After a few local news stories touted how great the consent decree was in Albuquerque, we wondered what the metric was for “great.” Considering that since agreeing to a consent decree, the overall violent crime in Albuquerque has risen 80% while the budget ballooned 38% and staffing was reduced by 11%, we wondered if somehow all of those pesky FBI crime statistics were wrong.
After seeing this interview with Dr. Travis Yates and Shaun Willoughby, the President of the Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association, we were shaken back into reality.
As it turns out, everything we have been saying about consent decrees are true. Albuquerque is in chaos and it’s likely that they will never return to normal. As we keep saying, consent decrees have destroyed every community they have been in and while it’s funny that the media is using Albuquerque as an example of “success,” we find no humor in what it has done for the police department and the community they serve.
This interview is long and it’s tough to hear but if you care about our great city, we highly recommend that you watch it and share it with others.
