NM State Police sees 25% increase in DWI arrests, 18% drop in use-of-force incidents in 2023

New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler says while it was encouraging to see more DWI arrests and less use-of-force incidents in 2023 compared to 2022, more needs to be done when it comes to public safety.

Last week, State Police released 2023 data to show highlight achievements the agency made in some key areas .

State Police spokesman Ray Wilson said there were double-digit percentage increases last year in agency arrests (12.8%, from 6,074 in 2022 to 6,850 in 2023); DWI arrests (25.2%, from 1,353 to 1,694), and traffic citations (25.4%, from 139,676 to 175,143).

The increases are the result of a more proactive role taken by the agency, Weisler said, part of which included undertaking more DWI operations that targeted areas such as La Bajada Hill on Interstate 25 north of Albuquerque.

Additionally, Wilson said there was a 19.9% decrease in incidents involving pursuits — from 241 in 2022 to 193 in 2023 — and a 17.9% drop in use-of-force incidents — from 195 to 160.

Weisler said an increase in training in areas such as crisis intervention and the use of less lethal force during incidents “has helped a great deal in lowering” the use-of-force numbers.

He also said agency’s officers are accustomed to dealing with situations by themselves, which helps their “de-escalation skills.”

State Police officers have to be good talkers to get through situations, Weisler said.

While the DWI arrests and use-of-force stats are encouraging, he said he saw about a 46.7% increase — from 15 in 2022 to 22 in 2023 — in “primary calls” for homicides.

“We handled 47% more homicides as a primary agent, (which) kind of goes to show the rural parts of this state are struggling with (police) staffing,” said Weisler, adding that “one of the benefits of State Police is that we can deploy our resources wherever they’re needed in the state.”

It’s nice to see things going in the right direction, Weisler said, but “we obviously still have a lot of work to do.”

Along with helping other law enforcement agencies in the state, Weisler said he is proud of seeing an increase in community engagement, which underscores “our proactive approach to building strong partnerships.”

The better the relationship with people, Weisler said, the more likely they will call law enforcement when they need to, which will lead to building trust and and “better overall community safety.”