The New Mexico Legislature is set to begin a 60-day session Jan. 21, and with a rise in crime among teenagers, residents and members of law enforcement hope lawmakers will find a solution.
A Crisis is unfolding in Albuquerque, Albuquerque Chief of Police Harold Medina told KRQE-TV, and he says crimes committed by young offenders are getting worse.
“Juvenile arrests are increasing each year,” he said. “Over the last 5 years, Albuquerque police arrested or cited 2,600 adolescents ages 11 to 17.”
The chief also told KRQE that several factors contributed to juveniles committing crimes, but said he believed a huge factor is a lack of supervision and an inability by children to de-escalate conflicts.
“They’re very poor at doing that,” he said. “Simple fights should not result in a homicide.”
Residents feel the impact rising youth crimes has on the community, especially new residents.
Margaret Sioux, who moved to Albuquerque last year from Nebraska, said she is scared for her teenage son because of rising crime in New Mexico.
“You know, my son is about 15 and as a freshman in high school … he’s told me horrible stories about the other kids in his class,” Sioux said. “It was never like this in Nebraska. I’m afraid to even send him to school.”
Sioux says the only option she sees is for lawmakers to create new laws that would target youths and to enact policies that help alleviate stressors that push kids into crime.
“I believe that those kids doing crime at such a young age learn it from somewhere, and it probably starts in the home,” Sioux said. “When young boys and girls see their parents doing drugs or role models acting violent they pick up on that … the only way to help these kids is to fix what they’re dealing with at home.”
Crime rates in Albuquerque remain among the highest in New Mexico, with Bernalillo County consistently leading the state in violent offenses. In 2022, Bernalillo County reported a violent crime rate of 1,266 incidents per 100,000 residents, more than triple the national average of 381. Albuquerque saw no decrease in violent crime from 2023 to 2024, while property crime, including motor vehicle thefts, spiked by 31% during the same period.
Among youths, the picture is particularly grim. Firearm-related incidents among juveniles have surged, with New Mexico experiencing a 62% increase in firearm-related homicides between 2018 and 2022. Youth-related emergency room visits for gunshot injuries also rose, signaling a growing public health and safety concern.
However, Medina said that simply arresting kids doesn’t tackle the bigger issues, like asking lawmakers to make serious changes.
“I hope that the state legislature, with all this extra money, can have the foresight to sit back and think how do we start building roadmaps to success and not just do patchwork,” Medina said in an interview with KRQE.
He also asked for more parental and guardian involvement.
“Know their friends and remember, it’s okay to be a parent and upset your kids at times,” he said. “I think that a lot of times people don’t want others to know what’s happening. When there’d be a lot of people there to help you, especially family members, if you asked for help.”
According to a report by KRQE, the Albuquerque Police Department is working to include more community engagement, and it appeared that early positive involvement with law enforcement can be a step in the right direction. APD is also working with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office to get stricter penalties on violent youthful offenders, hoping new laws will deter criminals.
Bernalillo County’s district attorney in October asked lawmakers to make it easier to keep violent youths behind bars before the upcoming legislature, insisting that current laws make it hard to hold even dangerous juveniles to account until they kill someone.
“The juvenile criminal justice system in New Mexico is broken,” 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman told the Legislature’s Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee. “I do not say that lightly, nor do I cast blame on anyone or any branch of government.”
According to the Santa Fe The New Mexican, Bregman and Assistant District Attorney Troy Gray shared statistics and stories about youth arrests for violent crimes, asking lawmakers to consider code changes to hold young perpetrators responsible for their actions.
“Today, a 15-year-old could be driving around with his friends in a stolen car with 10 fentanyl pills and an AR-15 and likely wouldn’t spend a single night at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center,” Bregman said. “That juvenile will face little to no consequences, and they know it.”
During his speech, Bregman said there are 61 children in the youth detention center now, many charged with gun crimes and even some charged with murder. In his 18 months heading the DA’s office in the state’s most populous county, Bregman said he has prosecuted 319 cases involving a juvenile committing a crime with a handgun and that he has indicted 20 juveniles for murder — all but one is facing a first-degree charge.
“I believe that is absolutely unacceptable — not the fact that my office indicted them, but the fact that 19 children are accused of murder in the first degree and there are 20 lives gone because of them,” Bregman said.
Residents in Albuquerque can’t help but agree, like Don Grahm, who has lived in New Mexico his entire life.
“I’m an old man, I’ve seen this state go through lots and lots of changes and I can’t remember youth crime being so bad,” Grahm said. “I used to walk with my son downtown way back in the day, and now I’m afraid to leave the house … who knows how many of these kids have guns?”
Legislators can begin pre-filing bills for the upcoming session on Jan. 2. The session begins at noon on Jan. 21.
Grahm said he hopes lawmakers can see the damage youth crime is doing to the community.
“They need to make a change immediately,” Graham said. “So many families are ripped apart because their kids are criminals or are the ones being hurt by others … this is a big problem, and I hope New Mexicans grasp the severity of this situation.”
