New Mexico violent crime, domestic terrorism examined

A group of New Mexico federal and state elected officials recently met in Santa Fe to address potential action to decrease violent crime and domestic terrorism risks in the state.

Officials said U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM) joined New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Speaker of the House Brian Egolf and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas in the dialogue, which stemmed from the domestic terrorism summit convened by the governor in August targeting proactive measures to identify parties who would strike any New Mexico community with mass violence.

“Our approach to crime-fighting and crime prevention must be proactive,” the officials noted via a joint statement. “Coming together to sustain a dialogue about preventative, evidence-based measures is an important step toward developing a substantive framework for information-and data-sharing that will help both state and federal public safety officials stay on the front foot.”

The Santa Fe gathering focused on federal and state efforts to enhance background checks; potential state legislation to consistently define and toughen penalties for domestic terrorism, to be considered for the upcoming 2020 session of the state Legislature; and continued improvements in sharing resources and data between state and federal jurisdictions.

“We must be as smart about crime as we are tough and together we will ensure New Mexico families, our shared constituents, are as safe in their communities as they can possibly be,” the participants concluded.