ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After years of fighting to get Albuquerque’s auto theft problem under control, a recent study shows that the work has been paying off.
According to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Albuquerque’s metro saw an 11% drop in car thefts in 2023. The decrease comes during a push to crack down on auto theft offenders after the city was named the worst for stolen vehicle crimes between 2016 and 2018.
“It’s been a lot of work to get out of the number one position, but we’ve slowly dropped, and we hit the number seven position this year,” said Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina.
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Some investments to reduce auto thefts over the years include upgrading bait car systems as technology improved.
“It’s to take people into custody who steal a car, but it’s also a big deterrent,” explained Chief Medina.
They’ve also implemented new strategies like actively searching for suspects who have active warrants for auto theft crimes and creating a top 25 offender list. Most offenders, police said are young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. Chief Medina said catching these criminals helps reduce other crime types as well.
“Catching auto theft offenders reduces burglaries,” said Chief Medina. “Catching auto theft offenders reduces shootings, reduces drug transactions.”
Police said the top offender list has been useful in putting top offenders behind bars, such as 39-year-old Antoine Richardson. He was arrested Friday afternoon after officers found him walking along Eubank in Northeast Albuquerque.
Chief Medina said most vehicles stolen were Kias and Hyundais. He cited social media trends as a root cause, pointing to TikTok videos showing how to steal them.
“They were taking so many cars,” Chief Medina added.
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Police said the decrease in car thefts continues to be the trend in the metro this year.
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