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Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal

As auto theft emerged as one of the main crimes plaguing Albuquerque – almost tripling over the past five years – the state’s three largest law enforcement agencies have decided to join forces and focus on the problem.

The heads of the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police joined Mayor Tim Keller for a news conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss the initiative they’ve dubbed the Bernalillo County Auto Theft Suppression Effort. The effort will include tactical operations that combine technology, resources, manpower and intelligence from each of the agencies to catch more suspects and recover more stolen vehicles.

Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said although the agencies have collaborated in emergency situations or SWAT calls in the past, they hadn’t been working together to investigate day-to-day crime.

Albuquerque interim Police Chief Mike Geier, who was appointed by the new mayor in December, agreed.

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“Auto theft kind of crept up on us over a few years,” he said. “Had we addressed it in the earlier stages, we might not be where we are today.”

In 2017, the city recorded 7,684 auto thefts, down slightly from 2016, when 7,710 vehicles were reported stolen. In 2016, the metropolitan area was ranked No. 1 in the country for its rate of auto thefts, with 1,114 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people.

The majority of auto thefts are concentrated in Albuquerque, according to data collected by the FBI. In 2016, the city accounted for about 65 percent of the stolen vehicles in the state and about 30 percent of the population.

State Police Chief Pete Kassetas says that although his officers are concentrated in rural areas around the state, he has seen how this issue affected the cities.

He said that two weeks ago he appointed a lieutenant, a sergeant and four detectives to be part of an auto theft unit and work with APD and BCSO by running bait car operations, checking license plates and lending extra resources in the field. They have recovered eight stolen vehicles, he said.

“APD and BCSO are sharing with us who their bad guys are, where they’re at, where they’re operating, and the areas they need impact on,” Kassetas said. “And instead of us driving around aimlessly as State Police, we’re able to take those limited resources that I have and join together.”

Gonzales said his auto theft unit, Fugitive Apprehension & Surveillance Team, and air support unit will assist the other agencies with the joint operations and collaborate with monthly tactical plans. He said they will also use marked patrol cars equipped with the StarChase system – a GPS tracker that can be attached to a suspect’s vehicle.

In the past 10 months, the sheriff’s auto theft unit has recovered 391 stolen vehicles and made 439 arrests. The whole department has recovered 929 stolen vehicles.

Geier said that after APD’s first auto theft sting in late January – a four-day operation that netted 22 felony arrests and 23 recovered vehicles – his department has continued to focus on the crime. He said in the first two months of the year the department recovered a total of 843 vehicles and made 137 arrests.

Neither APD nor BCSO provided the same stats for previous years by deadline.

Keller said the current focus on auto thefts came partly after a recent visit from New York Police Department officials who made recommendations on how to fight crime effectively.

“They told us straight up, you got to focus more on auto theft – not because the stats are so high but because its a gateway to dealing with all sorts of other issues,” he said, adding that stolen vehicles are often used to further other crimes.

“That’s what it’s going to take, from a criminal’s perspective. They don’t care whether they’re in city limits or county limits or state limits, so we shouldn’t either.”