The New Mexico Department of Public Safety has been designated as the central repository for the collection, maintenance, analysis and reporting of crime incident activity generated by law enforcement agencies in this state in accordance with New Mexico State Statute, Chapter 29, Section 3, Paragraph 11. The NM Uniform Crime Report is a consolidated effort to summarize New Mexico crimes at the agency, county, and state level in the accordance with the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) guidelines set forth by the Federal Bureau of investigations (FBI) in the UCR handbook.

This report is based on the collective reporting efforts of city, county, state, and tribal agencies. Agencies throughout New Mexico participating in the UCR program provide DPS Law Enforcement Records Bureau (LERB) with monthly summarized reports on seven Part I offenses known to law enforcement. It is the intention of DPS to provide New Mexico citizens with a summary of core crime statistics for the state.

The completeness and accuracy of each agency's crime reporting is based on a thorough understanding of the UCR handbook by agency administrators and those persons responsible for preparing the reports. The accuracy of reporting is also dependent upon each agency's effectiveness of records management.

Since crime, and therefore the reporting of crime, is influenced by a variety of sociological and logistical factors, DPS discourages the use of this report in ranking agencies and using the data as a measurement of law enforcement effectiveness in New Mexico. These data should be considered a best effort to collect and report, in general, crime in New Mexico. Since there is a variety of ways that offense can be defined and the collection of data may vary from agency to agency, this report is not intended to be the final word on crime in New Mexico. To help ensure these data are uniformly reported, DPS provides contributing law enforcement agencies with a copy of the FBI UCR handbook that explains how to classify and score offenses and provides uniform crime offense definitions. Acknowledging that offense definitions may vary from state to state, the FBI cautions agencies to report offenses not according to local or state statutes but according to those guidelines provided in the handbook. Most agencies make a good faith effort to comply with established guidelines.

Finally, because of computer problems, changes in record management systems, personnel shortages, or a number of other reasons, some agencies cannot provide accurate data for publication. DPS appreciates the conscientious efforts made by law enforcement personnel throughout the state to report accurate and reliable crime data.

For more information regarding the availability of the FBI's UCR data you may visit their website at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

For questions concerning this report you may contact the NMDPS Records Bureau Assistant Bureau Chief, Regina Chacon by phone at (505) 827-9297 or by email at regina.chacon@state.nm.us