URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/292218539127opinionguestcolumns06-29-09.htm

Monday, June 29, 2009
We Hold the Key To A Safer Community
By Edmund Perea
Albuquerque attorney
   
   
    This is a trying time for our community. It seems like every time we turn on a television or open a newspaper, we learn about violent criminal acts in Albuquerque. From all of the coverage in the media, there is an appearance that criminals are running amuck.
   
    It is in times like these that every member of our community can take the opportunity to pull together to act as a shield against unsavory individuals. We should help one another by being alert to what is happening around us, communicating with our neighbors and reporting suspicious activity to police. Each of us can play a relevant and important role in making our neighborhoods safer.
   
    Unfortunately, apathy has always been a major catalyst that breeds crime. It is a social condition that individuals who want to commit crimes look for before they act. I learned in more than two decades of law enforcement experience that the safest neighborhoods are not necessarily those where there are police officers constantly driving through the streets. Generally, safer neighborhoods tend to be those where neighbors speak to one another and share information relating to safety.
   
    We can reflect on the recent criminal events in our city that have made national headlines and take time to reach out to our neighbors so that we build coalitions that will allow everyone to participate in reducing crime. While this may not seem like a big thing on the surface, criminals thrive when neighbors ignore what is happening on their streets. It is not always easy to reach out in the hustle and bustle society we live in; however, we must make the effort in times like these.
   
    The crime statistics in our city have fluctuated over the years. However, if you subscribe to the quote popularized by Mark Twain that there are three types of lies, "lies, damned lies and statistics," then you know the numbers do not always tell the whole story. We must not allow crime statistics to be the gauge of our safety today. Fear is not something that is measured in a police report.
   
    While we have one of the great police departments in the country, our law enforcement personnel need our assistance and support. As a community, we must provide them with the tools so they can do their jobs to protect and serve.
   
    The men and woman dedicated to public safety have a certain character whereby they put the safety of others before their own. They are willing to sacrifice precious time spent with family in order to protect us from those who would not blink an eye before victimizing the most vulnerable in our society. I commend police officers, deputies, firefighters, and emergency services personnel throughout our state for doing what they do to serve the public, especially in dangerous times like these. We can do our part by looking out for one another and supporting our public safety personnel.
   
    Working together, we can create positive results that will be a welcome change to the current news stories broadcast on our televisions and radios or written in our newspapers.
   
    Edmund Perea is an attorney and former command level officer with the Albuquerque Police Department.