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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Report Slaps N.M. With Another Negative: Third-Most Dangerous State, but Some Question Data
By T.J. Wilham
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
A report issued Monday ranks New Mexico as the third-most dangerous state in the country, behind Nevada and Louisiana.
The report by the Congressional Quarterly Press has some law enforcement leaders questioning its validity and others saying agencies across the state need to work together to rid New Mexico of crime.
"This is a bunch of numbers that don't mean anything," said Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.
"We are not taking any real stock in it. We know that lots of people like to live here and they are happy to live here. We know there is crime, but we also know that there is a lot of good effort being taken to curb crime."
New Mexico has ranked in the study's top three in six of the past nine years. Last year it ranked second, and in 2000 and 2001 it ranked first.
The study ranked New Hampshire, Maine and North Dakota as the three safest states.
Since 1994, Morgan Quitno Press has published the book "Crime Across America," which takes data from the FBI, calculates a per capita crime index, and ranks the states based on how they compare with the national average. Morgan Quitno Press was purchased last year by Congressional Quarterly Press, which published the book for the first time.
The data used for the book published Monday are 2006 crime statistics law enforcement agencies across the country reported to the FBI. The authors used the number of murders, rapes, aggravated assaults, burglaries, robberies and motor vehicle thefts for their rankings.
New Mexico ranked second for rape, third for burglary and sixth for assault, according to figures taken from the study and posted on aol.com.
For motor vehicle theft, New Mexico was eighth; it tied for murder at 10th place with Tennessee and was ranked 24th in robbery.
"We have to encourage people to make use of the data and ask questions in an attempt to make their community safer," said Ben Krasney, spokesman for Congressional Quarterly Press.
"It's data. We are a publisher of reference books. Our goal is to inform the public of what is going on."
The FBI warns against using its data for comparisons, saying there are too many variables to consider.
The book has 500 pages and 500 tables breaking down each crime category, the number of arrests police made in each state and the money that is spent on public safety. It retails for $65.
Olson said the data don't accurately depict New Mexico crime because not every agency in the state has been reporting to the FBI. He also said the data are old.
"Anytime you have an incomplete picture, it skews the data," Olson said. "Using this data to make a comparison to other states as some sort of quality of living— I don't think it is fair."
The year used by the study was a tough one for Albuquerque police, the state's largest agency.
In 2006, auto thefts had increased by 45 percent and burglaries were up 11 percent.
In 2007, auto thefts fell 10 percent and burglaries were down 11 percent.
"Personally, I look at what is going on here locally, and I know that crime fell in 2007, which is not included in the study," Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said.
"What this report does tell me is that it is important law enforcement agencies across the state work together.
"If I am displacing crime outside of Albuquerque, that is bad for New Mexico and that is what this report is telling me."
