As Albuquerque awaits, NM National Guard readies to launch Operation Zia Shield

SANTA FE — With just a few weeks before more than 70 New Mexico National Guard members hit the streets of Albuquerque, top law enforcement officials involved in planning the unusual deployment insisted it will not be military occupation of the state’s largest city.

During a Wednesday news conference at the National Guard headquarters in Santa Fe, Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina expressed confidence about the operation that’s expected to fully begin around Memorial Day weekend.

“There is no intent of a military presence in Albuquerque,” said Medina, who reiterated the National Guard members deployed on the mission, officially called Operation Zia Shield, will not carry guns, wear fatigues or be authorized to make arrests.

In all, 71 members of the National Guard will be deployed as part of the mission, which was authorized last month by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham upon a request from Medina. In making the request, the police chief said it would free up Albuquerque Police Department officers to fight crime. Medina has said the guard members would do auxiliary duties for APD — like direct traffic and secure perimeters — so not as many officers will have to.

Of the guard members being deployed, 53 are from the Albuquerque area, said New Mexico National Guard Adjutant General Miguel Aguilar.

“It’s our community,” Aguilar said during Wednesday’s news conference. “We’re from this community.”

But some local residents remain concerned about how the operation will play out, especially in Albuquerque’s International District along East Central that has seen high rates of open air drug use and homelessness in recent years.

Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, who represents a legislative district that encompasses the area, said in a recent interview that not all area residents were on board with the plan.

“I’ve got concerned constituents,” Stewart told the Journal. “I hope what the governor and the mayor are trying to do works.”

The National Guard deployment has drawn national media attention, while also generating criticism from prominent New Mexico Republicans like state GOP chairwoman Amy Barela, who said Lujan Grisham was “giving cover to a Democrat-run city entrenched in crime.”

However, APD officials have cited statistics showing a drop in Albuquerque’s homicide rate so far this year compared to 2024.

The arrival of National Guard troops could help sustain that trend by freeing up police officers from routine tasks, Medina said Wednesday.

“I’m at the point of my career that I’m not afraid to stick my neck out and try something outside the box,” Medina said.

In preparation for the deployment, the National Guard members who volunteered for the assignment have undergone extensive training in recent weeks. Some of that training includes self-defense tactics and responsible use of force, said New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler, whose agency assisted with the training.

“We want to make sure the guardsmen have the ability to protect themselves,” Weisler said.

While they will not carry firearms, the deployed National Guard troops will carry pepper spray for self-protection, just as police aides do, Medina said. He also said they would carry Narcan, which can be used to reverse an overdose of fentanyl or other opioids.

During a Wednesday crisis intervention training session that was open to reporters, National Guard members sat in a conference room responding to questions from a psychologist about ways to interact with individuals dealing with mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.

Several of the National Guard members present for the training said they signed up for the mission out of a sense of community duty.

“It’s an opportunity to help the community and that’s why I volunteered,” said Staff Sgt. Alfonso Deocampo of Bosque Farms.

Meanwhile, Aguilar said the New Mexico National Guard would still have the capacity to respond to any wildfires, flooding or other natural disasters that might occur in the coming months. He also said the Albuquerque operation would not interfere with plans to send National Guard troops on overseas humanitarian missions.