ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s no secret that crime along East Central is a problem. The Albuquerque Police Department set up a three-week operation is set to help with that problem, and police said it was quite successful.

“During the course of this operation, we brought in several additional PRT teams into the southeast, and they were able to accomplish a number of things,” said police chief Harold Medina.

Those accomplishments included 116 felony arrests, 38 misdemeanor arrests and clearing 106 felony warrants. And it’s not just about getting crime off the street; it’s also about getting help to those who need it.

“Our officers are conducting lead referrals to ensure that if there are individuals that are seeking help for substance abuse, that that resource is available to them,” said APD commander Luke Languit. “And then also making those referrals to the community safety department and other social service providers to come in and provide those resources.”

APD has directed Commander Languit to oversee these special operations as they continue to devote their resources to Central Blvd.

“His job is to coordinate these special projects and make sure that we get these special projects and these coordinated operations off without any hitch,” Medina said.

Languit said the focus is to identify the anchor properties of crime and that will lead them to making more arrests.

“We need to utilize our partnerships with other city departments and the business community to ensure that if crime is going to be happening and they’re going to turn a blind eye to crime, that we’re going to take action on that,” Languit said.

This three-week operation may be over, but they’ll be back at it next week. Medina said he’s been in contact with other police agencies that will be taking over and conducting operations on East Central throughout next week, allowing APD to move all the resources they had out there to the west side of the city to target crime there.