Albuquerque mayor pleads with lawmakers to help with crime

“We are doing everything we can and we need your help,” he said. “So if that means amending things later, if it means new bills, that’s fine. We just need your help.”

At issue is legislation that would create a specific pathway for keeping defendants accused of murder, rape and other violent crimes jailed pending trial. District attorneys contend it would help close a revolving door in the criminal justice system, but public defenders and civil rights advocates say there are constitutional concerns and have questioned whether it would address the problem as intended.

Republican Rep. Greg Nibert, an attorney who represents constituents in a rural district 200 miles away from Albuquerque, said he has been working for years to fix what many have recognized as a broken system. He likened the current state of criminal justice to a slap on the wrist.

“I know that we as a legislative body have got to get a handle on crime if we have any reasonable expectation of having economic growth and having more prosperity for our citizens,” he said. “Businesses will not come to a place where there is rampant crime.”

The legislation comes as residents voice frustration about the shortcomings of New Mexico’s 2016 bail reform effort, which was designed to do away with the cash bail system and keep low-level offenders without financial means from languishing in jail. It also allowed prosecutors to seek detention for defendants deemed dangerous.

Officials with the Albuquerque Police Department testified Friday about the rise in crime over the last several years. Others talked about crime in the suburbs and in communities like Gallup, Aztec and Taos.

Albuquerque shattered its homicide record last year, and there have been several homicides since the start of the year.

In a nod to promises made by politicians during an election year, some lawmakers said they were worried about rushing any changes to the pretrial detention system without fully vetting them.

“We as legislators, we need to make sure that if the legislation moves forward, that we do everything in our power, that we do everything that we could possibly do to ensure that this piece of legislation passes constitution muster,” Nibert said.

Nibert said he expects the matter to end up before the New Mexico Supreme Court. He added: “It will be challenged. And if we are wrong, it will cost the state of New Mexico a lot of money.”

Democratic Rep. Gail Chasey of Albuquerque, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said she had concerns about how the bill was written and worried that it wouldn’t address the problem.

“I just hope we have actually have a solution that isn’t ignoring the reality and the data that we have now,” she said.

Chasey’s committee was expected to discuss the bill Friday, marking what could be its last stop before the House floor.

While police officers can attest to seeing more crime, Albuquerque Deputy Police Commander Kyle Hartsock testified that the number of criminals hasn’t necessarily grown, but rather the same people are committing more crimes.

“The same criminals know it’s a joke. They know they can just come out and keep doing these crimes over and over,” he said. “They know how easy it is to avoid detection of pretrial services monitoring, of probation officers and even police. Keeping certain violent criminals incarnated until their trial is honestly one of the only ways to keep this society safe.”

Officials also disputed the effectiveness of GPS ankle monitors when it comes to violent offenders, pointing out that defendants are not monitored around the clock nor are there immediate consequences if they violate conditions of their release.

“We have to match the right tool to the right process and the right crimes, and right now GPS monitoring is not the right tool for violent crimes,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said.