Operation Not in Vain Results in 44 Arrests as Las Cruces Police Report Crime Reductions in Targeted Areas

Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story joined New Mexico State Police Deputy Chief Dale Wagoner and NMSU Police Chief Justin Dunivan Tuesday morning to present the results of the third year of Operation Not in Vain, a multi-agency policing effort conducted in honor of fallen Las Cruces Police Officer Jonah Hernandez.

The operation, conducted on Friday evenings from late May through July, resulted in 44 arrests, 166 traffic citations, three firearms seized or recovered, and three search warrants executed, according to figures presented Tuesday.

Story emphasized that the operation was conducted in addition to participating officers’ regularly assigned duties.

“It is important to understand how this operation is run,” Story said. “Everything we’re talking about is in addition to officers from all of these agencies working their normal assigned duties.”

Story said participating officers came in for additional time beyond their normal 40-hour workweeks specifically to participate in the operation.

“We ran it every Friday evening from the end of school — late May — through July when school went back into session,” he said.

Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story. (Image Courtesy City of Las Cruces)

A Data-Driven Approach

Operation Not in Vain was conducted as part of LCPD’s broader use of what the department calls “stratified policing,” a data-driven approach intended to concentrate law enforcement resources in particular areas.

For this year’s operation, participating agencies focused on three geographical areas that also align with areas included in broader City of Las Cruces Metropolitan Redevelopment Area initiatives.

Story presented year-over-year crime figures through July for three areas worked during the operation:

• El Paseo/Solano area: 9.78% reduction from 2025
• West Picacho area: 31.82% reduction from 2025
• Apodaca and Lift Up area: 22.86% reduction from 2025

Story argued that the enforcement statistics alone do not capture the operation’s intended effect.

“Those statistics are important, but they don’t capture the crimes that didn’t happen,” Story said. “And that’s the most important thing, is to actually prevent crimes from happening in the first place.”

The figures presented Tuesday show reductions in reported crime in the three areas compared with the same period in 2025. Story presented those reductions in the context of the areas targeted during Operation Not in Vain.

Three Agencies, Additional Duties

New Mexico State Police Deputy Chief Dale Wagoner also emphasized that the operation represented work performed beyond officers’ regular assignments.

“Partnerships work, and visible policing matters in Las Cruces,” Wagoner said.

New Mexico State Police Deputy Chief Dale Wagoner. (Image Courtesy City of Las Cruces)

NMSU Police Chief Justin Dunivan placed the operation within a broader community context, noting that people move among neighborhoods, the university, entertainment venues and other parts of Doña Ana County.

NMSU Police Chief Justin Dunivan. (Image Courtesy City of Las Cruces)

“It is important to realize that whether you live in our local neighborhoods, work in Las Cruces, work at or attend NMSU, attend entertainment events in Las Cruces, or live in Doña Ana County, the efforts of our law enforcement officers with this project were very successful in addressing quality of life issues and the nexus of criminal activities in our neighborhoods,” Dunivan said.

Watch the Full Presentation

Tuesday’s press event began with LCPD Public Information Officer Salina Madrid introducing a video showing three encounters between law enforcement officers and individuals in motor vehicles.

Each encounter appeared to conclude with the discovery of narcotics, firearms or both. The faces of the individuals interacting with officers were obscured in the video.

The presentation continued with Story, Wagoner and Dunivan discussing the operation, its results and the agencies’ approach to collaborative policing.

The full Aug. 11 presentation can be viewed below.