Public safety and youth crime continue to be a major point of focus in Las Cruces after Friday night’s shooting at Young Park. KRWG’s Jonny Coker spoke with Becki Graham, the City’s District 3 Councilor, regarding her thoughts on the tragedy, and the plans for the city moving forward.
Transcription:
Jonny Coker: Councilor Graham, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me today.
Becki Graham: Thank you so much for reaching out.
Jonny Coker: Of course. Well, I just wanted to begin by asking, you know, how are you processing this tragedy as details continue to unfold?
Becki Graham: I think I just keep saying the same thing when a thing is not a surprise, but it's always a shock. I think, unfortunately, we recognize the crisis that is gun violence in this country. And I suppose that would be naive to say I would never expect it to happen here. But even when it does, the pain cannot be predicted.
Jonny Coker: And as the representative for the district where the shooting occurred, what are the most pressing concerns that you've been hearing from constituents and the broader community?
Becki Graham: I think the the fact that it happened in Young Park, which is just such a heart of District 3, it's a place that practically everyone has visited, can picture in their minds, I think that it feels as if it happened in our collective backyard. And the personal connection that so many folks in the district have with Young Park just makes it all the more painful.
Jonny Coker: And, you know, the shooting took place after dark during an unsanctioned car show with a lot of young people, is what it seems like the details are right now, many of them under 18. Are there discussions on how the city plans to engage with teens or maybe work to create more opportunities for safe places for young people to hang out? Or are those all still very preliminary, considering we're just sort of at the beginning of this whole thing?
Becki Graham: Of course it's preliminary, but already top of mind. I'm in discussion with some of my colleagues that we would love to have some youth focused — I don't even want to call it a town hall — youth focused discussion to get the perspectives of this critical part of our community in terms of how we can, first of all, provide better spaces or better ways for them to come together to do the sort of things that they want to do, but also to keep up promotion of things that maybe they weren't aware of. We do have some great youth and teen centered programing that I think sometimes the word just doesn't get out.
Jonny Coker: I see. And, you know, beyond that, have you had any discussions specifically with law enforcement regarding immediate steps being taken to prevent this type of violence from from taking place again?
Becki Graham: ...Law enforcement is still in their first steps and, you know, ongoing with their investigation, with making arrests. But I'm confident that [Police Chief Jeremy Story] and the other leadership of the department are going to be more than willing to come to the table and discuss exactly those kind of solutions, recognizing that this isn't only a law enforcement issue.
Jonny Coker: And, Councilor, you did mention something about holding events, you know, with youth participation, to figure out how to get more youth involved activities in the city. But what role do you see community members, whether it's individuals or NGOs, playing a part in addressing violent crime in our community, specifically when it comes to young folks.
Becki Graham: Yeah, I love that question because it's exactly as you're saying. This is this is a community partnership. There is no one answer or one organization or one institution who can deal with this all on their own. And what I think Las Cruces has going for it is deep partnerships between city government, faith institutions, nonprofits, other community partners, sports clubs, anything where youth are already joining, doing, you know, being together in their own community. And I think it's just that. It's a multifaceted conversation where everyone is bringing their small piece to what can be a workable solution.
Jonny Coker: Well, Counselor, I want to thank you so much for taking the time out of your day for talking with me. I appreciate the insight.
Becki Graham: Thank you so much, Johnny, and appreciate local reporting always.
