ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s been a record year of homicides for the city of Albuquerque, and it has detectives scrambling to keep up with the backlog of cases.
Among the victims, a mother of two police officers gunned down in her driveway during a robbery.
“We’re going to find you guys. It might not be today or tomorrow, but we will, and there will be justice for my mom,” said Officer Kevin Dieguez.
Then there’s the young woman shot and killed in a park while playing Pokemon go.
These are just two of the 77-homicides in Albuquerque this year.
“It is a high number and we recognize that,” says Commander Joseph Burke.
Albuquerque Police Commander Burke says they’re nowhere near where they want to be in solving all these cases. Right now, detectives have successfully solved 49% of the homicides, 38 out of the 77 are closed.
“We always want to be at 100% and anything less is unacceptable,” says Burke.
As time goes by and detectives investigate any tips that come in, Commander Burke admits they still need a lot more help.
“We need help from the community. We need witnesses. We need people who potentially have information for us so we can follow up and help solve some of these homicides and hold people accountable,” says Commander Burke.
So, if you’re wondering who was in the Jeep the night Jacqueline Vigil was murdered, or when will someone be charged in connection with Cayla Campos’ death, Commander Burke says he can’t comment on what’s going on with those cases.
Burke reassures the community, they’re working on it.
“Just know that we have leads and we’re following up on those leads. They’re good leads. We’re confident we’re going to be able to hold people accountable in those investigations,” he says.
Albuquerque Police has 11 homicide detectives. They say this is the most detectives they’ve had in the unit in more than 20 years.
The homicide clearance percentage has sat in the 50%-60% range for the past two years.
