Report: Violent crimes continue to drop in Las Cruces

The City of Las Cruces has experienced a constant decrease in the amount of violent crimes over the past five years, officials said Friday.

“Historically, our violent crime numbers are way below the national average,” Chief Jamie Montoya said.

Violent crime includes murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Between 2015 and 2016, the city of Las Cruces’ violent crime trend dropped six percent, from 267 crimes to 251.

In that same year, the FBI conducted a study classifying New Mexico as having the third-highest violent crime rate in the nation.

Data from 2015 reveals there were 656 violent crimes per 100,000 New Mexico residents.

“Our guys and gas are doing great things on the streets to keep our community safe and that is shown in the violent crimes downward trend,” Montoya said.

The Las Cruces Police Department says the community also plays a major role in deterring crimes.

“I really think that part of it is building the relationships with your community,” Montoya said.

One resident ABC-7 spoke with agreed, saying, “Most take a great deal of pride about the level of violence we have here and trying to act on trying to keep that down as much as we can,” she said. “It is a very active community and a very proactive community towards (crime) and I feel very safe living here.”