So should grant for area plagued by crime

Torrez also announced a $1 million Bureau of Justice Assistance grant for a new Community Based Crime Reduction program for the city’s International District — roughly from Lomas to Gibson and Carlisle to Eubank.

The effort brings law enforcement, government, researchers, substance abuse providers and community groups together via a leadership council, and adds a new social worker liaison between residents and programs and agencies, and a community prosecutor working out of the Albuquerque police Southeast Substation.

The front-line effort promises to get those with the most knowledge of the neighborhood engaged in making it a safer place to live and visit. That’s essential, since data analytics found that while just 6.7 percent of people in the city live in the area, it was home to 27 percent of the city’s murders and 37 percent of the nonfatal shootings in a three-year period.

All Albuquerque residents deserve better, and the efforts of many to tackle crime in a smart as well as heartfelt way are bearing early fruit. It is essential the 2019 Legislature takes note, renews its additional funding of Torrez’s office, as well as adequately invests in programs that are delivering results.

Because everyone wants New Mexico to be known for the many positive things it has to offer, not its crime.