Nature of incident: Bernalillo Police activity

—FRED RADOSEVICH, CHIEF OF POLICE, BERNALILLO POLICE DEPARTMENT
The following are the statistics for the Bernalillo Police Department for the month of July 2007:

93 OFFENSE INCIDENT
REPORTS:
• 5 domestic violence
(assault)
• 5 burglaries
• 9 thefts
• 8 vandalism
• 6 DWI
79 ARRESTS:
• 4 domestic violence
• 4 drug offenses
• 5 DWI
• 28 warrants

532 TRAFFIC CITATIONS:
• 144 speeding
• 18 stop sign
• 35 suspended/
revoked
• 62 no insurance
• 35 seatbelt violations

34 CRASH REPORTS
(ACCIDENTS):
• 20 on Highway 550
• 5 on Highway 313

MADD walk in memory of Danielle Romero

On October 27 at 9:00 a.m. at Kit Carson Park, MADD will hold Strides for Change, a 5K ‘Walk to Save Lives’ around Tingley Beach. Tina Romero, mother of Danielle Romero who was killed August 15, 2002 by a drunk driver, asks the community to make donations to MADD Strides for Change to keep the memory of her daughter Danielle Romero alive, and to enable MADD to reach more students in classrooms and after-school programs throughout the state.

Tina Romero is participating in this walk and raising funds to support MADD’s life-saving programs and services in their fight to end DWI. To donate, please make your check payable to MADD Strides for Change and send it to Tina Romero, PO Box 1076, Placitas NM 87043.

For more information about the walk or to sign up your own team, log on to: www.stridesforchange.org or contact Lora Lee Ortiz at MADD New Mexico at 505-255-2955 or loralee.ortiz@madd.org.

Local SUBWAY restaurants and State Police partner to launch statewide child ID campaign

According to the National Childhood Identification Program, it is estimated that every forty seconds, one child becomes lost or goes missing.

To help combat this national crisis in New Mexico, local SUBWAY restaurants have partnered with the New Mexico State Police to launch a Child ID Campaign that is designed to help parents obtain vital information about their children that can help police in the event that those children become lost or missing.

Beginning Thursday, September 6, SUBWAY restaurants throughout New Mexico will be stocked with Child ID Kits, which are available to the public at no cost. Parents are encouraged to use these kits to document their children’s vital information such as fingerprints, dental records, an updated photo, and distinguishing marks like scars or birthmarks.

“The first three hours that a child goes missing are the most critical, and this kit will provide police with valuable information that they need quickly,” said Rick Anglada of the New Mexico State Police and New Mexico AMBER Alert Coordinator. “Having a missing child is never an easy time for parents. By having this information prepared ahead of time, parents don’t have to worry about significant details that can often be hard to remember under stress.”

This particular Child ID campaign is also being launched throughout September in several other markets around the country, but it is actually the SUBWAY® Franchisees in New Mexico that originally came up with the idea. With help from the New Mexico State Police, SUBWAY hopes to distribute as many kits as possible.

“This is an important campaign for the franchisees of SUBWAY New Mexico because we have families too and care about the health and safety of all children,” said Monna Doak, marketing board chair for SUBWAY of New Mexico. “Should an emergency happen, parents and children who use these Child ID Kits will be better prepared to more quickly help law enforcement do their vitally important work.”

The Child ID Kits will be made available to the public as long as supplies last.

Amateur radio important to Multiple Sclerosis bike tour

—CHARLIE CHRISTMANN
For nearly twenty years, members of the Sandoval County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (SCARES), with the help of other ham radio operators from Albuquerque and Los Alamos, have provided critical communications services for the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society MS150 bike tour.

This year’s tour began on August 11 at 7:00 a.m., from the Santa Ana Star Casino parking lot. The riders traveled along highway US 550 to NM 4. They then rode through the Valles Caldera to Los Alamos. The next day, the riders returned along the same route to Bernalillo.

Maggie Schold, MS Society Development Coordinator, said, “I just couldn’t do this event without you and the communications support I get from the hams.” She continued, “This year, as in years past, the Sandoval County Group and the other radio volunteers provided invaluable support to the MS 150 Bike Tour. Without their dedication, we would not be able to provide the safety and security to the nearly one-hundred-fifty riders who participate in this event.”

Ed Ricco, N5LI, who helped to coordinate the ham operators, reported that “the event went very well. The only problems of any consequence involved two riders who went down in the oil slick on Saturday afternoon before we could get the word out. They were scraped and bruised, but are OK.”

Jay Miller, WA5WHN, points out that “the benefits here flow in both directions, because events like this provide training opportunities for amateurs interested in emergency communications and emergency management.”

The MS Society expects to raise around $100,000 from this year’s event.

Amateur radio operators from Albuquerque and Sandoval County also provided communications services for the annual Sandia Mountain La Luz Trail Race on August 5th.

For more information, see the MS Society (nationalmssociety.org/nmx), SCARES (nmscares.org), or ARRL (arrl.org).

Attorney General launches new immigrant services unit

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has created a new component in his Consumer Protection Division to deal with immigrant-related issues. The Immigrant Services Unit will address issues such as immigrant-targeted consumer problems, wage claims and working conditions, development of illegal “colonias” that target immigrants, and victim assistance.

“Immigration policy is largely a federal issue, but as the State’s top law enforcement agency, the Office of the Attorney General may help ensure that state laws are followed and immigrants are not treated unfairly or unlawfully after their entry [in]to our State,” says Attorney General King.

Attorney General King says the new unit will also prosecute violators of the New Mexico Nationality Law Practice Act, which prohibits the unauthorized practice of law by non-lawyers who claim to be immigration consultants. These so-called “consultants” often operate outside federal regulations, and the Attorney General’s Office is tasked with enforcing this law.

Assistant Attorney General Joel Cruz-Esparza heads up the Immigrant Services Unit and will be in charge of program development and services.

“One of our first tasks is to increase awareness of our efforts in the immigrant community by providing information in the Spanish language,” says Cruz-Esparza. “We will also become involved in immigrant outreach programs already in existence.”

Attorney General King says, “This project recognizes the increasing diversity of New Mexico residents and seeks to better protect these often vulnerable populations.”

AG’s top consumer complaints

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s Consumer Protection Division receives thousands of complaints from New Mexico consumers every month. Final numbers have been put together and the top ten complaints from July 2006 to June 2007 are as follows:

• Foreign lotteries

• Used car sales

• Payday lenders

• Auto repair

• Collection agencies

• Mail solicitations

• Unsolicited faxes

• Construction/home improvement

• Cellular phone service

• New car sales

Assistant Attorney General Karen Meyers, director of the Consumer Protection Division, says, “Our job is to protect New Mexico consumers in a number of ways. We monitor business practices through consumer complaints received by our division and take action where appropriate. We provide a complaint resolution process to help consumers and business resolve disputes. We conduct educational outreach to alert consumers and educate New Mexicans on how to avoid becoming victim[s] of fraud. We also have helpful information available on our website designed to help people make good consumer decisions and avoid scams.” The website address for the Attorney General’s office is www.ago.state.nm.us

The Consumer Protection Division enforces consumer laws in the state of New Mexico that are intended to shield the public from fraudulent and unfair business practices.