Albuquerque's Crime Problem is REAL
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11/24/2019
I lived in Albuquerque for over 20 years and finally had to move away because of the crime and economic problems. After my car was stolen (from inside my garage, my bike was stolen, and I was mugged for a petty amount of cash in the NE Heights, I called it quits.
People will claim Albuquerque "isn't so bad" when compared to (Insert city here). But the FBI crime statistics say otherwise. The city is home to the nation's highest rate of car theft, top 5 overall property crime, New Mexico is top 10 for violent crime, and as of November 2019, Albuquerque is about to hit its all-time record for homicides. I remember sometime in the past year hearing the city had 113 shootings in 114 days.
All of this is absolutely ridiculous and totally unacceptable for anyone who wants to live a quiet, peaceful life or raise kids there. But the dirty, dark secret is that it has been this way for a LOOOOONNNG time. If I recall correctly, Albuquerque hit its previous murder record all the way back in 1996. And if you look deep enough into the stats you will see that the state of New Mexico has been top 10 in Violent crime on and off going all the way back to 1965. Yes, its been bad for over 50 years!
What does this kind of crime look like? I will tell you. It looks like an elderly woman being stabbed in the "nice part of town" while carrying groceries home. It looks like a man being CRUCIFIED to a tree in the Bosque nature preserve. It looks like a man being found decapitated behind a local Wal-Mart. It looks like a mailwoman's body being found burned on the West Mesa. It looks like a man being shot multiple times and then driving his car into oncoming traffic in the South Valley. It looks like a teenage boy being gunned down outside a pizza parlor near the airport. These are all real crimes you can Google which have happened in totally different parts of the city. And they are just some of the more high-profile ones. It's a constant problem.
But the most frequent reports are people having their cars stolen, houses robbed, and property stolen. If this is the kind of life you want for your family, by all means move to Albuquerque.
And I have barely even touched on the problems like a slower economy than every surrounding state, the polluted (and disappearing) drinking water, and job growth slow for most years since 2010. I didn't even mention the 49th in the nation school system or the massive DWI problem that never gets resolved (hint: don't ever drive your car between midnight and 4am in Albuquerque).
You may think Albuquerque is all pretty sunsets and green chile cheeseburgers but there is a cost to be paid. The housing may be affordable, but it may cost you your car, your money, or even your life. Think twice about moving there!
Ray | Albuquerque, NM