Sen. Cervantes et al.- the city of Las Cruces is suffering from a spike in crime associated with the unmanaged homeless situation, increased drug use and the problem of a revolving door court system that refuses to hold criminals no matter the charge. The excuse is that the Bail Reform amendment of 2016 gives too much leeway in the decision making process- I have heard a judge from T or C say that repeat offenders can indeed be held but our courts down here do not appear to have the will or fortitude to impose any consequences on repeat offenders. The system is broken and no one locally will stand up to protect the law abiding citizens of Las Cruces. Sen. Cervantes, you have been quoted saying that the 2016 amendment gave ‘high priority to civil liberties at the expense of public safety’. You have the position and responsibility to do some thing to correct this problem. I appeal to you and your committee to push for a new amendment to straighten out this mess if that is the needed action. Your job should prioritize protecting the law abiding citizens over the criminal element. Please do your job. Yours truly, Jody Kincaid DVM ND
