The Las Cruces Police Department hosted a town hall at City Hall Thursday night that was attended by over 100 people. Juvenile crime and competency were hot topics at the meeting.
Police Chief Jeremy Story alongside officers from the police department, ran the meeting that started off with an overview of recent crime stats. According to the presentation, overall crime was down 13% last year compared to 2024. Violent crime dropped by 19% and property crime dropped by 12%.
Deputy Police Chief Eric Urenda said that they were aiming for a double digit reduction and that the goal was met.
“Approximately this time last year, we told everyone that was present that our goal was to go into the double digits and that we are never going to be satisfied and that we will always be striving to improve our community,” Urenda said.
Story continued the presentation by talking about the rise in violent juvenile crime. He says that competency laws and other state laws have been a part of the high rate of reoffending. He hopes it will be addressed at the upcoming legislative session.
“There is hope. I have seen several draft bills, I think there are people that are working toward something that might actually pass, it may not be what I want, it may not be the perfect bill that that people in law enforcement or the district attorney's office want but again it is about little wins and moving the needle forward,” Story said.
After the presentation, the floor was opened to questions where residents talked one-on-one with police and law enforcement officials.
Las Cruces resident Tim Jenkins said that he showed up to the meeting because he wanted to support law enforcement and voice his want for change at the state level.
“We really need the legislature to listen to the chief of police and what is going on down here because without their support, the police department has their hands tied and we can't make the changes we need without their support or their help,” Jenkins said.
However, some people had different views. Resident Lucas Herndon said that the problem of juvenile crime is harder to solve than just more policing.
“The issue has always been and will continue to be resources, things for our children to do, access to not just schools but after school activities, safe places for them to go, safe places for them to be. The answer is not more policing, the answer is not more jail time,” Herndon said.
Police say this year they hope to implement more preventative forms of policing and new programs involving drones assisting police during calls.
