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Officials report increased drug arrests and emergency responses; new corrections and disaster-readiness programs highlighted
Summary
The governor and agency heads described stepped-up policing, increased prosecutions, expanded emergency-response capacity and corrections vocational programs, and noted regional drills with federal partners.
In his State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Arnold I. Palacios credited public-safety agencies with expanding enforcement, emergency response and rehabilitation programs.
Palacios said the Department of Public Safety (DPS) under Commissioner Anthea Macross increased community visibility, opened village precincts and supplemented the Criminal Investigation Bureau, which he said contributed to more drug-related arrests and an increase in prosecutions. "Over past 2 years, drug related arrest more than double, criminal prosecutions have quadrupled," he said. DPS Commissioner Anthea Macross told the session that property-related crimes have fallen 22% compared with the prior year and said drug enforcement remains a priority.
The governor also highlighted emergency medical response and fire services: he said that in one case a dispatcher coached a caller to administer CPR and that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services responded to more than 5,000 emergency calls in a year. On corrections, he said rehabilitation programs include vocational training with NM Tech and residential substance-abuse treatment and that the commonwealth is pursuing an interjurisdictional corrections compact for regional collaboration.
The Office of Homeland Security and emergency management (assistant Franklin Babauta) updated tsunami protocols, upscaled incident-command training and ran exercises with the U.S. Coast Guard. Palacios framed these efforts as part of strengthening island readiness and public safety.
No formal enforcement policy changes were enacted during the address; officials described operational reforms and program expansions.
