| Although it’s well known that having an alarm system can help prevent burglaries, most people don’t actually get around to having a system installed. It would be a good idea for those living in Las Cruces, NM, the City of the Crosses, to get security systems due to the high crime rate in this area. These systems don’t have to be very expensive, even when they include monitoring. Even better, the higher the percentage of homes with security systems in an area, the lower the risk of burglary to any home in that area, even homes that don’t have security systems. Homes without security systems are generally about 33 percent more likely to be burglarized than those that do have alarms. Overall Crime Rate and Safety To put things into context, it’s good to compare crime rates in the city with New Mexico in general and the national average. It’s pretty worrying to see that Las Cruces is only safer than 6 percent of other cities in the United States. It ranks 79th out of the 117 smallest metro areas in terms of crime rates. The crime rate in the city is actually 82 percent higher than the average for the United States. This means that there’s actually a 1 in 20 chance of being a victim of some type of crime while living in the city. Some parts of the city, however, are safer than others. These include the neighborhoods of Boyd, Fairacres, San Pablo, Spaceport City, Fort Selden/Leasburg, San Ysidro/Dona Ana, North Main Street/West Madrid Avenue, North Valley Drive/San Andres Drive, Furnace Street/4th Street and Fran Drive/Elks Drive. The nearby cities of Mesilla, Anthony, Hatch and Sunland Park all have much lower crime rates, for those that want to live in cities with less crime but still be near Las Cruces. The good thing is that the city actually has a lower than average rate of violent crime, with most of the crimes committed consisting of property crimes. Burglary Rates The national average for property crimes in the U.S. is 26 per 1,000 residents. Las Cruces has more than 47 per 1,000 residents, which is also higher than the average for New Mexico of 35.42 per 1,000 residents. Of these crimes, 8.35 per 1,000 consisted of burglaries, compared to a national average of 5.43 per 1,000. This is where having a security system, particularly a monitored one, can be helpful. More than 60 percent of burglars admit that they tend to avoid homes that have security systems, preferring instead to go after homes that are easier to get in and out of quickly, especially those that have unlocked doors or windows. Burglaries are most common during the daytime hours when most people are at work, leaving homes empty and making witnesses less likely. Those that occur at night are more likely to include some type of violence. Only about 32 percent of property crimes were solved in 2015, including just 110 burglaries out of 729. However, the good news is that there were 12 percent fewer burglaries in 2015 than in 2014. Number of Homes With Security Systems As of March 31, 2015, 3,044 alarm systems were registered with the police in the city. The city has a law that all systems must be registered, with registration fees for residential alarms set at $25 per year and those for commercial properties set at $50 per year. This helps partly offset the cost of all the false alarms for these systems. Approximately 99 percent of burglary alarm calls in 2014 were false alarms. After two false alarms, residents must pay $100 in fines for each subsequent false alarm or their alarm will only be responded to by police when it has been verified by either video or a witness as being a real burglary. Homeowners with alarms need to take proper steps to limit these false alarms, which are often due to failing to disarm the system properly, having motion detectors that go off because of a pet or objects like balloons or curtains moving inside the home or the wind blowing open improperly secured doors and windows. Getting alarms that send videos to verify the cause of an alarm can help minimize false alarm calls to the police. Police Presence The population of the City of Crosses is about 101,643 people. It has had a population growth rate of more than 63 percent since 2000. There are about 150,000 calls per year for police assistance. All of these calls need to be handled by approximately 266 police officers. There are about 2.7 police officers per 1,000 people living in the city. This is lower than the national average of 3.3 officers per 1,000 people and the New Mexico average of about 4.4 officers per 1,000 people. This means that even though there’s more crime in Las Cruces than in many places in New Mexico, there are fewer officers to help solve these crimes. This can result in longer police response times to alarms. As it is, unverified alarms may be given relatively low priority due to the high percentage of false alarms. In order to make it easier to deal with the large number of property crimes in the city, people can file a temporary report online if it’s a minor crime that doesn’t have any evidence or suspect. This makes it easier for both the victim and the police department. |
