Community members fed up with shoplifters and other criminals in the Northeast Heights will be meeting with City Councilor Brook Bassan and an Albuquerque Police Department representative at 6 p.m. June 16 inside the North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center.
The meeting was organized after a March 31 post on NextDoor complaining about shoplifters at the Whole Foods on Wyoming and Academy went viral. Discussion on the post was closed April 3 after 148 comments were posted in the thread from neighbors all over the Northeast Heights.
One reply from a person living in the Arroyo Del Oso North neighborhood wrote, “This is happening far too often! Thanks for the heads up.” Another person from the Heritage East neighborhood wrote, “Disgusting.”
In an email going out to those interested in attending the June 16 meeting, the organizer encourages community members to write down witnessed incidents and suggestions on how to stop criminal activity. “We could spend the entire meeting re-hashing our concerns, but let’s get creative,” the email reads. “What have other neighborhoods done to address these issues?”
The email suggests implementing a neighborhood alert like an Amber Alert as one possible solution. “Yes, laws need to change, police need to feel that they can do their job, judges need to be more accountable, but we can do a lot at the neighborhood level,” the email reads.
