EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — New Mexico lawmakers are set to return to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Wednesday for a special session called for by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but juvenile crime reform is notably absent from the agenda.
Despite a significant increase in juvenile crime, particularly violent crimes and homicides, not a single bill directly addressing juvenile crime made it across the finish line during March’s legislative session. The issue has not been prioritized for the upcoming special session either, which has sparked frustration among law enforcement officials who are calling for urgent action.
Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story expressed his frustration over the lack of legislative action during a live interview with KTSM 9 News evening anchor Andy Morgan on Thursday, emphasizing the growing problem of ‘kids killing other kids’ in the state. Chief Story highlighted that juveniles committing crimes in New Mexico do not fear the current system in place. He noted that young offenders often believe they can evade consequences, as evidenced by their conversations on jail calls and social media.
“We are seeing example after example where our system is not holding kids accountable,” said Chief Story. “We hear from the kids themselves on jail calls and through their social media that they do not fear consequences in New Mexico. They know they can get away with it because they’ve done it before and their friends are getting away with it. There is no fear of consequences and if our kids are saying that, we should listen.”
Chief Story has engaged in discussions with lawmakers from both political parties, advocating for changes to the juvenile justice system. He hopes that the issue will be addressed in the following legislative session in January.
The absence of juvenile crime reform from the special session agenda leaves law enforcement officials like Chief Story frustrated, but hopeful for future action to address the rising tide of juvenile violence in New Mexico.
“There needs to be some changes to the system,” said Chief Story. “When kids do something, there needs to be consequences. Hopefully, when they’re doing things early in the process that don’t include murder, the consequences correct their behavior.”
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTSM. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTSM staff before being published.
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