Riot police stand guard in front of protesters in downtown Albuquerque, N.M., in this March 30, 2014, photo. Hundreds of protesters marched past riot police in Albuquerque on Sunday, days after a YouTube video emerged threatening retaliation for a recent deadly police shooting.ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The recent fatal police shooting of a homeless camper who spent years in and out of jail and New Mexico’s only psychiatric hospital has sparked a push for more mental health resources in the state and a law requiring people with severe mental illnesses to take medications or face involuntary hospitalization.
New Mexico is one of only five states without a “Kendra’s Law,” and advocates say without it, police will increasingly find themselves in situations like the fatal March standoff with James Boyd, the 38-year-old transient was shot and killed by police. That shooting launched a violent protest in the city on Sunday and convinced Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry to ask the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the troubled police department amid a pending federal investigation.
“I think it’s time for a law,” said Marilyn Salzman, president of the Rio Ranch chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “The families of those struggling with mental illness have been asking for this for a long time now.”
Advocates also unveiled plans to build a new mental health hospital.
At a press conference, Berry pleaded for state lawmakers to take action after 37 Albuquerque police shootings since 2010. City officials estimate that up to 75 percent of the suspects in the shootings suffered from some mental illness.