An Albuquerque Police Department SUV sits in the parking lot for the Albuquerque Police Academy. (Photo by Shelby Kleinhans for Source NM)
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman — one of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s top advisors on criminal justice issues — wants New Mexico to focus much of its deterrence efforts on young people.
His plans, if approved, would lead to harsher punishment for children and young adults.
As the lead prosecutor for New Mexico’s population center of Albuquerque, Bregman has outsized influence on the statewide crime agenda. But it’s not clear that fellow Democrats in the Legislature will sign off during the 2025 session on everything he proposed.
“Too many people, too many victims, are killed by juveniles in our community,” Bregman said last week to the House and Senate’s Courts Corrections and Justice Committee. “We need all the treatment we can get for these young people and their families, but at the same time, there has to be a little bit of an ounce of consequence.“