By Levi Hill/Sun-News Bureau Chief

SILVER CITY — Law enforcement agencies, health organizations and counseling centers nationwide are gearing up for the traditional seasonal increase in robberies, thefts and violent crimes. Grant County is no exception and, as the weather turns cold and the demands of the holidays loom, violent acts of crime will begin to increase in frequency unless county residents work to stop it.

The seasonal trend has already begun. Local law enforcement personnel are beginning to see the first waves of the season crime increase, including the suspected homicide of 50-year-old Edmundo Caseras on Oct. 23 and a domestic disturbance on Oct. 28 where a man allegedly pointed a gun at police and two other county residents. Police continued to investigate the Caseras murder Monday, following leads and interviewing witnesses.

Central Dispatch Director Jean Fortenberry said an increase in domestic-disturbance calls has not been seen yet, but the first hints of the holiday madness were seen over the weekend with an increase in fight calls.

"It doesn't seem like there has been a big increase in domestics, but as Thanksgiving and Christmas gets closer we will probably see them," she said. "What there seems to be more of are fight calls."

Four fight calls reported over the weekend were an increase from most weekends, and Fortenberry said the average for domestic violence calls is four to five a week during the summer.

Across the board, law enforcement and justice officials say the holidays are a time of increased crime both in violent crimes and in property crimes, including both robberies and burglaries.

"Traditionally, violent crime does pick up this time of year, with the pressure of the holidays, weather and so forth," said Silver City Police Chief Ed Reynolds.

Sixth Judicial District Attorney Mary Lynne Newell said factors such as colder weather, meaning more people staying indoors, and the use of alcohol during the holidays contribute to an increase in domestic violence crimes because of stress and depression issues many people experience during this time of year.

Data is scarce, but the trend may also be more severe than a seasonal increase.

Newell said violent crimes are currently up in the three-county region — Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties — and homicides in the three counties have quadrupled this year over past averages.

Newell also cited an FBI report that ranks New Mexico second in the nation for assaults on police officers.

The cause could be pointed to the proximity to the Mexico border and prevalence of methamphetamine abuse in the state.

"Meth makes people mean and stupid," Newell said.

According to statistics from the Incidence and Nature of Domestic Violence in New Mexico VII report, conducted by the state Department of Health's Injury and Epidemiology Bureau, nearly 33 percent of domestic violence cases reported by police in 2006 involved drug or alcohol use. Of those, some 95 percent of the cases had the suspect identified as the user of drugs or alcohol and 19 percent involved the victim using drugs or alcohol.

Statewide, nearly 40 percent of domestic violence cases reported by law enforcement also involved a weapon.

The same report ranks Grant County 14th in the state for domestic violence cases in 2005 — some data from 2006 was not included in the report. The percent of cases involving drugs or alcohol in Grant County in 2006 was 31 percent. That number was significantly down from 47 percent in 2002 and below the state average of 33 percent in 2006.

Some 43 percent of domestic violence cases in Grant County in 2006 involved a weapon, down from 56 percent in 2005 but up from 38 percent in 2002.

According to the DOH report, the county saw 56 percent of its district-court-disposed domestic-violence cases garner a conviction 2006, up from the state average of 40 percent. Magistrate court convictions were down in 2006 at 26 percent — below the state's average of 30 percent and down from 34 percent in 2004.

Newell said that prosecuting offenders, however, is not enough and the key to stopping all kinds of violence is to change attitudes across the board.

"It needs to be a change in how people see the role of men and women," she said. "It has to be a change in how people respond to insults and name calling. It is has to be a change in the attitudes."

She said many officials from the county attended a recent training program that focused on the need to change attitudes about domestic violence.

"Everyone felt it was extremely worthwhile and we are adopting it as a program and a means of addressing it locally," she said.

El Refugio has taken the lead in the education process and Director Maria Morales-Loebl said education is the definite key to reducing violent crimes not only of the domestic violence nature.

"The criminal justice system has to have in place elements of response so we are changing norms and values," she said. "There has to be an accountability of the batterers and rate of prosecution to show we don't tolerate this kind of behavior."

Among such programs that target norms and behaviors are batterer treatment programs that work to show abusers how and why what they do is wrong and how to respond to stressful situations in productive ways.

Newell said that is why programs such as the Restorative Justice, which requires victims and offenders to sit in roundtable discussion and talk about their conflicts and resolutions together, are so powerful in abating violence.

"Now is the time we have to start looking at the next phase of our work and getting the community to say that this isn't a place we need to be at," Morales-Loebl said of the current situation with domestic violence. "It has a heavy toll on our community and as a community we need to come together and say we cannot tolerate this kind of behavior."

El Refugio currently offers several programs for abusers and victims including parenting classes, counseling, sex assault survivors support groups, programs for children of domestic violence and aid with divorce and protection orders.

More is to come in the future, but change will not be overnight, said Morales-Loebl.

"It is like DWIs," she said. "It takes a long time to change the attitudes and turn the trend around."

For more information on El Refugio services, call 538-2125. The number also acts as a 24-hour crisis line for victims of domestic violence.

Levi Hill can be reached at lhill@scsun-news.com

Resources

Adult Protective Services: (800) 797-3260 or 538-3022

Border Area Mental Health Services (provides free counseling for sexual assault victims and follow-ups for mental health or substance abuse cases): 388-4412

Bridge Line Crisis Hotline (24 hours): (800) 426-0997

Sexual Assault Response Team (24 hours): 538-2125

Central dispatch: 388-8840

Children Youth and Families (24 hours): (800) 797-3260 or 538-2945

Crime Victims Advocates (Support system for victims): 388-1941

El Refugio (A safe place to stay, counseling and support services): 538-2125

Gila Regional Medical Center Emergency Room: 538-4050

New Mexico Legal Aid Inc.: 388-0091