Governor expands public safety emergency order in northern New Mexico

SANTA FE — At the request of local and tribal leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has gradually expanded an emergency order focused on reducing violent crime and drug trafficking in northern New Mexico.

The governor's senior public safety adviser Benjamin Baker said Monday the multi-jurisdictional effort — it now involves six separate tribal governments and two counties — has led to a 40% decrease in outstanding felony warrants in Rio Arriba County in a roughly 90-day period.

He attributed that to better collaboration among law enforcement agencies, along with a more visible presence in certain drug trafficking corridors.

"Our preliminary assessments after the first 90 days of this unprecedented collaboration show incredible promise for a safer community and region," Baker said in a statement.

As part of the emergency order, roughly 50 New Mexico National Guard members have been deployed in Española, Santa Clara Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh to assist local law enforcement officers. The guard members do not carry firearms and have not been tasked with making arrests.

National Guard troops have not been assigned to work in Santa Fe County and on the Jicarilla Apache Nation, which were both added to the governor's initial emergency order. But law enforcement officials in those jurisdictions have been taking part in weekly briefings and planning efforts, according to the Governor's Office.

Española City Councilor Sam LeDoux said Monday the National Guard deployment has freed up the city's police department do more criminal investigations.

He also said the initiative has reduced panhandling in Española, and also made local residents feel safer.

"I know that a lot of people are more comfortable at night," LeDoux told the Journal.

However, he also acknowledged concern about whether the city and other nearby jurisdictions will be able to sustain the momentum once the National Guard deployment ends. The Governor's Office did not immediately say Monday how long the order might remain in place.

"Part of the issue with the Española Police Department is it's not the size it needs to be and hasn't been for a long time," said LeDoux, who said the city currently only has about 27 active police officers.

The governor has now issued five executive orders focused on crime and public safety in northern New Mexico since her initial order declaring a state of emergency in Rio Arriba County in August 2025.

Each of those orders authorizes up to $750,000 in state funds for the multi-jurisdictional effort, which can be used to help pay for overtime costs, drug-testing technology and other expenses. The most recent order was issued this month.

While the initial order did not include Santa Fe County, the county was added after Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza sent a letter to the governor requesting assistance dealing with a "sharp rise" in violent crime and drug-related crimes, particularly related to fentanyl.

Española, which has about 10,000 residents, straddles Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties.

Despite a recent decrease, New Mexico's violent crime rate was still nearly twice as high as the national average in 2024, according to a recent legislative report.

In addition, while nearly half of all reported crimes that year occurred in the Albuquerque metro area, Gallup, Taos and Belen all had higher per capita crime rates than New Mexico's largest city.

The report also found that better data sharing could improve the efficiency of the state's criminal justice system, which has struggled with chronically low clearance rates for felony cases.

Before issuing the public safety emergency order for Rio Arriba County and its surrounding areas, Lujan Grisham issued a similar order for Albuquerque.

But a six-month deployment of the New Mexico National Guard — at a cost of roughly $7 million — to Albuquerque ended with the governor's administration criticizing city leaders for not showing more initiative to maximize the assistance the city received.

While the Albuquerque Police Department said the deployment — dubbed Operation Zia Shield — led to decreases in property crimes and robberies in the Central Avenue corridor, APD Chief Harold Medina acknowledged the corridor's appearance had not significantly changed.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.