Violent, property crime in Las Cruces goes down slightly in 2023. See the crime stats

Jason Groves, Las Cruces Sun-News
·2 min read

Despite more calls for service when compared to 2022, crime declined in 2023 according to the Las Cruces Police Department.

The department hosted a town hall, where Police Chief Jeremy Story reported an 18 percent decrease in violent crime and a 2 percent decrease in property crime. Nonetheless, police last year were busier moving from one call to the next due to more calls. There were 13,902 more services calls that resulted in 498 more incident reports when compared to 2022.

According to the statistics, there was a 4 percent decrease in total violent and property crime from 2022 to 2023 compared to a 23 percent increase in the same crimes from 2021 to 2022.

Violent crimes include homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery and shoplifting. In 2023, Las Cruces had:

  • Seven homicides, three fewer than 2022,

  • 442 reports of aggravated assaults, a 20 decrease from 2022.

In total, there were 578 total violent crime cases in 2023 compared to 711 in 2021 and 708 in 2022.

The Las Cruces Police Department hosted a town hall at City Hall to report 2023 crime statistics and promote conversation regarding homelessness in Las Cruces.
The Las Cruces Police Department hosted a town hall at City Hall to report 2023 crime statistics and promote conversation regarding homelessness in Las Cruces.

"The numbers are still higher than what we would like compared to say five years ago, but it's still a positive trend and one we want to continue," Story said.

Story also highlighted a 21 percent decrease in "use of force" incidents by police in 2023. There were 260 incidents in 2023, including the October 2023 shooting of Teresa Gomez. That's in comparison to 328 in 2022.

Deadly force incidents are on the lower end of the spectrum in what LCPD defines as use of force incidents, Story said.

"It's a wide spectrum that includes anything from forced stabilization, non compliant handcuffing to taser and other intermediate force all the way up to deadly force," Story said. "A high percentage is on the lower end of that spectrum, but having a 21 percent reduction is significant."

Las Cruces experienced a 27 percent increase in total property crime from 2021 to 2022, but there was a 2 percent drop in 2023. All told there was a:

  • 28 percent drop in breaking and entering,

  • 20 percent decrease in felony larceny/theft,

  • 18 percent drop in residential burglary,

  • 4 percent drop in commercial burglary.

There was a 22 percent increase in non-residential burglary.

"It doesn't mean we are out of the woods, but hopefully it is a trend in a positive direction," Story said.

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces sees 4% drop in violent, property crime in 2023