Crime is Only Getting Worse

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Here is my TV ad from 2013 regarding police numbers and APD’s response times. And yes that is former Albuquerque Chief of Police Bob Stover and his wife Linda Stover, the Bernalillo County Clerk elect, in the commercial.

Things have gotten only worse in 3 years. Albuquerque’s violent and property crime rates have now hit a 10 year high. In 2015, there were 34,082 property crimes with a 15% increase. Murders spiked from 30 in 2014 to 46 in 2015. In 2015, Albuquerque’s violent crimes jumped by 9.6% and property crimes increased by 11.7%.

Seven years ago, APD had 1,100 sworn police officer and response times had been brought down below the national average and crime rates were hitting historical lows. Today, APD has 826 sworn police officers with only 430 patrolling our streets with response times at historical highs with calls to APD taking hours instead of minutes to respond.

Mayor Berry spent $60,000 for a study to tell him why crime has spiked when the answer is that “community based policing” does not exist anymore in Albuquerque, his appointed Chiefs of Police have destroyed a once great police department, and APD is under a DOJ consent decree after 41 police shootings with close to $50 million paid in police officer involved shootings and police misconduct cases.

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About

Pete Dinelli was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is of Italian and Hispanic descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Del Norte High School, a 1974 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a 1977 graduate of St. Mary's School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. Pete has a 40 year history of community involvement and service as an elected and appointed official and as a practicing attorney in Albuquerque. Pete and his wife Betty Case Dinelli have been married since 1984 and they have two adult sons, Mark, who is an attorney and George, who is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Pete has been a licensed New Mexico attorney since 1978. Pete has over 27 years of municipal and state government service. Pete’s service to Albuquerque has been extensive. He has been an elected Albuquerque City Councilor, serving as Vice President. He has served as a Worker’s Compensation Judge with Statewide jurisdiction. Pete has been a prosecutor for 15 years and has served as a Bernalillo County Chief Deputy District Attorney, as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney and as a Deputy City Attorney. For eight years, Pete was employed with the City of Albuquerque both as a Deputy City Attorney and Chief Public Safety Officer overseeing the city departments of police, fire, 911 emergency call center and the emergency operations center. While with the City of Albuquerque Legal Department, Pete served as Director of the Safe City Strike Force and Interim Director of the 911 Emergency Operations Center. Pete’s community involvement includes being a past President of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club, past President of the Our Lady of Fatima School Board, and Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.