I’ve spent the last eight months or so trying to get versed in ways to affect change in my hometown as it relates to the crime taking over our community. I’ve talked here about the root causes, warring opinions on what needs to be done, legislation to target and other in-depth discussions. But the other day, I realized: none of that matters if we don’t fix, and quickly, a critical shortage in Las Cruces.
The Las Cruces Police Department is allotted 220 commissioned officer positions. The city of Las Cruces has approximately 120,000 residents. If you assume 12-hour shifts, that’s approximately one officer for every 1,000 Las Cruces residents at any given time during a regular duty day. When you consider that a lot of our SWAT and other specialized officers support multiple other jurisdictions throughout southern New Mexico during high priority or higher risk situations, our police force is stretched very thin. And most people, myself included, probably don’t consider immediately the less obvious parts of an officer’s job, like filing reports, completing paperwork and attending court sessions. No wonder our neighbors lament increased response times when they attempt to file police reports for vandalism, theft or damage to property.
Unfortunately, however, Las Cruces doesn’t have 220 officers on the force. And it’s not a few less, either. No one wants to be a police officer anymore. And who could blame them? In very recent history, calls to defund the police and otherwise vilify them at every turn made the noble aspiration of being a law-enforcement officer a bit sour for those pursuing criminal justice degrees or even wearing a cute costume on Halloween as a four-year-old. In New Mexico, our governor removed qualified immunity, meaning officers have to make split-second decisions that could mean they either don’t go home to their families or they are sued into oblivion and/or prosecuted as criminals themselves.
This begins to paint a picture of a community that is on the brink of a crisis. With increased crime and a wave of fentanyl rotting our population from within, our border town is no match for the upward trend toward lawlessness if our police force is not robust. We cannot ask our heroes in blue to stand between us and oblivion without strength in numbers and the best equipment our tax dollars can buy.
Next week, we will discuss more about the situation in Las Cruces and how we can all help.
