OPINION: Legislators must balance public safety and compassionate support

When a first responder hears someone say they have the desire and the plan to harm themselves, those first responders know exactly what they need to do. They know they are tasked with giving their patient the ability to stay one more day — a choice that person may not have been able to make for themselves at that moment.

For some who may be in a mental health crisis or active addiction, threatening harm to themselves, or others, prompts us to search for ways to help them and the community at large, only to find that the systems in place have failed to address our needs.

As city councilors, we support legislation that works toward this goal and ask that our legislators do as well.

Legislation that can provide concrete means of assessing the risk individuals pose to themselves, and others, allows us, as local policymakers, to take action with service-based programming and partners like Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, Peak Behavioral Health, Mesilla Valley Hospital, FYI+, the newly opened Las Cruces Recovery Center and the reopened Doña Ana Crisis Triage Center.

Even in a city the size of Las Cruces, we frequently see people in our community — family, friends and strangers — who cannot care for themselves. Our law enforcement officers, and other first responders, see them even more often encountering the same struggling community members multiple times per week.

They, and all of us, walk a fine line because we do not have the power to compel those who are a danger to themselves into safer situations. Too often, they are left to their own devices in situations with little hope for a chance at a healthier life, when we know that treatment or housing, or a listening ear, could make a world of difference.

In New Mexico, our laws are not keeping pace with our realities. While there are multiple lenses through which we can explore this problem, two essential elements to consider are criminal competency and criminal commitment.

Cities are asking hard questions daily: What does it look like for individuals to reliably care for themselves in fundamental ways that allow them to enjoy fulfilling lives, such as maintaining nourishment, physical health and social relationships? What are our responsibilities — as leaders, as first responders, as law enforcement and as neighbors — to those who cannot?

We urge the Legislature to support bills, including versions brought up by our governor, that allow us to prioritize public safety and secure the resources we need to provide compassionate and impactful support to those in our community who need it.

We know we’re not lawyers and understand that we must walk a tightrope between competency and compassion, between public safety and personal responsibility, and between mandates and stepping off a slippery slope.

However, we are committed as elected officials to giving all our residents a chance to pursue happiness and live in safety. We hope that our legislators can help us do that at a local level.

Becki Graham represents District 3, and Cassie McClure represents District 1, on the Las Cruces City Council.