() A majority of violent crimes are committed by people younger than 40, but police in Albuquerque say they’re confronting a wave of crimes committed by individuals well below that benchmark as in, not old enough to walk into an R-rated movie by themselves.
A recent incident highlights the issue in graphic detail. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has released drone video from a February incident in which two children, 7 and 9 years old, waved a loaded gun. Police eventually fired rubber bullets to scare them into dropping the weapon.
The children were not injured, but Albuquerque police say teen violence is on the rise. They say they don’t have the resources to stop it.
That’s why they’ve asked New Mexico’s governor to send in the National Guard.
Now, dozens of troops will deploy to the city as soon as this weekend. Soldiers won’t be making arrests or even holding guns. They will help support the police and assist vulnerable community members, including young people.
In the “land of enchantment,” the city streets of Albuquerque are far from charming. Homeless encampments clutter back alleys, syringes line sidewalks and men sit on curbs, cuffed.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina says his officers have arrested nearly 4,000 people so far this year.
“They’re not the problem. The broken criminal justice system is the problem,” he said.
Crime appears rampant in Albuquerque. came upon a head-on collision at an intersection, where the suspect fled on foot. Eyewitnesses say they saw him drop drugs, immediately picked up by others.
The police ended up apprehending the suspect an alleged drug trafficker with a long rap sheet but this type of activity is why the Albuquerque police chief says he needs help from the National Guard.
Eighty members of New Mexico’s National Guard have volunteered to protect the streets of Albuquerque. They’ve trained for nearly 300 hours and will begin their street patrols at the end of this month.
received behind-the-scenes access to their latest training about intervening in a moment of crisis.
“It does hit home, and I do hope that this helps out the community,” said Staff Sgt. Alfonso Deocampo.
The supporting role of the Guard members is limited, but their daily presence frees up local officers to focus on more pressing matters, including the rise in juvenile crime.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office says violent crime among teens has skyrocketed 60% since 2022. District Attorney Sam Bregman said his office has charged 46 different minors with murder in the last two years alone.
“It is an unbelievable statistic, and it’s heartbreaking,” he said. “It’s going in the absolute wrong direction.”
In one highly publicized case, authorities say three juveniles joyriding in a stolen vehicle deliberately plowed into 63-year-old cyclist Scott Habermehl, killing him. The oldest minor has been charged as an adult, while the 13-year-old who was driving the vehicle recently reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will be freed from custody at age 21.
The third offender will be charged with murder when he turns 12 and could be sentenced under similar terms, the DA has said.
Bregman said the state’s outdated juvenile justice laws fail to hold criminal teens accountable and haven’t been updated since the 1990s.
“I can’t prosecute my way out of this,” he said. “This has to be an entire community effort … We need to come together, recognize this as a problem and make sure we build in consequences.”
Habermehl’s widow, giving a victim impact statement last week, said she’s not ready to forgive. But she said she hopes the state figures out a way to make the streets safer.
More than half of the National Guard volunteers are locals to Albuquerque. They say they want to ease the concerns of their neighbors.
