August 19, 2010
Belen Mayor Rudy Jaramillo announced at the end of Monday’s city council meeting that police officers will continue to take their vehicles home, after at least one city councilor wanted the vehicles to stay in Valencia County. In late July, Councilor Mary T. Aragon questioned whether or not police officers should continue to take their [...]
July 23, 2010
Valencia County Sheriff’s Department Captain Don Donges told county commissioners on Wednesday night that problems with “missed calls” at the county’s emergency dispatch center mean officers aren’t being dispatched to address crime. “This is ridiculous,” he told the commissioners. Donges has been defending his department against accusations that it failed to respond to calls about [...]
July 22, 2010
Belen City Councilor Mary T. Aragon on Monday night questioned whether or not police officers should be allowed to continue to take police vehicles home, citing weak gross receipts tax revenue and continuing budget problems. The issue came to the forefront of debate in late March as the city began cutting back on employees’ vehicle [...]
July 21, 2010
The City of Belen and YES Housing Inc. announced on Monday night a $1.7-million renovation of La Hacienda Apartments on North Second Street. The city is working in collaboration with the Albuquerque-based nonprofit community development group. The two-story La Hacienda Apartments have been the site of criminal activity and a problem for neighbors. The apartment [...]
July 09, 2010
Valencia County Commissioner Ron Gentry questioned the lack of response from the Valencia County Sheriff’s Department after citizens called police to complain about the bright lights and loud music coming from a rave last weekend in Tierra Grande. “We’ve got an ordinance that prohibits that, unless it’s licensed and permitted and so forth,” he said. [...]
May 06, 2010
The City of Belen’s police chief has submitted his resignation, as part of a deal that will allow the city’s police officers to keep their take-home vehicles. Chief Mike Chavez gave his letter of resignation to the city yesterday, thanking the mayor and council for his opportunity to serve the people of Belen. His last [...]
April 11, 2010
The Belen Police Department’s Chief Mike Chavez has provided the Belen City Council with his department’s goals for 2010, a part of city councilors’ request for accountability. At the March 22 council meeting, Mayor Rudy Jaramillo and city councilors announced they were establishing an improvement plan and evaluation process for each of the city’s appointed [...]
February 26, 2010
Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera this month touted his department’s community police program that puts deputies in communities around the county. “We all need to get together to address problems in Valencia County,” he said. The program started in October when Rivera hired three new deputies. Those deputies were assigned full-time to Meadow Lake and [...]
February 22, 2010
The Village of Los Lunas Police Department set up a new program this week to more quickly and effectively respond to child abductions. Police Chief Roy Melnick said his department is now using LOCATOR, which stands for Lost Child Alert Technology Resource, a program created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. LOCATER [...]
February 17, 2010
Serious crimes like murder, forcible rape and robbery are down in Belen, while other crimes like assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft are up, according to a report released Monday by the City of Belen Police Department. The report shows Belen had four murders in 2008, but that number dropped to one in 2009. That [...]