More NM women end up in prison

New Mexico’s female prison population is on the increase, along with the percentage imprisoned for drug and property crimes, according to the New Mexico Sentencing Commission.

The reason for the trend is unclear, said Linda Freeman, executive director of the commission. But since 2001, there has been a 41 percent increase in the number of women prisoners.

“We have spent the last three or four years scratching our heads trying to figure out what is going on with the female population,” Freeman said. “It seems like there’s a lot of potential for improvement.”

The topic of the state’s female prison population was one of several issues discussed Thursday during a Criminal Justice and Public Safety Task Force meeting.

The task force was created by the Legislature this year to identify and address problems with the state’s criminal justice and public safety systems.

Albuquerque’s rising crime rate was one of the reasons the group was created. Its members are supposed to create a report for the Legislature

by October.

Freeman, during a presentation on arrests in inmate populations, said the state hit the mark for the most women incarcerated in the state’s history with 797 female inmates in February of this year. The number dropped to 755 this month.

There are currently 6,599 male inmates throughout the state, which represents a 2 percent decrease since 2016.

Nearly 40 percent of female inmates are being incarcerated on drug crime charges. But fewer than 20 percent of male prisoners are locked up because of drug crimes. More than 60 percent of males are in prison because of a violent crime conviction, according to the presentation.

According to the sentencing commission, the number of women prisoners is expected to continue to increase through 2020.

Also during the task force meeting on Thursday, members heard about Albuquerque crime data and the public’s opinion on crime, which was gauged through surveys and polls.

Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., said that more than 50 percent of Albuquerque residents feel they are likely to be the victim of a crime in the next year and nearly 60 percent of residents think that the criminal justice system is too lenient.

He also said that, for 30 years, voters, when polled, have said the most pressing issue facing the city changes between economic development, education and crime. Currently, we’re in a “crime wave,” he said.

“This is the mind set of voters in Bernalillo County, today, given the atmosphere,” Sanderoff said.