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New Mexico AG Asks For More 'Cooperation' To Fight Crime

Hector Balderas

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas says community-based efforts and better cooperation can be used to prevent crime in one of the nation's poorest states.

Balderas told a joint session of the New Mexico Legislature on Wednesday that more resources for officers and increased funding for prosecutors and judges could help tackle rising violent crime rates.

The FBI says the number of murders reported by New Mexico law enforcement agencies jumped by nearly 16 percent in 2015 from the year before.

The attorney general is a new addition to the list of speakers that address the Legislature in even years. The list traditionally includes the New Mexico delegation to the U.S. Congress and Senate, as well as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

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