GOP-sponsored crime bill package is probably dead

January 31st. A package of legislation introduced by a former police officer known for his crackdown on crime proposals was blocked on Tuesday by Democrats in the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and Public Affairs.

While the panel could vote to revive the five bills sponsored by Rep. Bill Rehm of Albuquerque, the decision to introduce them likely means they are dead before the end of the legislative session.

“This Legislative Assembly has no desire to prosecute criminals, period,” Rehm said after the hearing. “I can’t believe how we’re not going to deal with crime.”

Blockade measures would protect merchants from prosecution for stopping shoplifters; sentenced to life imprisonment for a person convicted of a third crime; filed a felony charge of using a firearm during a drug deal; increased penalties for possession of fentanyl depending on the number of pills consumed; and increased the sentence for offenders convicted of using a firearm to commit a crime from three to seven years.

Democratic lawmakers and members of the public who opposed the bills said the judges already had options to achieve what Rem intended and argued that imposing tougher penalties would not necessarily deter criminals.

Rather, they say the state should do more to invest in mental and behavioral health treatments, including for substance use disorders, to help stop violent crime.

Rep. Andrea Romero, a Santa Fe Democrat, told Rem that his bill to increase criminal penalties for possession of fentanyl “doesn’t solve the root of the problem for me.”

She sees no connection between the fines his bill imposes and “what we can do to reduce the harm caused by fentanyl,” she said.

New Mexico, and Albuquerque in particular, is known for high levels of violent crime, and fighting crime has been a key issue in the 2022 gubernatorial race between Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and her Republican opponent, Mark Ronchetti.

The story goes on

Last week, Lujan Grisham held a press conference where she promised to solve the problem of crime surrounded by law enforcement officers and leaders of both major political parties.

Rem’s ideas were clearly not part of the governor’s master plan.

In many cases, the report on the budgetary impact of the bill he proposed notes that studies have shown that longer jail terms do not deter criminals as much as the fear of being caught.

Rehm, who has worked for more than 20 years in the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, disagreed.

Based on his experience in uniform, he said, “Criminals who had spent a lot of time in prison didn’t want to come back.”

A woman who lost her 4-year-old son in a drive-by shooting in Albuquerque has spoken out in support of one of Rehm’s bills, arguing lawmakers should take action to get guns off the streets. “I believe that New Mexico has lost enough children under the age of 18,” she said.

Conversely, a woman whose son was addicted to drugs said she did not believe that jailing drug addicts who had committed crimes would solve the problem.

In an attempt to defend a bill that would send a three-time offender to prison for life, Rem said that some offenders were not eligible for rehabilitation.

Referring to Jeffrey Dahmer, the late serial killer known for cannibalizing victims, Rehm told the committee, “If we think we can exonerate Jeffrey Dahmer, there’s no way.”

“He not only killed people, but, as you know, he ate them.”

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