New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez announced Tuesday that he will create a working group to develop public safety policy solutions.
These policy solutions will aim to improve public safety and address mental and behavioral health needs. They will also add to progress made by groups led by Martínez and the New Mexico Department of Justice in 2023. The NMDOJ was known as the Attorney General’s office at the time.
Martínez said the group will be made up of law enforcement officials, city and state leaders and community advocates.
“In recent sessions, we’ve made significant progress to keep dangerous individuals off of our streets, keep firearms out of the wrong hands, and increase penalties for violent offenses, while also working to address the root cause of crime. But we know more work needs to be done,” Martínez said in a press release. “We’re going to keep bringing together all stakeholders, including our grassroots community leaders, to tackle crime from all angles and put forward meaningful solutions that improve public safety throughout New Mexico.”
One of the working group’s purposes will be to create and evaluate actions that could improve New Mexico’s criminal justice and behavioral health systems’ efficiency. One example would be mandating the availability of court-ordered mental health treatment.
The working group’s aim is to have its work ready for the 60-day 2025 legislative session.
“We all want to make our communities safer. We also want to make sure that when our neighbors are struggling with substance use or mental health issues, they can get the help they need,” New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Briana H. Zamora said in a press release. “Connecting the dots between law enforcement, the judiciary, community leaders, and policymakers is exactly what we need to develop effective solutions that will make a meaningful difference for families across our state.”
The group is expected to meet throughout the year to discuss and evaluate proposed policies for Martínez and other House Democrats to recommend to interim committees.
