Anger downtown over crime, homelessness
TAOS — As property crimes rise in the Taos Historic District, some landlords have decided to take matters into their own hands, building physical barriers and installing surveillance cameras in areas of high activity.
Maya Cabot had to place a gate in the rear of her building — blocking off a major pedestrian walkway. The gate cost her almost $15,000, she said, and her costs rose when the solar panel that powered the gate was stolen during construction.
The gate was even vandalized with a message of anti-gentrification.
“Taos isn’t the same anymore,” Cabot said.
Shop owners have formed an online group where they tip each other off to problems and share security footage. They watch out for one other. The network and the business owners’ vigilance have even led to some arrests.
Taos police Chief John Wentz said the program has helped address crime in the area, which many people blame in part on homeless individuals arriving from out of town, speculating they’re drawn by shelters and social services. Their concerns come as the state has seen an increase in homelessness, with a legislative report in 2023 citing a 48% rise over the previous year.
The business owners also point to an understaffed and underpaid police force that is unable to have a continuous presence in the district.
Wentz said his department has two to four officers patrolling the jurisdiction at any given time and currently has three vacant positions.
Cabot has had enough of the problems. This past month, she installed a gate and began locking the door leading into a narrow alleyway that pedestrians for years have utilized in a neighborhood full of shops. The alley opens into a courtyard where shop owners park their cars.
However, over the past few years, Cabot said, the space has been used — and abused — by a local homeless population. Some mornings she and Emily Ruffin, who owns a jewelry store, have had to clean up potentially hazardous materials and personal items left behind.
As the situation worsened, they found their walls singed by fires built overnight and vandalized with spray paint.
The gate installation has caused a nuisance for regular customers and walkers in the downtown area, Cabot said.
“People were upset, but they’ve got to understand that I’m not going to be picking up needles and used condoms and human feces [anymore]. Enough is enough,” she said. “... I’m setting myself up for a lawsuit. Somebody could die there or get hurt there, you know?”
She believes many homeless individuals in Taos come from out of town, and she hopes the town will make an effort to address the issue. “It’s just out of control.”
Other business owners and landlords in the area have voiced similar concerns.
Tom Noeding, owner of the Governor Bent House and Museum next door, has had to lock the gates leading to the rear of his business after finding homeless individuals camping back there.
Shop owners also say they’ve encountered retaliation for taking steps to deter crime in the area.
Ruffin has reported many crimes to police over the past few years, but said she has faced retribution. One time she found her vehicle covered in turquoise paint. After she reported it, the same paint was applied to one of the building’s exterior walls. Another time, she found what appeared to be semen on her vehicle. After reporting the incident, she found a bag of the substance underneath her car door handle.
Ruffin has captured video of men from the homeless community knocking over expensive sculptures in front of her store that were made by a friend, she said.
Some shop owners are more empathic than others, including Noeding, who began giving money to people when he could. He never feared retaliation for not being able to give money until recently, he said, when he claimed he was assaulted by a person asking for funds.
The area has seen other violent crimes.
In February 2023, an armed robbery occurred at Ammann Gallery, where an employee was held at gunpoint. The perpetrator was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with seven years suspended.
While shop owners cited the local homeless population as a source of much of the crime in the historic district — and raised concerns that social programs and shelters might be worsening the issue by attracting transient people from out of town — Taos Men’s Shelter Executive Director Andrew Chiaraluce said that’s not necessarily true.
Chiaraluce said the shelter tries to help rather than enable homeless men in Taos.
If a guest expresses an interest in staying long term, he has to meet with the shelter’s case manager, who ensures the guest stays on track meeting personal goals, like finding a permanent residence and securing employment, Chiaraluce said.
“In our program,” he said, “if a guy’s staying there long-term and they’re not working on goals — whether it’s saving money, employment, getting on disability — whatever forward progress for their individual needs, if those aren’t being met and they’re just using the bed or the shelter as a place to stay, then they may get asked to leave.”
Chiaraluce said different groups within the homeless population want different things. He also noted the shelter sees an “even split” of homeless men from Taos and from out of town.
“Some portion of the homeless population, even if they know there are services or shelters, they don’t want to seek it. They want to do their own thing,” he said.
A longer version of this story first appeared in The Taos News ,a sister publication of The Santa Fe New Mexican.