SANTA FE, N.M. – Lawmakers introduced a sweeping public safety package Wednesday, the first of its kind this session. While Democrats think it’s a great start at turning our crime problems around, Republicans said it’s not even close to going far enough. 

It includes six public safety proposals rolled into one bill. It passed the final House committee Thursday on a party line vote.

It includes the massive criminal competency reform bill, a ban on gun conversion devices, reworking our state’s DWI laws, and increasing punishments for shooting threats, trafficking fentanyl, and stealing vehicles. 

Republican lawmakers and advocates said there are concerns. They support mostly everything included, but said there’s nothing in the package to tackle violent, juvenile crime. 

Several law enforcement leaders in the metro, including Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen and District Attorney Sam Bregman have been pushing to reform our juvenile justice system because of how many teens we’re seeing involved in serious crimes. 

But Democratic Rep. Christine Chandler, who is the lead sponsor of the package, said there will be more public safety bills to come. She was asked specifically about the Children’s Code, which is a major part of any juvenile justice reform. 

Chandler testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee and said bills relating to the code hadn’t been vetted. 

“I think we need the time and deliberative process to work on that bill, and I’m sorry people are disappointed that we didn’t rush it through but rush doesn’t mean good,” Chandler said. “Rush often gets to outcomes that are not good.” 

We saw a similar approach to public safety reform in 2022. Lawmakers passed a package of bills to recruit and keep law enforcement, and strengthen gun penalties. However, then Bernalillo County DA and current State Attorney General Raúl Torrez said it was a missed opportunity to significantly impact public safety issues we saw then. 

Newly-elected state Rep. Nicole Chavez has similar concerns about this session’s package. 

“I just feel like this crime package doesn’t go far enough to address crime. One of the biggest drivers is juvenile crime, and it’s gotten worse and worse since my son was murdered almost 10 years ago this year,” Chavez said. 

Chavez’s son was 17 years old when he was killed at a party in Albuquerque during a drive by shooting. 

Since this package passed the House Judiciary Committee, it goes to the full House where we’re expecting even more debate over whether it does enough for public safety.