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APD Sees 30% Decrease in Crime Following Arrest of Serial Offender

The Albuquerque Police Department has seen a drop in crime in the Foothills Area Command following the arrest of serial offender Justin Lang, 30.
December 16, 2024

ALBUQUERQUE – The Albuquerque Police Department has seen a drop in crime in the Foothills Area Command following the arrest of serial offender Justin Lang, 30.

In early November, detectives arrested Lang on outstanding felony warrants for a slew of charges including Breaking and Entering, Battery, Criminal Damage to Property, Robbery, and Aggravated Assault to name a few.

Through the department’s weekly Duke City Stats, a program designed to help share and identify trends and offenders throughout the city, Lang had been flagged as a significant offender in the Foothills Area Command. Detectives in the Investigative Services Division were then tasked with apprehending him through ongoing warrant roundup operations, which target five offenders at a time who have active felony warrants and have been deemed drivers of crime.

After refusing to exit an apartment, Tactical Officers were called to assist, and Lang was successfully taken into custody on November 12.

The Foothills Area Command with the assistance of the Real Time Crime Center began to do did a deep dive into crime stats in the area following Lang’s arrest and found there had been a 30% reduction in incidents and calls, since he was taken into custody. Specifically, the decrease dropped in the beat of the city where Lang was committing crimes and near his residence along Tramway between Comanche Road NE and Montgomery Boulevard.

Below is a breakdown showing the decrease in calls for service between October 12-November 12, and from November 13-December 3.

Graphs showing Decline in Crime following Arrest of Justin LangA total of 4,487 CAD calls occurred from October 22 – November 12. From November 13, 2024 – December 3, 2024 there was a total of 3,965 calls. Taking into account the difference of 522 calls, there was an approximate 12% decrease in the entire area command.

The suspect’s residence address and arrest location (4200 SPANISH BIT ST NE) is located in Beat 533. There was an approximate 21% decrease in CAD calls, with 417 occurring from October 22 – November 12 and 327 occurring from November 13 – December 3.

At the suspect’s arrest location, 37 CAD calls occurred from October 22 – November 12 and 21 occurred from November 13 to December 3, totaling to an approximate 57% decrease.

“The drop in crime we saw from the arrest of one serial offender goes to show how all our programs and divisions working together are so successful, “said Chief Harold Medina. “Our Deputy Chief over the Field Services Bureau is leading the efforts of our Duke City Stats, and this shows we are moving in the right direction to identify prolific offenders in our community and that is making an impact on crime.”

APD continues to utilize programs like Duke City Stats, its warrant apprehension team along with the assistance of our analysts to identify drivers of crime, arrest them and determine the impact.

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