Town Hall talks crime, guns, fentanyl -- and a measure of optimism

Apr. 18—Leaders in law enforcement and criminal justice gathered to answer questions and ponder fixes to public safety Wednesday in an auditorium of the African American Performing Arts Center.

The two-hour town hall, put on through a partnership between the Journal, KOAT-TV and radio station KKOB, hosted a panel of Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, Sheriff John Allen and state Attorney General Raúl Torrez.

The trio was also joined by Nicole Chavez, a Republican House seat candidate and public safety advocate since her son was killed in a 2015 drive-by shooting.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was invited to be on the panel, and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller was invited to attend. Both cited scheduling conflicts.

Police Chief Harold Medina, who heads the largest law enforcement entity in the state, was invited to attend the town hall but not asked to be a panelist.

More than 80 people from law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and businesses made up the audience.

During the invitation-only event, the panelists covered a variety of topics, including children's access to guns, a spike in shoplifting and the disconnect between lawmakers and law enforcement officers on the street level.

They advocated for harsher penalties for youth offenders, laws to hold people behind bars for certain crimes and criticized a dearth of resources — amidst a state budget surplus — to treat the underlying drivers of crime, like drug addiction and behavioral health.

However, Torrez, Allen and Bregman all expressed — to differing degrees — that New Mexico is on the right track.

Bregman said law enforcement has "never been more laser focused" on public safety in Bernalillo County. Allen said, though they are making an impact, it's going to take time for people to see and believe the results. Torrez asked that the community hold onto hope and keep pushing for political action statewide.

"We have been having this conversation in one form or another for many, many years. And I know that it seems like an impossible task," Torrez said. "This challenge is something that can be overcome, but it's going to require focus and determination and leadership."

Torrez said, above all, it would take "political will" to solve, noting that Lujan Grisham announced a special legislative session less than an hour before the start of the town hall.

"That's an easy thing to do, is to call a session," he said. "A harder thing to do is to galvanize the political will that we need to come up with a balanced approach to a complex issue."

The town hall included segments on a big screen of local businesses relaying their exasperation at retail crime — appearing at times to conflate it with homelessness — and relatives of those who have been slain in Albuquerque asking why plea deals are made with their killers.

When asked if more laws are needed to deter retail crime, Torrez pivoted and said "the most impactful thing" he wants to focus on is young people and guns.

He said a recently passed law requiring a seven-day waiting period to buy a gun may stem suicides but is unlikely to keep guns from kids, who find them easily on social media.

Torrez said dealing with retail crime, however, means treating the drug addictions and mental health issues that drive it.

Bregman called fentanyl "the root of so much crime" and juggled the idea of forcing treatment on those who "would not have committed a crime were it not for their addiction."

"You can't fight this fentanyl issue, for example, just by prosecuting your way out," Bregman said. "... We also need to do something about the demand. We have to have a two-pronged approach when it comes to fentanyl."

Bregman compared the public safety issues to "a big ship in the ocean."

"We need to turn it around and we are turning. It takes time. By no means do we not have so much more work to do," he said. "Because we do, in getting a handle on everything from shoplifting, to violent crime, to fentanyl, to juvenile crime, to juveniles with guns, all of those things. We're going to continue to grind it out every single day."

Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers told the Journal she hoped "some action" comes out of the town hall.

"Hopefully, it created some synergy and some momentum. I think people are really thinking about this issue of crime, homelessness, how all those intersect with each other," she said.

Rogers said she appreciated Torrez connecting the state's low rate of child well-being and lack of resources to the current challenges with crime and public safety.

Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett called the town hall "an important conversation" that he hopes reaches the Legislature.

"A legislative body needs to be listening to the people who are on the ground, dealing with it every single day. And that's our police officers, that's our prosecutors," he said.

Farmington City Manager Rob Mayes said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the candor of the panelists in identifying the challenges facing the state.

"It's a tough and complicated problem. Obviously, the great discussion about the resources needed for (New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department), mental health, all those things are a factor," he said. "But ... we've got to close the revolving door (of incarceration) and a lot of discussion about that was true. The proof will be in the pudding."