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As mayor after mayor has tried to revitalize Downtown Albuquerque, they have encountered a problem decades in the making:
It doesn’t matter how many clever storefronts or cute umbrella-covered tables or even (the to-date elusive) grocery stores go up. Because until all people feel safe there after dark, many people are not going to go there at all. So it’s encouraging the city is making a concerted effort to increase safety. Mayor Richard Berry and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz have announced a tripling of the number of officers Downtown, the blocking off of some streets to vehicles, patrolling on horseback, using a raised observation deck near Fourth Street to watch for trouble and stepping-up inspections in clubs for overcrowding and overserving. The increased enforcement is geared to preventing the kind of drunken violence Downtown has become known for — to date in 2012 at least three large-scale brawls, including a Fat Tuesday stabbing. “This isn’t everybody,” Berry says. “This is a few people” causing problems for everyone else. Perhaps by targeting those few, APD can finally make Downtown appealing to the rest of Albuquerque. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
