Operation Sticky Fingers: Albuquerque police thank retailers for joint effort

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Leaders in Albuquerque are tackling retail crime from all angles. District Attorney Sam Bregman announced last month that his office will prosecute all shoplifting cases, including misdemeanors.

The Albuquerque Police Department has also been doing a series of retail crime operations to curb the problem. APD Chief Harold Medina hosted a press conference Friday to announce the results of Operation Sticky Fingers.

“This operation has proven how vital our partnership is with local retailers. Sticky Fingers concluded with 196 new arrests for crimes related to retail thefts,” Medina said.

In addition to those nearly 200 arrests, 42 more people were arrested for outstanding warrants.

“That goes back to two of the topics that we spoke about. The issue with retail theft is that it doesn’t stop at the arrest. We need to prosecute these individuals and we’ve seen the DA’s office has a new stance on this and we applaud the changes they’ve made and putting a priority on prosecuting shoplifting cases,” Medina said.

“Sticky Fingers isn’t a new idea but we focused our every into it this summer and we love the results. It starts though with partnerships with our retailers,” APD Commander Kyle Hartsock said.

While the department has made progress, they said they aren’t stopping these operations anytime soon.

Local retailers, regardless of size, can register to participate in these anti-shoplifting efforts here.