Albuquerque breaks homicide record amid worries over crime

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s largest city has broken its modern homicide record amid increasing concerns over violent crime and recent questions on how officials were calculating crime statistics.

The city of Albuquerque confirmed that a man was found dead Sunday night in the southwest part of town, bringing the homicide total to 74 so far this year.

The previous record was in 2017 when the city recorded 72 homicides.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said homicide detectives are conducting interviews and looking for additional witnesses in the latest case. He said a wounded victim in another case is on life support, and if that person dies, the homicide number will jump to 75.

In a statementing after the latest homicide, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said city officials were working to “modernize” the police department and hire 100 new officers next year.

“Violent crime is our community’s biggest challenge and tackling it is our top priority,” Keller said. “We are working to climb out of the hole and rebuild a depleted police department.”

Earlier this month, Albuquerque officials announced they would embark on an independent review of crime data after facing criticism for releasing statistics that overstated improvements made over the past year.