New Mexico Democrats mostly rebuff calls from Democratic governor to address high crime rates

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democrats in the state legislative majority on Thursday resisted calls by New Mexico’s governor for immediate action to address the “dangerous intersection” of crime and homelessness, shunning her proposals to enhance criminal penalties, restrict panhandling and expand involuntary detention and treatment for mental health problems.

Instead, the Legislature sent the governor a solitary bill that expands pilot programs for voluntary treatment of people with severe mental illness and addiction problems, along with an emergency aid package in response to devastating wildfires that burned through a village in southern New Mexico in June.

“We absolutely have a responsibility to do something about those people who are on the merry-go-round through our court system,” Democratic state Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, of Albuquerque, said as the Legislature convened. “But the answer isn’t to say we should start putting them in jail. The answer is to say we should start providing services.”

The bill won final legislative approval on a 30-0 vote of the Senate, which adjourned the special session over the objections of Republican lawmakers who found common cause with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a two-term Democrat.

The governor accused Democratic legislators of having “no interest in making New Mexico safer.”

“Not one public safety measure was considered,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Not one, despite the bills having the backing of police chiefs, public safety unions, mayors, prosecutors.”

It fell to Republicans in the legislative minority to introduce initiatives from the governor that would provide longer minimum sentences for gun-toting felons, combat fentanyl trafficking, restrict loitering on narrow roadway medians and take aim at organized crime by amending racketeering statutes. Those bills from state senators were referred to committees that never met.

“We embarked on this special session for one reason … it was crime, front and center,” said Republican state Sen. Greg Baca of Belen. “We had an opportunity here, and I want to thank the governor. … Why would we not take an opportunity to take a step?”

Democratic legislators said they shared the governor’s sense of urgency — but also are awaiting the research and recommendations of an ongoing state Supreme Court commission on mental health and competency.

“What we don’t need are bad bills that pass that are rushed, and then we are dealing with unintended consequences,” said Democratic state House speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque.

Senate majority leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe acknowledged a rift between Democratic lawmakers and the governor. But he urged her to support a $3 million allocation toward voluntary treatment programs for people with severe mental illness, through both civil and criminal court proceedings.

“I would suggest that by signing this treatment diversion money into law, it’s an important first step towards rebuilding the collaborative relationship that needs to exist between the three equal branches of government,” Wirth said. “New Mexicans want that.”

Separately, the bill would provide $10 million from the state general fund to assist the Mescalero Apache Tribe with wildfire losses and reconstruction.

And it contains a $70 million allocation from the general fund to local governments as they replace and repair infrastructure destroyed by wildfires, including a conflagration that raced through the village of Ruidoso in June. That funding is designed to speed up projects already approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The state expects to be reimbursed.

Lujan Grisham convened the special session in an effort to address stubbornly high crime rates. She repeatedly referenced a “revolving door” within the state’s criminal justice system that has resulted in dangerous individuals and those who need mental health services remaining on the streets.

“This should be a terrifying environment for anyone,” said Lujan Grisham.

FBI data shows steep drops in every category of violent crime across the U.S. in the first three months of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier, continuing a downward trend since a coronavirus pandemic surge.

That’s not the case in the Albuquerque metropolitan area — home to roughly one-third of New Mexico residents — where violent crime rates are holding steady at about three times the national average. Criminal cases involving juveniles and guns rose last year, as authorities also grappled with encampments of homeless people on sidewalks and in riverside parks.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Wednesday that the city cleared 1,000 encampments in June alone and spends $1 million a month on housing vouchers. It’s not enough, he said.

Several states including California and Tennessee are embracing a more forceful approach to untreated mental illness and addiction issues amid concerns about crime and homelessness.

Lujan Grisham wanted legislators to make it easier to place a person involuntarily into treatment. She also wants to give courts and prosecutors more leeway to detain and evaluate criminal defendants when mental competency is in question.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups warned that the governor’s initiatives would make it easier to force someone into a locked mental health facility.

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Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed.