Legislature focuses on training, deterrence to fight crime

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state legislators have bundled together initiatives aimed at reducing violent crime and improving policing with an emphasis on hiring, training and tracking excessive force incidents.

The move comes amid calls from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to crack down on urban crime and violence.

A Senate panel on criminal justice continued to refine the crime bill on Tuesday with time running out on a 30-day legislative session that ends Thursday.

The bill boosts retention pay and death benefits for police, shores up training and would prompt tracking of excessive force reports and related firings.

It underwrites alternatives to traditional prosecution and incarceration in efforts to stem gun violence.