District Attorney, Sheriff hold South Valley town hall to discuss crime

The county’s top law enforcer and the Second Judicial District Attorney hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday in the South Valley to discuss crime with residents. Concerns about bail reform opened and closed the meeting. 

They plan on hosting more town hall meetings in the future. The next scheduled meeting will be on the Westside at the end of this month. 

Pretrial detention 

Second Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman told the standing-room only audience that his office argues for a suspect to be held pending trial if they have a track record of not showing up to court or if they have a history of violence. He said his office receives 14,000 referrals per year from law enforcement and his office files 1,000 pretrial detention motions per year. In the past 14 to 15 months, Bregman said they have had a higher success rate on pretrial detention motions. 

“We file them for the safety of the community because we believe that somebody out there is a danger and they can’t be put on reasonable conditions of release,” he said. “Every time someone is charged with a felony, they are ordered by a judge to not violate the law. That’s an order and if you violate conditions of release, a judge can put you back in jail.” 

Recent legislation has changed things a bit though. Bregman said that now if someone is released pending trial and is accused of committing a crime, a new hearing is called to discuss the suspect’s conditions of release. 

“I think that could be very helpful at the end of the day,” he said. 

Adobe Acres neighborhood 

Several residents who live in the Adobe Acres neighborhood along Isleta Blvd. south of Rio Bravo Blvd. attended the meeting. One resident described problems with neighbors selling drugs out of a home, street racing, and other crimes. She expressed frustration that they aren’t getting a response and nothing is ever getting done to address these issues. 

Allen said one thing they’re already addressing is speeding, but it’s going to take some time. 

“Because (speeding has) been allowed for some time and it’s been allowed even more since the pandemic and we’re starting to hit it hard,” he said. “Some good news for you is that I look at every social media platform every day and people are now complaining that we’re being too rough and tough on speeding.” 

Allen said he gets emails every day from people in the area asking him not to put speed limit cameras in the area.  

As for problem homes in the area, Allen said his office is working with other agencies to see about possible evictions of people living in those houses. 

Allen assured the crowd he’ll attend the next Adobe Acres Neighborhood Association meeting.

Prosecuting decades-old rape cases

Responding to a woman who told her story of repeated sexual assaults and severe mental health disorders as a result of the assaults, Bregman said his office has 19 victim advocates who work with victims of violent crimes and their family members. 

The DA’s office has a Special Victim’s Unit that works with the SVU at BCSO and the Albuquerque Police. 

“I can tell you that we don’t just do it in real-time. We go back, and I think our office has now indicted 15 people for rapes that took place decades ago,” he said. “My job is to make sure to hold people accountable and prosecute them to the full extent of the law and we’ll always do that when it comes to rape.”