By Ludella Awad / NM News Port
New crime totals for 2020 released by the Albuquerque Police Department found that while violent crime has risen, property crimes have gone down.
“We have more work to do, but this trend is encouraging because we continue to cut property crime,” Interim APD Chief Harold Medina said in a statement.
“We’ve had 11,000 fewer property crimes since 2018, and those are the crimes that most people experience,” Medina said.
In a press conference on February 14, APD released preliminary statistics for 2020, showing a 7% decrease in overall crime cases, yet in the category of “crimes against persons” which include murder, rape, and assault, case numbers are slightly up. On the positive side, homicides were down 5% in 2020.
Data provided by the Albuquerque Police Department
Medina said most homicides are tied to drug transactions through the use of social media.
“Crimes against a person are up 2% and we really feel that this is really driven by our shootings,” Medina said. “Our shootings have been increasing.”
Medina said commercial burglary has increased due to local businesses being closed during the pandemic. Residential burglaries, meanwhile, are down. Medina credits that to more people working and schooling from home.
For three years, APD has been using the National Incident-Based Reporting System ( NIBIRS) which provides a broader range of crimes and all crimes involved in an incident.
Ludella Awad is a reporter for New Mexico News Port. She can be reached on Twitter @LudellaAwad or by email at nmnewsport@gmail.com
