National Guard successful Albuquerque draws mixed effect
Albuquerque, New Mexico — Outside his motorcycle store successful Albuquerque, New Mexico, James Grice each time clears trash earlier helium tin unfastened his doors to customers.
"All astir the building, it's conscionable a regular thing," said Grice, proprietor of J&L Motorsports, who added that helium besides sometimes has to wide distant unhoused people. "Yeah...I got idiosyncratic sleeping close determination close now."
There are slug holes successful his shop's windows, and Grice and officers with the Albuquerque Police Department told CBS News they person a sanction for this portion of the city, known arsenic the Central Avenue Corridor: the "war zone."
The Central Avenue Corridor has seen shootings, assaults and cause abuse, including fentanyl, which reached a level that drove Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina successful precocious March to contented a memo asking New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for reinforcements.
"As you whitethorn know, we person made important advancement successful reducing shootings and aggravated assaults on Central Avenue Corridor done a broad attack to nationalist information centered connected proactive constabulary activity," the memo read. "However, sustaining this momentum requires contiguous reinforcement."
According to a convulsive transgression survey conducted by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an enactment representing constabulary executives, the Albuquerque Police Department reported a driblet successful convulsive transgression successful caller months. It recorded 11 homicides successful the archetypal 4th of 2025, down from 21 successful the aforesaid play successful 2024. There were 48 rapes reported successful the metropolis successful the archetypal 4th of this year, down from 63 implicit the aforesaid play past year. The constabulary section received 153 robbery reports, down from 232 robberies past year, and determination were 895 aggravated assaults successful the archetypal quarter, down from 1,095 successful the aforesaid play of 2024, the survey said.
Grisham, a Democrat, responded to the memo by declaring a authorities of exigency successful April and authorizing the deployment of astir 70 New Mexico National Guard members to the city. The National Guard spent May successful grooming and arrived connected Albuquerque's streets connected June 5.
"I spot cause dealing, cause use, prostitution," Grisham precocious told CBS affiliate KRQE regarding the Central Avenue Corridor. "I interest astir quality trafficking. I spot unit connected the streets."
Those Guard members person been grooming successful situation involution and de-escalation. And dissimilar the California National Guard troops that were deployed by President Trump earlier this month successful effect to protests successful Los Angeles, the Guard members deployed by Grisham successful Albuquerque are not equipped oregon successful subject uniform, according to metropolis officials.
"The intent of it each is to escaped Albuquerque constabulary officers to beryllium much disposable to the community, to reply calls for service, truthful that's successful the capableness we'll beryllium doing this," Maj. Gen. Miguel Aguilar, adjutant wide for the New Mexico National Guard, said successful briefing past period successful Santa Fe.
Aguilar besides said that 53 of the 71 Guard members deployed are from the Albuquerque area.
"We manager successful the community, we enactment successful the community, it's a small antithetic erstwhile you speech astir the nationalist guard. I deliberation it's important to recognize that," Aguilar said.
During 2 homicide calls and a SWAT activation this week successful Albuquerque, the occupation of the Guard members was to unafraid a perimeter. That freed up constabulary officers who would person done that occupation to spell backmost connected the streets and respond to different calls, according to Albuquerque police.
"We request to halt playing games with crime," Det. Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, the department's union, told CBS News.
Willoughby has his doubts astir the effectiveness of the Guard's interaction truthful far. He believes the unit is excessively fierce for unarmed Guard members to assistance with.
"What are they going to do?" Willoughby asked. "They can't intervene. They don't person the authorization to instrumentality anybody to jail. They're not armed. They're going to beryllium successful 1 of the astir convulsive communities successful this country, successful a polo shirt, recognizing themselves arsenic this helper, and they're constricted onto what they tin do."
Civil liberty advocates are uneasy with immoderate program that increases policing. Still, Grice says the metropolis needs each the assistance it tin get.
Grice said helium has remained successful Albuquerque because helium needs to "make it work."
"I've got to enactment my family," Grice said. "I've got employees to interest about."
After CBS News finished speaking to Grice, it came crossed a transgression country successful which Albuquerque constabulary were investigating a imaginable homicide, conscionable a artifact from the beforehand doorway of Grice's business.
Jason Allen is simply a CBS News analogous based successful Dallas/Fort Worth. He was antecedently a newsman with CBS News Texas.
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