GRANTS, N.M. – City parks in Grants have reopened after a temporary public safety closure tied to several shots-fired calls, concerns about possible streetlevel gang activity and an outside death investigation with ties to Grants.
Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte told the Cibola Citizen the parks were closed out of caution while police gathered information and evaluated whether there was an ongoing threat to the public.
“The main reason why we closed the parks is we had so many of them at one time,” Monte said, referring to the number of recent incidents. She said two of the shots-fired calls were connected to park areas, including one at Riverwalk Park and another near Elm Park.
The closure followed a series of March incidents.
On March 8, police responded to a shots-fired call in the 1200 block of Ash Street involving an unoccupied shed. On March 9, police received several calls reporting gunfire, though the location was difficult to determine. On March 14, shots were reported at Riverwalk Park. On March 17, officers responded to Elm Park after a report of individuals in a vehicle flashing guns. Police contacted several people in the parking lot, but they fled and a shot was fired.
Monte said the information police received during that period did not prove reliable enough to result in arrests in the shots-fired investigations. She also said work with McKinley County did not produce information proving that victims in the outside death investigation were tied to a street-level gang in Grants.
Police have since increased directed patrols in park areas and contacted surrounding law enforcement agencies for assistance. Monte said that effort has helped reduce activity in the parks and supported the decision to reopen them.
“That helped us make the decision to reopen the parks,” Monte said.
Monte said police will continue directed patrols and will also have officers assigned to upcoming community events, including the Spokes on Route 66 anniversary celebration. She said the goal is not only to keep the community safe, but to help residents feel safe attending public events.
Monte also encouraged residents to report suspicious activity. “I always say, if you see something, say something,” Monte said. “Let us decide if there’s criminal activity happening in the area.”
She said community calls help officers respond to areas of concern when they are not already in the parks.
“Citizens are our eyes when we can’t be there,” Monte said.
The department’s message to residents is that parks are open and safe for public use, but police will continue patrols through the summer as Grants prepares for a busy season of graduations, community events, traffic enforcement efforts and checkpoints.