Pat Davis is the founder and publisher of nm.news. He is a recovering politician having served eight years as an Albuquerque City Councilor and, in another life, served as a police officer and nonprofit organizer.
Pat Davis – Crime is down in major categories in Albuquerque for the first part of the year, and the mayor, police chief, and city media pros are pushing that story to every social media outlet, Nextdoor channel, and news outlet they can—and for good reason.
By the numbers, things are looking up.
The number of homicides in the first 3 months of 2025 was 11, down from 21 during the same period last year. Shootings with injuries are also down a whopping 50% from 66 to 33. Auto thefts, a persistent Albuquerque list leader, are down to 922, a 47% drop from the same 3-month period last year (but that’s still a LOT of stolen cars in 3 months).
To be fair, the number of auto thefts and serious offenses – except homicides – have been trending down incrementally for a few years in Albuquerque. That’s the trend for big cities nationwide, too.
The Council on Criminal Justice, a national nonprofit think tank, found that in 2024 “homicide rates in some high-homicide cities, including Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis, have dropped even further, returning to the levels of 2014, when national homicide rates were at historic lowest rates in other cities have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
Neither is true for Albuquerque.
In 2014, Albuquerque reported 30 homicides to the FBI. In 2024, there were 96. For auto thefts APD reported 3,556 in 2014 and 4,406 in 2024.
Since 2017, the first year Mayor Tim Keller was in office, homicide rates in the city have remained frustratingly high. APD posted 70 homicides in 2017. By 2022, that number had climbed to a staggering 120 according to APD’s own crime presentation to the city that year. Through that lens, a drop to 96 in 2024 is a step in the right direction.
Keller and APD took fire for years as crime trends went the other direction, so they are in the right to take this win when it comes.
But they also pointed fingers at the district attorney, courts, city council, legislators and the governor over the years when things weren’t going so well. It would be a welcome sign of collaboration if they also acknowledged the contributions of their partners in the criminal justice system when things go well. Did DA Sam Bregman’s extra prosecutors move cases more quickly? Did the court’s changes to pre-trial detention lower offenses by repeat offenders? Did Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s controversial gun ban in place during most of 2024 decrease the number of guns on the streets, contributing to fewer shootings?
That’s not to say that Mayor Keller and APD should not celebrate progress. In an election year, there’s no doubt they will.
But rest assured other candidates for mayor, including a former sheriff, a former cop and a federal prosecutor, will be looking at a trend longer than 3 months — like the full 8-year period since Keller took office — to remind us that this progress is too little too late, especially compared to other cities nationwide.
Is Albuquerque finally on the right track? Time, and voters, will tell.
Commentary by Columnist
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A good start or too little, too late?
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Pat Davis is the founder and publisher of nm.news. He is a recovering politician having served eight years as an Albuquerque City Councilor and, in another life, served as a police officer and nonprofit organizer.
Pat Davis – Crime is down in major categories in Albuquerque for the first part of the year, and the mayor, police chief, and city media pros are pushing that story to every social media outlet, Nextdoor channel, and news outlet they can—and for good reason.
By the numbers, things are looking up.
The number of homicides in the first 3 months of 2025 was 11, down from 21 during the same period last year. Shootings with injuries are also down a whopping 50% from 66 to 33. Auto thefts, a persistent Albuquerque list leader, are down to 922, a 47% drop from the same 3-month period last year (but that’s still a LOT of stolen cars in 3 months).
To be fair, the number of auto thefts and serious offenses – except homicides – have been trending down incrementally for a few years in Albuquerque. That’s the trend for big cities nationwide, too.
The Council on Criminal Justice, a national nonprofit think tank, found that in 2024 “homicide rates in some high-homicide cities, including Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis, have dropped even further, returning to the levels of 2014, when national homicide rates were at historic lowest rates in other cities have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
Neither is true for Albuquerque.
In 2014, Albuquerque reported 30 homicides to the FBI. In 2024, there were 96. For auto thefts APD reported 3,556 in 2014 and 4,406 in 2024.
Since 2017, the first year Mayor Tim Keller was in office, homicide rates in the city have remained frustratingly high. APD posted 70 homicides in 2017. By 2022, that number had climbed to a staggering 120 according to APD’s own crime presentation to the city that year. Through that lens, a drop to 96 in 2024 is a step in the right direction.
A good start or not good enough?
Keller and APD took fire for years as crime trends went the other direction, so they are in the right to take this win when it comes.
But they also pointed fingers at the district attorney, courts, city council, legislators and the governor over the years when things weren’t going so well. It would be a welcome sign of collaboration if they also acknowledged the contributions of their partners in the criminal justice system when things go well. Did DA Sam Bregman’s extra prosecutors move cases more quickly? Did the court’s changes to pre-trial detention lower offenses by repeat offenders? Did Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s controversial gun ban in place during most of 2024 decrease the number of guns on the streets, contributing to fewer shootings?
That’s not to say that Mayor Keller and APD should not celebrate progress. In an election year, there’s no doubt they will.
But rest assured other candidates for mayor, including a former sheriff, a former cop and a federal prosecutor, will be looking at a trend longer than 3 months — like the full 8-year period since Keller took office — to remind us that this progress is too little too late, especially compared to other cities nationwide.
Is Albuquerque finally on the right track? Time, and voters, will tell.
Commentary by Columnist
Have an opinion? Of course you do! Share yours and we may publish it at nm.news. Submit your opinion piece.