Jan. 5—With all but one month accounted for in 2024, data from the Santa Fe Police Department shows the city’s crime rate increased about 5% from the previous year.
The department handled 5,904 crime reports by the end of November 2024, up from 5,626 by the end of November 2023. December statistics aren’t yet available.
More recently, the monthly statistics show there was one homicide in November, bringing the total to five for 2024, not counting two people killed by police during the year.
Motor vehicle thefts spiked slightly in November. According to the data, there were about 60 cases involving the crime, compared to 55 in October, an increase of about 9%.
Most other crimes — including sex offenses, robbery and assaults — were down in November compared to the previous month.
Sex offenses were down 38% in November compared to October, but there were 30% more cases between January and November of 2024 than the same time in 2023, — 91 compared to 70.
Burglary and a larceny dipped 30% or more in November. Assault offenses were down by about 27%; the 116 reported offenses was the lowest number in 2024 after having reached a high of 182 in July.
Response times for high-priority crimes were shorter in November than in October, according to the data: Officers were dispatched within an average of about 14.29 minutes, 20% faster than October’s 17.59 minutes.
The median time it took officers to actually arrive at a scene after being dispatched to the highest-priority crimes also improved slightly, dropping about 9% from 8.12 minutes in October to about 7.26 minutes in November.
Officers reached lower-priority crime scenes more quickly in November, too. The dispatch time dropped to 36 minutes from 49, and the officer arrival time dropped to 7 minutes from about 9.
The time between call and dispatch for medium-priority crimes stayed about the same at 28 minutes, while the officer arrival time increased slightly to 8.28 minutes from 7.45.