*Editor’s note: This story previously said there was a 24% increase in weapons violations. That has been corrected to a 112% increase.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has been tracking crime across the city. The latest report reveals drug violation enforcement and aggravated offences have risen this year, but crimes in several other categories have decreased compared to last year.
The latest APD report shows crime counts from January through August of 2023 compared to those same months in 2022. The data totals crime from across the city.
Overall, the biggest increase has been in drug and narcotic violations. APD has seen a 139% increase compared to 2022, the data shows. But APD says this increase is due to more aggressive enforcement and not necessarily a real increase in drug use across the city.
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Slideshow: Charts from APD show crime in 2023.
Weapons violations have increased by 112%, the data shows. APD says this is due to an increase in Shot Spotter use in Albuquerque. The Shot Spotter technology alerts APD each time a gun is fired in the vicinity of a Shot Spotter. APD counts each officer dispatch to Shot Spotter activations as individual weapons violations.
Aggravated offenses have increased slightly compared to 2022. APD counted a total of 8,253 aggravated offenses from January 2023 through August 2023. Stolen property incidents have increased by 11%. Vandalism has seen a 2% increase.
Other crime categories have decreased, according to APD. Notably, there have been 22% fewer homicides compared to last year. And robbery has decreased by 42%, APD says. Vehicle theft has also decreased by 13%.
Larceny and theft have decreased slightly, the data shows. Still, larceny and theft make up the most common crime APD has seen. They recorded over 11,000 incidents from January through August 2023.
