Curbing gun violence has become the primary focus of the Metro Crime Initiative. Mayor Tim Keller introduced the second version of the initiative recently, citing statistics that show 90% of police cases this year have involved guns.
Keller said he is planning three Metro Crime Initiative sessions during the summer. The first will focus on gun violence in July, the second on drugs and behavioral health in August and the third on domestic violence in September, according to a report on KOB.
“In between these meetings, there will be separate subcommittee discussions as well,” Keller said.
The initiative’s objectives were discussed during a gathering at the park next to Washington Middle School where 13-year-old Benny Hargrove was shot and killed by a classmate last August. According to KOB and police reports, Hargrove tried to deescalate a violent situation between classmates while at lunch. He was shot six times by a classmate, 13-year-old Juan Saucedo Jr., according to the Albuquerque Police Department. Saucedo Jr. used his parent’s gun.
Rep. Pamelya Herndon called the setting “symbolism of why we are meeting here today. Every sudden death is tragic. We can’t simply accept these tragedies as a new way of life.”
Herndon sponsored the Benny Hargrove Bill, which would hold parents accountable for gun crimes committed by their children, but the legislation didn’t pass. The lawmakers who blocked the bill from advancing, according to KOB, were Reps. Patty Lundstrom, Phelps Anderson, Gail Armstrong, Cathrynn Brown, Ambrose Castellano, Jack Chatfield, Randal Crowder, Candy Spence Ezzell, Harry Garcia, Ryan Lane, Raymundo Lara, Candie Sweetser, and Anthony Allison.
Keller vowed to push for the legislation to be reintroduced in the next session. “If you are an elected official, if you are involved in the criminal justice system, and you cannot point to what you are doing differently to fix the criminal justice system, you are not part of the solution,” Keller said at the gathering.
Other action items that are being carried over from the first version of the Metro Crime Initiative are red flag gun laws that need improving and shared data platforms.
“All of these cases, and especially when you look things at domestic violence, childhood issues going through CYFD, and so forth, data is a huge stumbling block for part of the criminal justice system, as is tracking backlogs,” Keller said.
