APD releases 2021 Crime Stats: 1% increase after 3 years of decreases
APD Releases 2021 Crime Stats: 1% Increase after three years of decreases
March 30, 2022
ALBUQUERQUE – The Albuquerque Police Department released preliminary crime stats for 2021 that show an overall increase of about 1% in total reported crimes, compared to the same period in 2020.
Overall crime is still down 13% during the past four years.
The presentation can be found on APD’s web site.
Crimes against Property, such as robbery, bribery, and burglary is to obtain money, property, or some other benefit.
Following three years of declines, the category of “crimes against property” remained the same in 2021.
Larceny, burglary, breaking and entering, and vandalism continued to decrease. But auto theft went up 6% in 2021 after declining by 24% the previous three years. Robbery also increased for the first time in four years, increasing by 29%. However, some of that increase can be attributed to a more aggressive effort to address shoplifting cases involving a weapon, and charging offenders with robbery. The robbery category had decreased by 27% the previous three years.
Crimes against Persons, such as murder, rape and assault, are those offenses whose victims are always individuals.
The category of “crimes against persons,” which is most violent crime, continued the trend of minor increases, going up 3% between 2020 and 2021. Crimes against person are up a total of 6% over the past four years.
Crimes against Society, such as animal cruelty, drug violations, gambling and prostitution, represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity.
The category of “crimes against society” increased by 1%. These crimes partially reflect enforcement activity, such as an emphasis weapons violations and the involvement of firearms during crimes. That category increased by 66% between 2020 and 2021. Overall, weapons violations increased by 218% over four years.
“We had a challenging year in 2021, especially with an increase in gun-related crimes,” APD Chief Harold Medina said. “The Mayor’s focus on the Metro Crime Initiative is a good blueprint for what we need to do through the entire criminal justice system to address crime in Albuquerque. As we arrest the drivers of crime, we need to keep these individuals in jail so they are not committing more crimes.”
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