The temperatures outside were chilly but the discussions were filled with a heated determination inside the Calvin Hall at the University of New Mexico-Gallup on Dec. 3, when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham welcomed guests to a Public Safety Town Hall where she was joined by local and state officials for an open discussion on safety across New Mexico.
Crime and public safety remain a key issue for Gallup residents, and some of them got to ask the panel about the city and state’s efforts to confront these issues.
OFFICIALS ON HAND
Lujan Grisham thanked the efforts of Sen. George Muñoz, D-N.M., and Rep. Patty Lundstrom, Dist. 1, in her opening remarks where she acknowledged the immense challenge of strengthening public safety.
“We need the resources to make good on our commitments,” Lujan Grisham said. “Public safety is an issue, frankly, across America. It’s in every community, in every corner. It’s powerful to recognize that we have an issue.”
Despite the challenges that the state and country face, the governor said that there are also many groups in place that face those challenges for the people.
“You’ve got the judicial system that includes district attorneys and public defenders,” she said. “We have an attorney general, special prosecutors, city police, county sheriffs, state police, federal police, and partners including the DEA and FBI and more. Then there are the policy makers; the legislators can make, change, amend, and repeal the laws.”
One of the challenges that these entities can all face, however, is a lack of communication that makes some processes more time-consuming than they should be.
“A lot of these jurisdictions do not work very well together,” Lujan Grisham said.
However, the governor praised the local police jurisdictions stating they have gone for every grant opportunity for retention and recruitment and have met their goals every time.
SCHOOL SAFETY
One of the first questions mentioned funding for school safety, which the governor replied to by speaking to the new resources being obtained such as cameras, fencing, and high-tech response alarms to protect students, teachers, and administrators in schools.
The funding sought for these resources must first go through two state entities before it goes directly to public schools: the Department of Finance and the Public Education Department.
“I will personally find out where all the allocations are and make sure they get over the finish line,” Lujan Grisham said. “We’ve been very interested in making sure our schools have the equipment, technology, and efforts that make them safer.”
One of the questions directed to the panel brought up the Aug. 15 shooting of a Hozho Academy student. When the Sun spoke to the victim’s family after the incident, they cited the speed in which law enforcement alerts the public of an incident, which is often too late.
Lujan Grisham voiced her concern on the matter and mentioned how the public can blame local officials for these issues but that the stalling is not deliberate.
“This was never the intention of any of the policy makers. I don’t think there is effective training, [communication], it’s gotten completely upside down,” The governor said. “Your legislators are very interested in hearing where you think the pressure points, the policy changes, are accruing. We are asking for clarity on where to go and take responsibility when it’s not right.”
PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE
Amid the bevy of questions, the governor stated that one of the key priorities continues to be protecting the most vulnerable people. These include domestic violence victims and children who are struggling to stay in school.
Some of them deny the services that are offered for various reasons, sometimes due to not wanting to be put in a place where they can be found, but Lujan Grisham said that it is important they do not falter on their goals to provide for them and used a parent and child from Espanola as an example.
“You do not give you, you stay the course. You provide respect, empathy, compassion. We used evidence-based trauma-informed strategies,” she said, adding that the pair is now in housing and the child has returned to school. “I don’t need that to be a one-off, I need this to be the example for everywhere.”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
The town hall stretched out for several hours and included questions that covered many areas that are not unfamiliar to Gallup residents: substance abuse, injuries to homeless people and their impact on residents, and violence on the streets.
Lujan Grisham summarized one of her points by stating that this was the entire reason for hosting the town hall: that enough is enough with these issues. They may persist, but she shared some of the progress that has been made with all of them and residents should be encouraged to do more.
“We need to do more with gun violence, a lot more, but we’ve done a ton. And I’m interested in more,” she said.
The full town hall can be viewed online at the governor's Facebook page and YouTube channel.
