and drug addiction.
“VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PLAN” (VIP PROGRAM)
On November 22, Mayor Tim Keller announced what he called a “new initiative” to target violent offenders called “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP). The VIP initiative was in response to the city’s recent murders resulting in the city tying the all-time record of homicides at 72 in one year. Mayor Keller proclaimed the VIP is a “partnership system” that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and social service and community provides to reduce violent crime.
The 4 major components of the VIP program are:
LAW ENFORCEMENT: APD was “restructured” to create a first-of-its-kind “Violence Intervention Division” with its own Commander. The division is designed to make cross-functional partnership as productive as possible.
PROSECUTION PARTNERS: Prosecutors from all systems including the Attorney General, District Attorney, US Attorney and Office of Superintendent of Insurance will collaborate to share information and make sure cases are going to the appropriate teams and courts.
SOCIAL SERVICES: The City has always funded social services aimed at violence reduction. However, for the first time Family and Community Services is specifically working with the community to identify the most effective evidence-based violence reduction strategies, and requiring providers to work together in the Violence Intervention Program.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS: The City will reach out to community partners, including the Bernalillo County Community Health Council, that are dealing with the causes and effects of violent crime to work together on this program.
METRO 15 OPERATION
On Tuesday, November 26, Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference to announce a 4th program within 9 months to deal with the city’s violent crime and murder rates. At the time of the press conference, the city’s homicide count was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017. Before 2017, the last time the City had the highest number of homicides in one year was in 1996 with 70 murders that year.
Keller dubbed the new program “Metro 15 Operation” and is part of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) program Keller announced the week before. According to Keller and Geier the new program will target the top 15 most violent offenders in Albuquerque. In other words, it’s the city’s version of the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. According to Keller, the top 15 will be identified by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. Once a violent offender is caught, another violent offender will be added to the list.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1394576/city-launches-violence-intervention-program.html
NEW PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT
During the August 16 press conference, Mayor Keller was asked no questions about the new Public Safety Department is seeking to create.
On June 15, Mayor Tim Keller announced plans to create a new Public Safety Department that will be is on equal footing with all the other 19 city departments, including APD and AFRD, that have hundreds of employees and separate functions, tasks, and services. The new department will have 32 people for each its 6 area commands, or a total of 192 employees at a minimum, ostensibly working 3 separate 8 hour shifts to be able to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as proposed, with none to have law enforcement powers of arrest and no training as paramedics like firefighters. The projected personnel cost for the 192 employees will be upwards of $11 Million a year.
The Albuquerque Community Safety Department as envisioned will have social workers, housing and homelessness specialists and violence prevention and diversion program experts. They will be dispatched to homelessness and “down-and-out” calls as well as behavioral health crisis calls for service to APD. The new department will connect people in need with services to help address any underlying issues. The department personnel would be dispatched through the city’s 911 emergency call system. The intent is to free up the first responders, either police or firefighters, who typically have to deal with down-and-out and behavioral health calls.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
It is very difficult to keep a straight face when Mayor Keller said “This is about trying to get these people not to shoot each other. … This is about understanding who they are and why they are engaged in violent crime. …” when he was describing the “Violence Intervention and Rapid Accountability Diversion Programs.” It came across as if Mayor Keller’s program is a coffee klatsch where his group of professionals will be siting down to have coffee with violent criminals to discuss their propensity to murder and to stop them from committing another violent crime. If Keller’s new program in fact accomplishes this, he deserves to be awarded the Noble Peace Prize, but no one should hold their breath. Violent crime is usually the product of sudden heightened angry emotions or drug influenced and it intentional acts of crime.
It is the city’s homicide rate and violent crime rates he promised to bring down when he ran in 2017 that is very problematic for Keller. Those rates merit repeating:
HOMICIDE RATES:
The city’s homicide rates have continued to spike during Mayor Tim Keller’s term in office. In 2018, during Mayor Keller’s first full year in office, there were 69 homicides. In 2019, during Mayor Keller’s second full year in office, there were 82 homicides. Albuquerque had more homicides in 2019 than in any other year in the city’s history. The previous high was 72, in 2017 under Mayor RJ Berry. Another high mark was in 1996, when the city had 70 homicides.
VIOLENT CRIME RATES:
The city’s violent crime rates continue to increase during Keller’s term. In 2017, during Mayor RJ Berry’s last full year in office, there were 7,686. There were 4,213 Aggravated Assaults and 470 Non-Fatal Shootings. In 2018 during Mayor Keller’ first full year in office, there were 6,789 violent crimes There were 3,885 Aggravated Assaults and 491 Non-Fatal Shootings.
In 2019, the category of “Violent Crimes” was replaced with the category of “Crimes Against Persons” and the category includes homicide, human trafficking, kidnapping and assault. In 2019 during Keller’s second full year in office, Crimes Against Persons increased from 14,845 to 14,971, or a 1% increase. The Crimes Against Person category had the biggest rises in Aggravated Assaults increasing from 5,179 to 5,397.
ALL THOSE PROGRAMS
During his August 18 press conference, Mayor Keller gave no update on all the programs he announced in 2019 to reduce violent crime. Based on the statistics for homicide, clearance rates and violent crime rates, those programs have had very little or no effect on bringing down violent crime.
Keller did say other cities with the same initiative as the VIP program that use social workers instead of first responders, have seen violent crime reduce by 10%-30%. Keller said he expects to see results in 9-18 months, which is precisely the time Keller will be running for re-election.
Voters will no doubt decide if Mayor Tim Keller has in fact failed to deliver on his campaign promises to reduce high crime rates. Voters will be deciding if Keller deserves another 4 years. If violent crime is not reduced by 10% to 30%, Keller’s re election bid in all likely will be very difficult at best.
OPERATION LEGEND
Keller’s remark that “Operation Legend” is “not in line with the values of the city” is troubling at best as to what he actually means by it. The purpose and value of law enforcement is to keep people safe and arrest and prosecute violent criminals. The August 19 statements issued by Mayor Tim Keller regarding the FBI actions against Luis Talamantes can only be described as resentment or embarrassment of not being able to do what the feds did for the city: arrest a violent felon.
The Talamante investigation and arrest makes it clear that “Operation Legend” is not a “bait and switch excuse to send secret police to Albuquerque” as Mayor Keller asserted. “Operartion Legend” is indeed “real crime” fighting program. Instead of thanking the FBI and the United State Attorney’s Office in the immigration case, Keller was far more interested in making sure APD got all the credit for the work they performed. It would have been just as easy to thank the feds and said APD was delighted to have helped and outline what APD did to help. Instead, the statements came across as petty for not being able to take credit for making arrests in the case.
ANOTHER APD UNION ENDORSEMENT IN DOUBT
It was on September 28, 2017 that the Albuquerque Police Union endorsed Tim Keller for Mayor. Keller actively sought the endorsement no doubt wanting the vote of rank and file police officers and to be able to say APD had his back and he their back and he would take care of APD rank and file once elected.
Now that the police union survey that says 83% of sworn police do not feel they are supported by Mayor Tim Keller, and 62% of sworn police officers do not feel they are being supported by Keller’s appointed Police Chief Michael Geier, you got to wonder how anxious he will be to seek the union endorsement as he seeks a second term in 2021 and what concessions the union will want from him. At this point, given the union poll, its is not likely that the Police Union will again endorse Keller.
A link to a related blog article on the Police Union Survey is here:
CONCLUSION
As has been the case in the last 3 elections for Mayor, in 2021 crime rates will likely be the biggest determining issue in the race. Voters will be deciding if Keller deserves another 4 years with Mayor Keller no doubt using the Covid 19 epidemic as an excuse for his need for another 4 years to finish what he started.
Voters are very fickle and unforgiving when politicians make promises they do not or cannot keep. The voter survey found 73% of residents surveyed said they felt that crime has had “a negative or very negative impact” on business in Albuquerque, 67% of ABQ residents think crime is getting worse, 66% surveyed say crime has had a negative impact on their quality of life. With those percentages, it is an sure bet that no amount of data collection, public relations or nuance programs are going to turn public perception around any time soon.
Unless Coffee Klatsch Keller does far more to bring down the city’s violent crime rates, he might as well schedule a coffee klatsch with his campaign staff the day after next years election to discuss his loss.