By Matthew Reichbach
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will deploy members of the New Mexico National Guard to Albuquerque to help police address crime in the city.
The governor made the announcement Tuesday, and it came after a request from Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina. She said she would deploy between 60 and 70 members of the National Guard to the city.
“The safety of New Mexicans is my top priority,” Lujan Grisham said. “By deploying our National Guard to support APD with essential duties, we’re ensuring that trained police officers can focus on what they do best – keeping our communities safe. This partnership represents our commitment to addressing the fentanyl crisis and juvenile crime with every resource at our disposal.”
The City of Albuquerque said late Tuesday afternoon that the National Guard members “will be easily identifiable by their polo shirts, not fatigues, will be unarmed, and will not be involved in community interaction or use military vehicles.”
“We’re finally seeing a sustained positive shift in most crime trends for the first time in decades, and now is the time to build on that momentum. We appreciate the Governor and National Guard’s offer to help,” Mayor Tim Keller said. “Given fiscal uncertainty from possible federal cuts to law enforcement, and local government challenges around the opioid funding, we will continue to push for every available resource for Albuquerque. This type of civilian support has worked in other cities, and if it proves effective here, we’ll continue it—if not, we’ll send them back.”
According to Lujan Grisham, the members are already being trained to assist APD under the supervision of the state Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Public Safety, New Mexico State Police and APD.
At the end of March, Medina wrote a memorandum to the governor’s office requesting National Guard support.
He said that they needed resources to help APD address “the fentanyl epidemic, coupled with an increase in violent juvenile crime.”
“The important tasks of providing law enforcement presence at City transit facilities, at Metropolitan Court, or at the Sunport cannot be disregarded, yet those tasks require reallocating officers from our streets,” Medina wrote. “Albuquerque needs its officers making arrests and stopping crime.”
Medina requested help with scene security and traffic control at “critical incidents,” assisting in the intake and transport processes at the Metropolitan Detention Center, supporting Sunport security and more.
Lujan Grisham slammed the legislature for not passing more bills related to public safety during the recently concluded legislative session. She said she would call legislators into a special session for public safety later this year.
Update: Added information from the City of Albuquerque and a quote by Mayor Tim Keller.
Now the military on our streets! Why not add funding and more training to the ABQ. PD? Aren’t we seeing enough of a rise in the militarization of our federal police? This is a terrible and lazy way to address this issue! Terrible because it brings troops to our streets! Just because they are the Guard, they are still troops and that is proven by their use in the previous Middle East wars! Lazy because it is the easy way out and is something we would expect to see in Mississippi, or Florida, or Idaho! This is New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment, and not some Red State that cares nothing about its citizens!
This is a terrible decision and may well lead to other issues should something go wrong! Remember Kent State!
Omg, Bill, Bill, Bill you must live in Albuquerque acres, or just completely out of touch. The police department does not have the staffing due to defunding and difficulty finding young people that can pass the testing, drug testing and criminal records. This is what happens when the police are vilified for doing their job. Who wants to work in that toxic environment when you are not respected.
New Mexico needs help!! Face it Bill!