'Public safety is not a partisan issue'

SANTA FE — Republican lawmakers say this is the year New Mexico makes meaningful strides toward reducing crime rates that have for years outpaced national averages.

Their confidence owes much to the backing of a Democratic governor hoping to change a perception by some of her critics that she hasn't been tough enough on crime before her second term in office expires at the end of this year.

During Public Safety Day at the Roundhouse on Wednesday, New Mexico Department of Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie, one of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's first-term appointees, carried forward the governor's commitments this week to strengthen the criminal code where it comes to juvenile crime, pretrial detention, firearms and other areas targeted for legislative change.

"I know that 100% we can do better as New Mexicans," Bowie said at a news conference led by Republican lawmakers and law enforcement officials from throughout the state. "I'll finish what the governor said in her State of the State yesterday — it's not enough that New Mexicans feel safe, you have to be safe."

Several speakers said there is a particular need to sharpen penalties for violent crime, which was nearly twice the national average in 2024, according to a report from the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. The report also noted that about half of law enforcement agencies in the state were not current in their reporting of crime or clearance rates.

"If you want to tackle what's driving our crime problem, look no further than the fact that we don't impose timely or serious consequences on those who commit crimes," said Terri Cole, president and CEO of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. "There's just no other way to say it. Violent juveniles, released from jail. Mentally ill, released from jail. Repeat offenders, released from jail."

House Bill 67 would make it easier for courts to seize firearms from a defendant facing a restraining order in domestic violence cases, an issue that is often coupled with allegations of sexual violence.

"Sexual assault is not a crime perpetrated solely on the individual, but our entire society," said Angelica Calderon, executive director of La Piñon Sexual Assault Recovery Services in Las Cruces.

She referred to the most recent New Mexico Crime Victimization Survey, to which 19% of respondents said they had been a victim of domestic violence and 33% said they had been stalked between September 2023 and June 2024.

Lawmakers in the 30-day session will also consider passage of House Bill 61, which elevates the crime of aggravated battery upon a peace officer from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony.

Several law enforcement officers in New Mexico have been shot in the line of duty in recent years. Justin Hare, a State Police officer based in Tucumcari Station, was shot and killed in 2024 while stopping to help a stranded motorist on I-40.

"Just about a month ago, we had a police officer who was out on a traffic stop," Bowie said, offering another example. "She was giving a citation to a motorist, and from an unknown direction, she took random gunfire."

In her State of the State address, the governor also made reference to a desire circulating the Legislature again this year for "tougher laws to punish felons in possession of firearms because gun violence is disproportionately perpetrated by repeat offenders — we must hold them accountable."

House Bill 49 would change the penalty for felons, who are prohibited by law from possessing firearms, from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony for a first offense and a first-degree felony for any subsequent offenses.

Stricter gun laws have been a theme of the governor's administration, and she said on Tuesday she hopes lawmakers will also consider a ban on "assault weapons."

A range of bills this year also seek to address a rising juvenile murder rate in New Mexico in recent years. Proposed laws would add prohibitions for juvenile offenders from possessing firearms and allow courts to refer to sealed juvenile offense records when considering pretrial detention motions, conditions of release and sentencing.

Two families of missing persons, 13-year-old Rio Rancho resident Andrew Gonzales and 53-year-old Taos County resident Melissa Casias, who went missing last June, were also present at Wednesday's press conference.

They addressed legislators and law enforcement leaders about their perception that public safety agencies aren't doing enough to find people who disappear in the state.

"I'm working with an advocacy group now because you get to a point where you don't know what to do," said Trudy Najera, Casias' sister. "I've reached out to all the domestic violence shelters in New Mexico. I have left my name."

In her comments, Cole echoed bipartisan sentiments shared widely on Tuesday at the start of this year's 30-day session.

"Public safety is not a partisan issue," she said. "It is an economic issue. It is a quality of life issue, and frankly, it is an existential issue for New Mexico's future."

John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.