New Mexico 2017: A Year of Rising Property Crimes

New Mexico ranked 7th in the nation for property crime rate in 2017, a concerning trend that dominated the state’s crime landscape that year, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

With a population of approximately 2.07 million people, New Mexico’s property crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants was significantly higher than the national average. Burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft were among the most common property crimes, as they were across the country.

Nationally, property crimes had been trending upward for several years prior to 2017. The FBI UCR program reported a 3.1% increase in property crimes from 2015 to 2016, and a 1.8% increase from 2016 to 2017. New Mexico’s property crime rate mirrored this trend, with a 1.4% increase from 2016 to 2017.

Violent crimes, however, told a different story in New Mexico in 2017. The state saw a 1.2% decline in violent crimes from 2016 to 2017, a trend that was consistent with national data. According to the FBI UCR program, the national violent crime rate decreased by 0.5% from 2016 to 2017.

The opioid epidemic, which was gaining momentum across the United States in 2017, was not reflected in New Mexico’s crime statistics. However, the state did see a rise in heroin-related offenses, a trend that would continue in subsequent years. The state’s unique cultural and geographic context, including its border location and Native American communities, contributed to a complex crime landscape that required a nuanced approach to crime prevention and enforcement.”