Rep. Stansbury Passes Crime and Public Safety Package
Rep. Stansbury votes to pass four bills to send more resources to New Mexico to address crime, public safety, and behavioral health needs, including a bill she cosponsors
WASHINGTON–Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) voted to pass four public safety bills that to help address crime and public safety in New Mexico.
The bills will provide grant funding to support training, recruitment, and retention for small public safety forces, especially important for rural and Tribal departments in New Mexico, will support victims of crime and help stop cycles of violence, and make it easier for state and local governments to send trained mental health professionals when an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis.
“Every New Mexican should feel safe. My job in Congress to help ensure that our communities can access public safety resources, so that our state, local, and Tribal governments can address crime, public safety, and behavioral health needs across our communities. Today, I was proud to pass a package of bills that will do just that,” said Rep. Stansbury. “This legislation, including the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022, of which I am a proud co-sponsor, will help to address the causes of crime while supporting victims, interrupting cycles of violence, assisting small law enforcement agencies and supporting the mental and behavioral health needs of New Mexicans as we continue to work to address our public safety in a holistic manner.”
The legislation Rep. Stansbury helped pass includes:
The Invest and Protect Act of 2022 (H.R. 6448), provides a grant program to support small police departments with recruitment, training, and mental health resources they need.
The VICTIM Act of 2022 (H.R. 5768), establishes a Department of Justice grant program to hire, train, and retain detectives and victim services personnel to investigate crimes and support victims.
The Mental Health Justice Act of 2022 (H.R. 8542), cosponsored by Rep. Stansbury, establishes a HHS grant program to pay for hiring, training, salaries, benefits, and additional expenses for first responder mental health provider units.
The Break the Cycle of Violence Act (H.R. 4118), authorizes federal grants to communities for evidence-based community violence intervention and prevention programs designed to interrupt cycles of violence.
On her first day in office, Rep. Stansbury helped secure $1 million in funding to support the Violence Interruption Program at the City of Albuquerque’s first Trauma Recovery Center. This program deploys proven models to break cycles of violent crime and increase access to wraparound services.
This year, Rep. Stansbury also secured an additional $18 million for Community Funded Projects that will help to tackle the biggest challenges facing New Mexico’s communities. These projects will help get fentanyl off the streets, invest in mobile crisis teams, and address public safety, housing and homelessness, and behavioral health.