HONORING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

SM008

SENATE MEMORIAL 8

57
th legislature
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
second session
, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Jay C. Block

A MEMORIAL

HONORING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, more than eight hundred thousand law enforcement
officers in the United States risk their lives daily to serve
and protect their communities, including approximately four
thousand six hundred law enforcement officers in New Mexico;
and

WHEREAS, there are now more than twenty-four thousand
names on the walls of the national law enforcement officers
memorial, reflecting the names of law enforcement officers who
have died in the line of duty in the United States since 1786,
including one hundred sixty-two from New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, law enforcement officers perform their dangerous
and difficult jobs honorably and professionally, with an
overwhelming majority of Americans reporting positive
interactions with law enforcement officers; and

WHEREAS, innovative and dedicated efforts by law
enforcement officers have been successful in reducing crime
rates over the past thirty years from historic highs in the
nineteen-nineties; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, law enforcement officers have
faced increasingly hostile environments and threats to their
safety, with over seventy-nine thousand officers assaulted in
2023, the highest rate of assaults against officers in years,
and one thousand fifty-five officers have been shot in the line
of duty in the past three years in the United States, resulting
in the deaths of one hundred seventy-two officers; and

WHEREAS, during the past year, law enforcement officers
employed by United States immigration and customs enforcement
have experienced a dramatic escalation in threats and
hostilities directed against them in carrying out their duties
across the United States, including a one thousand three
hundred percent increase in assaults, a three thousand two
hundred percent increase in vehicular attacks and an eight
thousand percent increase in death threats, according to
statistics provided by the United States department of homeland
security; and

WHEREAS, according to the national law enforcement
officers memorial fund, more than two thousand five hundred law
enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in the
United States in the past ten years; and

WHEREAS, law enforcement officers typically encounter an
average of four hundred to six hundred traumatic events in the
course of their careers, compared to three or four such events
for the average citizen; and

WHEREAS, the high number of traumatic events experienced
by law enforcement officers has contributed to a suicide rate
that is fifty-four percent higher than workers in other
professions; and

WHEREAS, the number of full-time state and local law
enforcement officers in the United States dropped by more than
five percent between 2019 and 2021, the equivalent of losing
thirty-seven thousand officers, leaving state and local
agencies with dangerously low levels of sworn officers to serve
and protect communities; and

WHEREAS, supporting law enforcement officers with the
equipment, training and funding needed to protect communities
from criminal acts and violence has long received overwhelming
public support across the political spectrum;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE
OF NEW MEXICO that law enforcement officers be highly respected
and valued in New Mexico and greatly appreciated for all they
do to serve and protect their communities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that law enforcement officers who
have died in the line of duty, and the families of those who
have died in the line of duty, be remembered and honored; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all levels of government in
New Mexico be requested to work to ensure that law enforcement
officers receive the support and resources needed to keep all
New Mexico communities safe and to undertake measures to
maximize the safety and well-being of all law enforcement
officers, including increased police personnel, improved
training and equipment, increased penalties for violent acts
against law enforcement officers and increased mental health
resources for law enforcement officers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the governor, the secretary of public safety,
the chair of the New Mexico sheriffs' association, the
president of the New Mexico association of chiefs of police and
the president of citizens behind the badge.

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