HIGHER EDUCATION
UNM police department opens first campus station
Officials hope the $16.3 million facility will lead to faster response times
Published
After decades of operating out of a dorm building, the University of New Mexico Police Department now has its own station.
University officials hope the $16.3 million building, which opened Tuesday on Greek Row near University and Mesa Vista NE, will increase response times to campus crimes.
For years, UNMPD was based out of Hokona Hall, student housing on UNM鈥檚 central campus, until the police force outgrew the building, said UNM Police Chief Joseph Silva.
鈥淭he department grew, the demands grew,鈥� Silva said. 鈥淲hen I went to the university, I didn鈥檛 even see the police here. It wasn鈥檛 as big of a footprint as it is now, and public safety wasn鈥檛 what it is today, so things have changed.鈥�
The two-story, 16,142 square-foot building 鈥� equipped with a dispatch center, intake and holding facilities and a community meeting area 鈥� was funded via $9 million in bonds and the rest from the university, school officials said.
鈥淎s an urban campus, campus safety is a really important thing,鈥� Teresa Costantinidis, executive vice president for finance and administration at UNM, told the Journal. 鈥淢aking sure there鈥檚 a space for the community that involves public safety is really important to this university.鈥�
After 14-year-old Michael LaMotte was killed in a dorm room shooting on July 25, 2025, his family criticized the university and law enforcement for what they say was a too-slow response to the crime.
LaMotte鈥檚 mother told UNM police over the phone early that morning she feared her son may have been the victim of a shooting, but hours passed before police acted on the report, according to a statement issued by a law firm representing the family.
In a statement weeks after the shooting, university officials said UNMPD responded to a 12:13 a.m. call about a person brandishing a weapon in a campus parking lot at 12:17 a.m., though officers were not made aware that a gun had been fired until nearly 45 minutes later.
Officers entered the room containing LaMotte鈥檚 body at 3:09 a.m., according to records.
Violent crime at UNM has steadied after post-pandemic spikes in 2022 and 2023, according to the most recent data from 2024 found in the university鈥檚 .
A decade ago, UNM ranked No. 1 in the country for car thefts after the university reported 140 vehicle thefts or attempted thefts on campus, according to Journal reporting from 2018. In 2024, there were 85.
The development of the new police station started under former President Garnett Stokes, who retired this summer after eight years at UNM.
Stokes鈥� successor, Dr. Steve Goldstein, helped cut the ribbon on the building Tuesday.
鈥淚 wish I could take credit for this,鈥� Goldstein told attendees. 鈥淎ll I can do is tell you how important it is.鈥�
Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.
