SENATE MEMORIAL 38

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, IN COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL ENTITIES, STUDY AND COMPILE DATA REGARDING CRIMINAL STREET GANG INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION AND CONSOLIDATE AND CENTRALIZE STATEWIDE EFFORTS ON COMBATING CRIMINAL STREET GANG ACTIVITY.

     WHEREAS, the 2008 United States department of justice national gang intelligence center report shows that criminal gangs in the United States have swelled to an estimated one million members and are responsible for up to eighty percent of crimes committed in communities across the nation; and

     WHEREAS, the national gang intelligence center estimates that there are six hundred eighty gangs with approximately thirteen thousand eight hundred members in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, there are approximately five to seven gang members per one thousand residents in New Mexico, making it one of the top five states per capita in gang membership in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, there are approximately four to six gang members per every law enforcement officer in New Mexico, the third- highest ratio in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, criminal street gangs pose an ever-present danger to all New Mexicans, in all communities and across all socioeconomic divisions; and

     WHEREAS, the impact of criminal street gang recruiting is especially felt by the youth of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, currently, no statutory definition or common analytical structure exists to adequately combat the violence and attendant issues surrounding criminal street gangs;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of public safety, in coordination with federal, state and local entities, be requested to study and compile data regarding criminal street gang intervention and prevention; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of public safety be requested to consolidate and centralize statewide efforts on combating criminal street gang activity; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of public safety be requested to coordinate with federal, state and local partners, including the corrections department, the children, youth and families department, the offices of the district attorneys, representatives from county and local law enforcement and others, as the secretary of public safety deems appropriate, in order to agree upon a common definition through rulemaking that will assist in reducing the violence, harm and criminal activity associated with criminal street gangs in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the entities with which the department of public safety coordinates its efforts to reduce gang activity use the following definition of "criminal street gang":

"criminal street gang" means an ongoing group, club, organization or association of three or more persons that has as one of its primary purposes the commission of one or more of the criminal offenses described in the New Mexico Criminal Code, Chapters 30 and 33 NMSA 1978"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the coordination among these entities reflect the best practices and findings of the national gang intelligence center and other federal efforts to address criminal street gang activity; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of public safety present the preliminary findings of these entities' efforts at coordinating to reduce gang activity to the appropriate interim legislative committee by November 30, 2013; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public safety, the secretary of corrections and the secretary of children, youth and families.

- 4 -