The City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) union recently negotiated a new two-year contract to give APD officers a raise over the next two years. Albuquerque attorney and political commentator Pete Dinelli wonders if city administration is doing enough to fix the crime issue in Albuquerque beyond the increased funds APD will receive, according to a post on his website.
“APD’s performance measures over the last three fiscal years have been on the decline and should be considered mediocre at best,” Dinell said in a July 24 post on his website. “Notwithstanding, the city continues to fund the department at ever-increasing millions a year. The Keller Administration always agrees to union demands to increase hourly pay and that are not at all tied to overall performance measures of the department.”
According to a release from the City of Albuquerque, Albuquerque police officers will receive a 5% pay raise this year and a 4% increase next year. This will once again make APD the highest-paying law enforcement agency in the state of New Mexico. In addition, new recruits’ pay increase is far beyond that, with cadets being given a 37% pay increase and patrolmen 2nd class being given a 31% pay increase. A new retention package started in October 2022 likewise gave incentives for veteran officers to keep working rather than retire.
According to KRQE, other local law enforcement agencies, such as the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Fe Police Department, also recently announced a pay increase for officers.
According to a report by KOAT, Albuquerque ranks 17th out of the 70 largest cities in the country for homicide rate, according to a report looking at trends for murders, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. According to this report, there were 106 homicides in 2021 and 115 in 2022, marking an 8% increase. While there was a 5% drop in homicides nationwide in 2022, Albuquerque was one of 27 cities across the country that saw an increase in homicides that year. Notably, Phoenix saw a 13% increase in homicides as well.
In his post about this subject, Dinelli also notes that the clearance rate for various crimes over the past three years has not increased across the board. The statistics are as follows: the clearance rate for crimes against persons was 56% in 2020 and 2021 and 44% in 2022; for crimes against property, the clearance rate was 11% in 2020, 12% in 2021 and 9% in 2022; for crimes against society, the clearance rate was 79% in 2020, 77% in 2021 and 57% in 2022; and the homicide clearance rate was at 57% in 2020, 53% in 2021 and 73% in 2022. Only the homicide clearance rate has gotten better over the last three years.
Dinelli also mentions that the budget for APD is $1.37 billion for the fiscal year that began July 2023 and ends June 2024. He says that Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller ran on a platform of reducing crime rates in Albuquerque and has increased the APD budget every year, but according to several statistics, that investment is not showing results.