LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held the first of three town hall meetings on public safety.

The first one was Thursday in Las Cruces. Many people shared concerns about homelessness, retail crime and “the revolving door” of violent criminals getting in and out of jail:

“The issue we have to deal with is getting these people who commit these crimes arrested and put in jail, not put in jail and released the next day.”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding that issues of theft very quickly escalate to issues of violence. And we’re a fully-female staff, open a lot later than most establishments here, and most of the time our calls go unanswered.”

Some Las Cruces leaders slammed the governor over the town hall in their city. In a statement, the mayor pro tem criticized her for not engaging with city leaders and called the town hall “counterproductive.”

The next town hall meetings are:

• July 29 at 5:30 p.m., CNM Smith Brasher Hall in Albuquerque
• July 30 at 5:30 p.m., Northern New Mexico College Event Center in Española