Homicide no. 64
By Dan Klein
As of June 13, 2021 Albuquerque has now recorded its 64th homicide of the year. The last three occurred at Zuni and California, the 1300 block of Columbia Se and at Central and Tramway.
ABQREPORT uses the Albuquerque Journal 2021 Homicide map for reference.
I continually get asked why ABQREPORT homicide numbers are higher than what APD and the mainstream media are reporting. The answer lays in the definition of homicide.
Homicide: the killing of one human being by another. Homicide is a general term and may refer to a noncriminal act as well as the criminal act of murder. (Britannica)
Murder: the unjustified killing of one person by another. (Britannica)
These are the additional homicides that ABQREPORT is counting:
Two children killed by their drunk mothers on March 30, 2021
Mark Padilla, killed on January 9, 2021 (APD has not released any other details)
Ruben Parra, killed on February 2, 2021 (APD has not released any other details)
Claude Trevino, killed on February 20, 2021 by APD officers after trying to stab officers
Dominic Lueras, killed on March 19, 2021
Neil Green, killed on March 27, 2021.
Juan Cordova killed on April 16, 2021 by APD officers in Ventana Ranch
The two men killed at I-40 and Carlisle that the New Mexico State Police are investigating.
It is important to note the number of justified homicides as that is also a gauge as to how violent our city has become and how citizens are arming themselves for protection. Question that criminal justice science experts need to study is if there is a correlation between a higher number of justified homicides in cities with Department of Justice consent decrees? Does an increase in justified homicides coincide with police departments that are losing officers? Are communities finding that they are trading safety for police reform? Are police officers less likely to be proactive now, as compared to years in the past, and does this correlate to higher, sometimes more violent crime?
The entire country is in unprecedented territory when it comes to the current issues of police reform. It will take decades of research to determine how this current mindset of police reform has affected policing and crime.
