{"id":44796,"date":"2024-04-05T18:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T01:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=44796"},"modified":"2024-04-05T14:21:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T21:21:15","slug":"no-replacement-for-hard-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/no-replacement-for-hard-data\/","title":{"rendered":"No Replacement for Hard Data"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Subscribe to NMiF Enews<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWe have a lot of public safety issues that in my view still require immediate and dramatic attention.\u201d That quote from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during my interview with her this week serves as a boiled-down version of her urgent, albeit vague, appeal for a special session as she tries to convince state lawmakers to reconvene at the Roundhouse this spring. And while a large swath of the public might feel the same way, legislative leadership seems skeptical of how effective the governor\u2019s proposed bills would be in curbing the \u201cpublic safety issues\u201d she\u2019s concerned about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read our newsletter each week, you might remember my very first essay<\/a> on Lujan Grisham\u2019s executive order banning guns in public spaces in Albuquerque and the surrounding area. My goal with that piece was to highlight the disconnect between the perception and the reality of gun violence in our state\u2019s largest city. This week, I\u2019m drawn back to that line of thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m also interested in what specific problems the governor is trying to solve with the bills she\u2019s put forward. When I asked her that question, this was a portion of her response: \u201cIt\u2019s happened to me personally and I\u2019m going to bet it\u2019s happened to members of your team where you work \u2014 where someone is chasing the car or outside with a crowbar, a machete, a 2×4, trying to push into you with a shopping cart…I\u2019m looking to attenuate that behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I can\u2019t say I or anyone I know has been chased through the streets of Albuquerque by a machete-wielding madman, there is no denying that I and many other people have experienced some pretty strange and frightening incidents. The power of anecdotal evidence cannot be discounted, but it should not be used as a replacement for hard data, something that\u2019s often lacking from the larger conversation around public safety in our state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That brings me to a question Correspondent Gwyneth Doland asked of Daniel Williams, the ACLU of New Mexico\u2019s policing and policy advocate: \u201cIs this a real emergency or a political one?\u201d That\u2019s something I can\u2019t prove one way or another, so I won\u2019t try. But it is a question we as voters should all consider, so I encourage you to watch Williams\u2019 response during our second segment of the show this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that legislative leadership remains hesitant, or even resistant to taking up the governor\u2019s preferred bills is another interesting factor in this equation. I asked Lujan Grisham why she expects they might change their tune in the next few weeks when they haven\u2019t strayed off-key for the past three and a half months. She didn\u2019t give a clear answer other than to say she\u2019s working at it and keeping the conversation going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is to say, as much as Lujan Grisham might want one, I don\u2019t know whether we\u2019ll see a special session on public safety this year. And as dire as many people think the crime situation is in Albuquerque and around the state, I don\u2019t know whether any of the bills the governor wants on the call would have a tangible impact on the actual crime happening in New Mexico. We won\u2019t reach any level of certainty that legislative action is a viable solution if that action isn\u2019t backed up by the data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Lou DiVizio Senior Producer <\/p>\n\n\n\n