Homelessness Issues in Albuquerque

Albuquerque was a distant outpost of the Spanish Empire, so its residents were mostly Hispanic or of mixed Hispanic-Native American Ancestry up until the late nineteenth century. Due to increased influences of Protestant settlers, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the predominantly Roman Catholic Hispanic population reduced to a minorities. During the twenty-first century, more than two-fifths of Albuquerque’s population were of hispanic origins. Descendents of families who came to New Mexico during the long period of Spanish rule make up the core of the population. These people refer to themselves “Hispanos” to distinguish themselves from other Latinos; especially those of which recently arrived from Mexico and locally referred to as Mexicans or Chicanos. For the rest of the population, majority consist of European descendants, a small population of Native Americans, and a growing community of South and Southeast Asians; many of whom began to work in the high-technology and service sectors during the mid-1970’s. Albuquerque’s recent pattern of growth, with the expansion of suburbs much farther than the city’s center, has created segregation in housing. Members of ethnic communities are concentrated in older sections of the city in Rio Grande, while the “white” majority seems to mainly reside in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.

Albuquerque’s economy has been based around agriculture, small farms, and large cattle ranches for hundred of years before and after the arrival of the Spanish. During the Spanish rule, Albuquerque served as a shipping point for timber and metal ores brought in from nearby mines and mills, although the city’s distance kept them from gaining any economic importance outside the region. However, Albuquerque became an essential distribution centre for imported and locally produced goods after the arrival of the transcontinental rail lines during the early 1880’s. Ever since the mid-twentieth century, agriculture has been of little relative importance to Albuquerque, and only a few rances still operate. Present-day Albuquerque also serves a transportation center for the industries and commerce, with some of the manufactures including electronics, lumber, machinery, and food. Today, Albuquerque’s modern economy is based on light manufacturing, services, and research and development. Some of Albuquerque’s largest employers include the Sandia National Laboratories; an assemblage of government laboratories and offices, military installations, other manufacturing firms, and the University of New Mexico. Despite that, most of the workforce in Albuquerque is employed through service jobs, particularly in restaurants, hotels, and retail shops.

By essence of the location along the Rio Grande, and cross uplands leading to the mountains, Albuquerque has long remained a transportation center. Railroad lines beginning in the nineteenth century run through the city, which today are served by the Union Pacific and Amtrak; two major interstate highways that pass through the city and intersect at the heart of Downtown. Due to the popular congestion along these highways, a short-run commuter railroad runs along the main interstate corridor through Downtown Albuquerque. Another main contributor to transportation in Albuquerque is their International Airport, which is among the busiest in the Western United States that offer direct flights to domestic cities and connections to numerous international destinations.

However, despite all the good Albuquerque offers, they do have their fair share of problems. The most noticeable problem seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the poverty rate that can be found in the Census Bureau. From violent crime to low birth-weight babies, poverty is either the cause or effect of a complicating factor for dysfunction. Crime rates being too high and health status being too low, both are manifestations of poverty. Just by looking at wage and unemployment rates, it can be seen that Albuquerque is not the best place to do business; also being named as one of the worst places to start up a business was a hint. Although all of these issues seem to be at large, Albuquerque’s biggest issue is homelessness.

Homelessness in Albuquerque is problem that cannot be solved without a community-wide response. In January 2013, around 1,170 people were counted that were homeless on one night; giving a baseline estimate of the minimum number of people who were either sleeping outside, in a shelter, or in a transitional housing the night the Point-in-Time count took place. However, when comparing two PIT counts (one from 2011 and one from 2013) it showed that the homelessness rate was decreasing. It is impossible to determine what factor or factors contributed to this decrease in homelessness, but the decrease suggest that efforts addressing the homelessness issue over the last several years had been having an impact. Goals that have been made to continue to address the issue with homelessness include: increased access to stable and affordable housing, improved health and stability, increased economic security, reconstruction of the homelessness crisis response system, and the build-up of the community and political will needed from the community and government to end the homelessness crisis.

Another main issue that has arose has been seen in a report released by the FBI proving that crime has become a big problem in Albuquerque, Mexico. The report shows numbers are up across the board, and in fact, from 2015 to 2016, murders and violent crime in Albuquerque increased drastically when compared to the rest of the nation; with nearly 1,000 more cases of violent crime in 2016 compared to 2015. Another significant increase seen was property crime, specifically burglary, with the number jumping from almost 5,000 cases to nearly 39,000 crimes year to year. The only decrease seen throughout the report was in rape cases, with only a minimal decline of little over twenty reports. These increases in numbers come approach as the city has only grown less than half a percent in population. As seen in the graph labeled “figure one” you can see a detailed overview of annual crimes reported in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For each particular crime shown in the graph, were established as an accurate total representation of any crimes committed per 100,000 people for all of the reported crime in Albuquerque. You can see in the graph that crimes are categorized in two different sections; violent crimes and property crimes. Additionally, the table indicates that the overall violent crime rate in Albuquerque was 85% higher in comparison to the New Mexico average, and was also 218% higher when compared to the national average. As for the property crime rate, Albuquerque had an 87% higher average than what was seen in New Mexico, and a 212% higher overall national average.

Overall it can be seen that crime is a growing issue in the city of Albuquerque, but violent crime seems to be more prevalent. One of the reasons for that may be the gun law in Albuquerque; New mexico is a shall-issue state for the concealed carry of handguns, and permit the open carry of loaded firearms without a permit. However, a New Mexico Concealed Handgun License (CHL) is required by in-state residents to carry in a concealed manner a loaded handgun while on foot. With such availability and access to firearms, it could be used to explain why violent crime is much higher than any other crime in Albuquerque. Another reason for this may be the fact that there is no longer a death penalty allowed in New Mexico, it was abolished in 2009.

Now, the most serious crimes will result at most with either life imprisonment or life imprisonment without the chance of parole. This change in law penalties could relate to the increase in violent crime. In addition, the violent crime rate could also be explained by the high presence of gangs throughout Albuquerque, which is said to be almost two hundred gangs statewide obtaining about 7,200 members. Much of the violent crime occurring in Albuquerque, New Mexico, can be linked back to people from these gangs who perpetrate the crimes. To maintain crime and lower the crime rates, legislation and a collaborative effort between police and the community is needed in order to stop these gangs before the are experiences an even higher spike in crime than it already has. With a total of 1,413 police officers in Albuquerque, there are only 2.6 police officers per 1,000 residents; these statistics show that maintaining all crime is nearly impossible with these numbers.

If you refer to Figure two, you can see the concentration of crime in Albuquerque’s violent crime is heavily concentrated within five different sections of crime. The most violent of the five clusters seen from the research is referred to as Southeast or Primary. That part of town accounted for 27% of the murders, 20% of carjackings, and 37% of nonfatal shootings within the last three years. This research is being used to make better decisions on how to allocate the police force and other resources; the final phase will analyze those arrested in Albuquerque, and will focus on tests, surveys, and interviews conducted, to look beyond the data.

In conclusion, Albuquerque, New Mexico, seems to be like many other places in America. Today, there is no escape from poverty and crime. However, there are ways to see just how much there is in certain locations. I would say that Albuquerque is not a bad place to live in comparison to others, but it would not be my first choice either. Issues seen throughout Albuquerque have been determined, and solutions for them are in the works; certain steps are being taken to resolve particular issues. Efforts I found during my research show that New Mexico is making many different attempts to find a solution to their homelessness problem. Their goals seemed to be working thus far. If I were in charge, what I would do is focus mainly on gangs to reduce the high violent crime rate, and continue with the efforts being made to solve homelessness and poverty throughout Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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