Sep. 8—High rates of property crime and violence have prompted calls in Santa Fe and statewide for solutions to what many people decry as a growing problem.
While crime rates fluctuate from month to month and year to year, data over a five-year period — from long before COVID-19 emerged to the end of July, when the pandemic was nearly forgotten — show a significant increase in many types of crimes in Santa Fe to rates that have persisted.
The Santa Fe Police Department has seen a slight decrease in crime overall in the first seven months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023 — a drop of fewer than 100 incidents, with particular declines in homicides, arson cases and burglaries and some increases in robberies, thefts and assaults.
The New Mexican will begin publishing city crime statistics monthly using data provided by the agency.
“I think the data suggests that we’re doing some constructive things to highlight crime and to arrest people who are engaged in criminal activity,” Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said. “I think we can do more, and there’s a list of things that [police Chief Paul] Joye and I have talked about and that are already being done and can be described to the public more broadly, that demonstrate that we don’t have to simply accept criminal behavior.”
Police blame rises in drug use and homelessness, as well as repeat offenders, for violence, vandalism, thefts and other problems that have continued to plague residents and businesses across the city.
“Right now, the accountability isn’t happening. People are not being held responsible for the crimes they’re committing,” Joye said in a recent interview.
Webber noted increasing use of fentanyl and “the pervasive change in behavior that fentanyl creates in people.”
The city is not alone in its struggles. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made public safety and crimefighting a top priority for New Mexico, and lawmakers have been examining crime data — particularly in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city. Santa Fe city councilors have hosted town halls where outraged people have voiced frustrations and demanded action.
Crystal Armijo, who works in loss prevention at the Albertsons grocery on Zafarano Drive, said at a recent public safety town hall attended by scores of people she has seen a surge in shoplifting that is tough to combat.
“We don’t even call the police anymore because by the time they get here, they’re already gone,” she said of offenders.
Webber pointed to some changes as potential drivers of decreases in certain offenses: New Mexico State Police patrols of Cerrillos Road, a state Department of Justice program to investigate retail crime and private security guards the city hired for the downtown area.
Webber also pointed to several operations by city police this year aimed at addressing traffic and noise violations, shoplifting and drunken driving.
He mentioned one called Operation Night Watch, in which officers used “hot spot data” from property crime in patrols. That resulted in 14 arrests and 86 citations, according to the department.
“Whether people know it or not, when they report a crime, it really does provide critical information for the police department to do data-driven policing,” Webber said. “The data are really important for answering basic questions … but they’re also the fundamental tool that police use to do their jobs as effectively as possible.”
A spike in crimes over the summer months is a common trend, police say. But two shootings in commercial areas of Santa Fe in recent months — one of them fatal — shocked people throughout the state.
An 83-year-old man was killed in a violent carjacking on an August morning in the parking lot of a busy shopping center on the city’s south side, and a 20-year-old employee of a Sonic Drive-in on Cerrillos Road was shot in the head just before closing time. Angel Daniel-Albiery Avila Morales has shown promising signs of recovery in spite of initial doubts from medical personnel he would survive his injuries.
Police have arrested suspects in both shootings.
In spite of the high-profile incidents, Santa Fe has seen just two criminal homicide cases this year compared to last year’s five.
A look at data from the past five years is perhaps more telling about crime trends than the year-over-year comparisons:
* Total offenses counted through July 31 in 2024 was 3,656, compared to 2,828 in the same period in 2019.
* Motor vehicle theft more than doubled over five years, from 144 in the first seven months of 2019 to 361 this year.
* Counts of all types of offenses were higher in 2024 than 2019, except robbery, which slightly decreased.
While Santa Fe police has fielded almost 500 more calls for service this year than last year, median response times also increased by more than a minute for high-priority calls — from 7:31 to 8:50 for dispatch to arrival.
The median time for Santa Fe County operators to dispatch a high-priority 911 call has increased steadily in recent years, from 6:38 in 2018 to 23:10 as of July.
Webber acknowledged the perception of crime levels often differs from the police department’s numbers, but he advocated for an “informed and constructive conversation” about crime and how policies can make an impact.
“I think that’s why an informed discussion about the data and also ways people can take specific and direct action to be partners in preventing crime is important,” he said.
“If you’ve suffered from a crime, particularly a violent crime, if you’ve had your business or your home violated or broken into, I think it will absolutely change your your personal attitude towards safety and security — and we’ve got to address both the reality of the data, but also the reality of how people feel.”
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