Jan. 9—Kids facing firearm-related charges must tell the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office where they got their gun before any plea discussions can take place, DA Sam Bregman said at a news conference Tuesday.

The new policy went into effect last week, he said.

“In other words, we have to get a hold of the people who are distributing these guns,” Bregman said. “This office is committed 100% to finding out where these kids are getting their firearms.”

The new policy comes almost a year after he came out with an “anti-gun” initiative that encouraged gun owners to keep their firearms secure from their children and that would prosecute students who bring them to schools.

But in 2023, juvenile crimes went up from 568 cases in 2022 to 781 cases. Of the 781 cases, about 34% of those (268) involved a firearm, according to the DA’s office.

“We need to find out where these guns are coming from,” Bregman said. “There are far too many juveniles getting access to firearms and doing crazy, crazy stuff.”

Bregman said the DA’s office will continue to work with law enforcement in trying “to find the source of that gun, and if it leads to other sources of other guns, we’ll continue that investigation until we know we’re doing everything we can to keep guns” out of juveniles’ hands.

“I can’t think of anything more dangerous to a community, to a school, to our children,” he said.

Bregman has been visiting Albuquerque Public Schools students, where, he said, he tells them about the ramifications of bringing firearms to campus.

There have been and will continue to be some “honest and frank discussions,” he said, adding that he plans to visit more schools including Highland High School Wednesday.

‘It is really, really scary’

Guns at schools was not the only concern Bregman had.

Bregman said he is worried about the capacity levels of specialty courts like Behavioral Health Court.

“They don’t have any room right now,” he said.

Bregman said he hopes state legislators consider allocating money into these courts so the courts can continue to “make a difference in people’s lives and make a difference in the criminal justice system.”

Another thing Bregman is worried about is fentanyl.

“I’ve never seen a drug like fentanyl in my entire lifetime,” he said. “It is really, really scary.”

Bregman stressed the importance of the county’s pre-prosecution diversion program, which provides options, other than a prison cell, for those charged with low-level felony drug offenses.

“We can’t prosecute our way out of the fentanyl problem alone,” he said. “We need to do diversion.”

The number of participants who successfully completed the program went up from 135 in 2022 to 217 in 2023, according to the DA’s office.

“We need to prosecute the traffickers who are willing to put these drugs on the streets (and) we need to help the people who are addicted to these awful, awful drugs,” Bregman said.

‘That’s doing justice’

Despite serious issues like guns in schools and fentanyl, Bregman said some progress was made last year.

For example, the DA’s office was able to hire 44 employees, including 33 more attorneys than in 2022 (45 to 12).

The increase also allows prosecutors to have a lower case load, he said.

Bregman said he wants to continue hiring more prosecutors and other positions, but the DA’s office needs help from the state.

“It’s not always about (the) conviction rate that shows the success of this office,” he said. “It is also about presenting a really good case with good witnesses, good evidence” and letting the jury decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

“At the end of the day, that’s doing justice. So, the better we can do that, the better justice we’re going to get in our community, and that’s going to require more funding.”