For quite a long time, New Mexico has been facing issues connected with high crime rates. As per the data of the FBI, New Mexico has the highest overall crime rate in the United States in 2021, where around 7809 crimes occurred per 100,000 of the population. Comparatively, the average crime rate of the nation per 100,000 population of the country for 2021 was approximately 2700.
Poverty and Income Inequality
High crime rates in New Mexico abound among the societal problems recognized to be linked with great degrees of poverty and income disparity. For instance, whilst the United States has just 12.8%, New Mexico has 18.4% of its population living under the poverty level. New Mexico also boasts rather substantial income disparity; the state ranks second only among the states in the United States in this regard. People living in poverty are driven to the brink in quest of food or means of income, and most of the time they turn to criminal activity. Many New Mexicans may feel as though their only option is to turn to criminal activity to live given the great rates of poverty and inequality.
Substance Abuse
As is the case in many other states, substance abuse is a prevalent problem in New Mexico. New Mexico has this and the next two rates higher than all but a few other states: drug overdose death rate; and alcohol-induced death rate. Moreover, it is ranked 2 in drug overdose death rates in the United States. Buying, selling, and consuming illicit substances are usually followed by other criminal activities as well as violence. Furthermore, drug or alcohol users are risk-takers who can turn to theft or other unlawful activities simply to support their habit if need be. It can be seen now that New Mexico has an above-average substance abuse problem that might be causing some of the crime.
Domestic Violence
However, it is also sad that New Mexico also has very high rates of domestic violence and has the highest death rate ratio in the country due to domestic violence. This raises questions as to whether there are problems in resolving conflicts, students’ aggression, and even the involvement of gangs in families and partnership disputes. Domestic violence is often not an isolated incident but rather a cyclical process that can continue in successive generations while escalating crime levels. Eradicating and or controlling domestic violence is one of the most challenging issues that the state has faced. And until the domestic violence subsides, total violent crime will probably remain at very high levels.
Incarceration Rates
Even though one would expect greater incarceration rates to translate into reduced rates of crime, the opposite could be the case. An interesting fact is that New Mexico has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States and at the same time possesses an extremely high crime rate. Parole policies have also had severe penalties that result in overcrowding of prisons at higher costs to the taxpayer while yielding little in terms of increased safety. Also, those who were released back to societies without skills and resources to support themselves will follow the same cycle of criminal activities again. New Mexico may want to consider using rehabilitation programs to help the inmates become productive members of society after their released from the facility rather than solely relying on the strong sentencing measures.
Those who have had a bad experience with law enforcement have a negative
Some of the New Mexico communities share a tense relationship with police forces resulting from commonly observed police brutality and racially fueled conflicts that reduced trust. Of all the reasons that contribute to the communities’ lack of trust in police, it is evident that when citizens lack faith in police they will not offer any assistance in cases of criminal incidences. Police cannot also prevent crimes as they often go without citizens’ cooperation or tips from some of the victims of the crimes. Rebuilding broken bonds by ensuring the police authorities are accountable for their actions and efforts put in place to ensure that the community works together in fighting crime can go a long way in solving the problem in the long run.
Gun Accessibility
Even though the rights to bear arms are cherished by many people in New Mexico, the state can be considered fairly permissive regarding gun ownership – no background check is necessary to purchase a firearm from a private seller, for example. And finally, the availability of guns, or rather the ability to purchase a firearm makes violent crimes possible to conduct since there are always those who will provide the opportunity for these individuals with histories of domestic abuse or mental illness. This was the idea of reasonable background check policies that could effectively prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands, while at the same time not encroaching on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Conclusion
Altogether this leads to the that poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence cycles, inmate recidivism, mistrust of police among communities, and easy access to firearms contribute to the creation of certain conditions that cause New Mexico to remain a state with exceptionally high levels of crime compared to other states in the United States of America. Addressing any one of these sources independently would be ineffective and would probably not yield any results. Therefore, to effectively combat crimes across New Mexico, its officials need to come up with a complex intervention mechanism that targets each of the foregoing key factors. New Mexico’s socioeconomic and cultural disparities remain an alarming concern due to the massive spendthrift and policy shifts targeting social issues that might start to alter crime rates across the state.
