New Mexico’s special legislative session to address public safety began and ended in a matter of hours. The sole bill that made it to the governor’s desk addressed funding for wildfire recovery efforts and appropriated $3 million to fund assisted outpatient treatment programs and competency diversion pilot programs. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham called the session one of the most disappointing days of her career due to the lack of action taken by the legislature.
Many within the state agree that more must be done to address issues surrounding crime and poverty. However, there are ideological differences on how to bring effective change.
During the special session, New Mexico Senator for District 35 Crystal Brantley introduced two bills that would have increased penalties for fentanyl possession and distribution.
“I think those [are] all different pieces of the puzzle. In order to address the crime safety issue, the rising crime issue, we have to address mental health. We have to address our substance abuse crisis. We have to address the fact that we are tying our police officers and our judges hands and we’re not able to hold our criminals accountable.” she said.
Before the special session, the ACLU of New Mexico and dozens of other organizations sent an open-letter to the governor opposing legislation related to civil commitment, competency, and median safety.
“While well-intentioned, [these approaches] threaten to exacerbate the very issues they aim to fix,” the letter stated.
In Las Cruces, the city is having its own debates about how to reduce crime. A preliminary report from the City of Las Cruces Police Department shows that year-to-date, property crime is down 9%, but violent crime is up 58%. The city council is scheduled on August 5 to vote on ordinances that would target panhandlers and individuals that use shopping carts to transfer their belongings, but some argue that further penalties and criminalization don’t work.
Johana Bencomo, Mayor Pro Tem for the city of Las Cruces, said that issues the state’s dealing with won’t be remedied by further criminalization, and that she views policymaking from a public health and social work perspective.
“The reality is that our communities, municipalities across the state, are absolutely in need of deep and serious investments in housing, and flexibility in housing, and capacity for housing advocates. In serious investments in mental health treatment and substance use treatment. That is where our focus should be. I really believe that criminalization is lazy policymaking and we have to take this challenge as serious as it is, [because] these are some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”
As the special legislative session came and went, some Las Cruces business owners were looking along with disappointment, hoping that there would be more dialogue around the issue of public safety, but disappointed that it ultimately came to a close so soon.
Vic Villalobos is one of those business owners and one of the founding members of Businesses for a Safer Las Cruces, and said he was let down by the lack of action taken at the states capitol.
“I think in general it just showed that our legislators [just] didn’t care at all. To not even consider some of the other issues that are going on when it’s literally running rampant, not only through our city, but our state, is just really disappointing.”
Villalobos said he’s in favor of more public programs to address housing shortages and substance use disorders, but felt that the state’s legislature should have taken more action.
“These are baby steps of trying to make improvements for our community, for our state, for everything. And I think that this was just another failure of that system at a state level, that they weren’t even willing to give the governor a try on this. I think it’s disrespectful in general, not only to the governor, but the constituents of this state. We want change. We’re looking for answers and we want to make a difference. And that was a pretty bold slap to the face.”
Amidst the policy debates and political disagreements, aid organizations like the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope continue to provide housing and other services for individuals who are in need.
Executive Director Nicole Martinez said what’s essential is more resources, and said that bills focusing on issues like median safety don’t actually address the needs of New Mexicans.
“The data has not been there that it’s panhandlers who are causing those crashes. So to me, it seems that this is just another way to stop people who are asking for money from being visible in our community when instead we should be looking at traffic infrastructure, and why people don’t have livable wages or enough disability income and fixing those root sources.”
Martinez said she hopes lawmakers emphasize advocating for more resources that bolster availability to rehabilitation services.
“I think that the urgency is to create more housing and to provide more support for service providers and services that are needed by people who are experiencing poverty and homelessness. Where’s the urgency in that?” she asked. “We’d love to see more money being focused on those issues so that we aren’t enacting legislation and promising people these safety nets that aren’t there.”
New Mexico’s legislature will meet in January for a 60-day session where public safety is all but certain to be a top agenda item. But first, legislators will be moving into election season where New Mexicans will be searching for solutions to the situation at hand.
