Albuquerque has the ignominious distinction of being home to what has become known as the “war zone,” an area on the east side of the city that straddles Central Avenue, so named because of the absolute scourge that has befallen this area. Once marked by quaint adobe homes and international businesses of renown, it now reeks and is dotted with what appeared as evidence of campfires built against the walls, many recently built apparently higher. The only business that appears to be doing well is a dispensary with a line around the block.
If you have 53 minutes of free time, I highly encourage anyone interested to search ‘Albuquerque war zone’ on YouTube. A You Tube content creator recently took a deep dive into the area, prompted by a resident of Las Cruces who asked him to investigate. Of course, Albuquerque is a much larger metropolis, but the similarities between them and us are obvious. Writhing drug addicts, uncontrolled fires, residents that are terrified, litter and drug paraphernalia strewn about, tent camp musical chairs. Ironically, the content creator also describes a homeless shelter, where tiny homes were erected in an effort to provide a housing-first flagship. Those homes, a resident laments, were never occupied and had all the copper wiring stolen instead to, likely, procure a few hours of high. The old adage “give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach a man to fish and feed him forever” apparently doesn’t extend to a housing first model. Instead of a permanent roof over their head, they’d rather have a few hours of pain-free euphoria – although, admittedly, at the risk of frequent overdoses.
So, too, does Albuquerque share state laws with Las Cruces. A certain local senator insists that we need to emulate El Paso to understand how to handle our homeless and/or crime situation, but I’d rather compare apples to (same state laws) apples. At least that’s what makes sense to me.
It is a sobering reality of the direction Las Cruces is headed: a nexus for homelessness, rampant drug use, skyrocketing crime, endless rhetoric about solutions that people paid a lot of money to read about in a textbook but in practice have proven to be overwhelming failures. Including in Las Cruces, where millions of dollars have been dumped into the issue over 18 years with no measurable successes. And clearly no changes in the law to combat any of it. And no interest in any discussion whatsoever regarding reverting to tactics that worked for decades, based in the most fundamental principle that crime goes down when the criminals are in jail.
If Las Cruces needs a crystal ball, look no further than 250 miles to the north. It’ll tell you all you need to know about our not-so-distant future.
Shawna Pfeiffer is a life-long Dona Ana County resident, graduate of NMSU, small business owner, hobby farmer, dog-lover, outdoor enthusiast and mother to two young children. She can be reached at srpfeiffer1@gmail.com.
