HOW THE AIRLINES ARE REACTING. PEOPLE BEHIND A NEW REPORT SAY THIS YEAR, THE U.S. IS ON PACE FOR THE BIGGEST DROP IN HOMICIDES EVER RECORDED. TONIGHT AT TARGET 7, INVESTIGATION LOOKS AT THE NUMBERS AND WHETHER THE DUKE CITY IS AS WELL. HERE’S JON CARDINELLI RH DATA LYTICS RECENTLY REPORTED THAT HOMICIDES ARE DOWN NEARLY 20% NATIONWIDE. THEY LOOKED AT 219 CITIES, INCLUDING ALBUQUERQUE, AS OF THURSDAY. OUR HOMICIDES ARE DOWN 10%, ALBUQUERQUE POLICE CHIEF HAROLD MEDINA SAYS IT’S NO ACCIDENT. ALL THE CHIEFS ARE, YOU KNOW, REALLY, UH, CRITICAL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND POINTING OUT WHERE THINGS NEED TO IMPROVE AND I THINK THAT WE’RE FINALLY GETTING TO A PLACE WHERE AND I’VE SAID IT, IT’S NOT THAT THERE’S MASS CHANGES, BUT EVERYBODY’S UNDERSTANDING HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM BETTER WITHIN THE PARAMETERS. AND THAT’S THE REASON WHY POLICE CHIEF HAROLD MEDINA SAYS ALBUQUERQUE AND OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE NATION ARE SEEING A DROP IN MURDERS, BUT WE’VE ALSO FOUND THAT PART OF THIS SLOWING DOWN IS, IS PART OF ACCOUNTABILITY. AND WE HAVE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE VERY ACTIVE THAT WOULD HAVE CONTINUED TO KILL HAD WE NOT TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. AS OF THURSDAY, ALBUQUERQUE HAD 27 HOMICIDES LAST YEAR. AT THIS TIME, IT WAS 30, HE SAYS. LOCALLY, THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS PUTTING MORE PEOPLE IN JAIL AND IS DETECTIVES ARE SOLVING MORE CASES. SO FAR THIS YEAR, 85% OF CASES HAVE BEEN SOLVED. IT MAKES SENSE THAT WE’RE STARTING TO SEE CRIME TO GO DOWN. AND AS WE INCREASE OUR AVERAGE JAIL POPULATION, PEOPLE ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. WE’LL CONTINUE TO SEE DECREASE. NORMALLY, IT TAKES MORE THAN A YEAR FOR ANY HOMICIDE DATA TO BE PUBLISHED, BUT RECENTLY A DATA LYTICS, A COMPANY THAT WORKS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, LAUNCHED THIS WEBSITE TRACKING HOMICIDE DATA THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. ACCORDING TO ITS NUMBERS, THERE’S A NEARLY 20% DROP IN HOMICIDES NATIONWIDE IN THE FIRST FEW MONTHS OF THE YEAR, A CHANGE OF THIS MAGNITUDE WOULD BE JUST ENORMOUS, AND SO MY EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT WE WOULD PROBABLY SEE SOME SORT OF REGRESSION BACK TO WHAT WE NORMALLY SEE, BUT IT STILL IMPLIES THAT A VERY LARGE, POSSIBLY THE LARGEST DECLINE IN MURDER EVER RECORDED IS HAPPENING NATIONALLY THIS YEAR. JEFF ASHER IS A CRIME ANALYST FOR RH DATA LYTICS IT’S STILL EARLY. THERE’S STILL A FEW MONTHS FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. SOMETHING COULD CHANGE, CHIEF MEDINA TOLD TARGET 7. HE QUESTIONS THE REPORT’S METHODOLOGY BECAUSE NUMBERS CHANGE FREQUENTLY IN ALBUQUERQUE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS SAY WE HAVE SOMETHING WORKING AGAINST US AND THAT MAY BE WHY OUR NUMBERS ARE NOT EVEN LOWER. OUR DRIVER, OUR DRIVER, OUR VIOLENCE IS CONSISTENT BECAUSE WE SHARE THIS INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND THAT DRIVER, UNFORTUNATELY, CONTINUES TO BE DRUG TRAFFICKING. RAUL BUJANDA IS THE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE FBI’S ALBUQUERQUE FIELD OFFICE. HE SAYS NEW MEXICO IS USUALLY BEHIND ON TRENDS BECAUSE OF THE BORDER, AND AS LONG AS THAT, AS LONG AS THERE’S NOT A SHORTAGE OF THAT SUPPLY. AND AS LONG AS THOSE TRENDS DON’T START TO DIMINISH, THEN IT’S HARD FOR US TO CONTINUE TO SEE A HUGE REDUCTION IN THAT VIOLENT CRIME. LOOK AT THIS CHART. IN 2014, ALBUQUERQUE SAW ITS LOWEST NUMBER OF HOMICIDES. SINCE THEN, IT’S SKYROCKETED TO. 125IN 2021 AND 2022. LAST YEAR, A-P-D REPORTED 99 HOMICIDES. WE’RE VERY ACTIVE IN KEEPING PEOPLE IN CUSTODY. BACK IN THOSE DAYS, THE AVERAGE JAIL POPULATION WAS MUCH HIGHER THAN IT WAS FROM. 2015 TO 2022. LOOK AT THIS REPORT. ACCORDING TO DATA OBTAINED BY TARGET 7, AT ONE POINT IN 2014, THE AVERAGE JAIL POPULATION WAS AROUND 2400. AS OF THURSDAY, THERE WERE NEARLY 1600 PEOPLE IN JAIL, ACCORDING TO THE MAJOR CITIES CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, 69 OF THE LARGEST POLICE AGENCIES IN THE COUNTRY SAW AN AVERAGE MURDER COUNT DROP 10%. ALBUQUERQUE DID EVEN BETTER, DOWN 14% FOR TARGET SEVEN. I’M JOHN CARDINALE. IF YOU HAVE A STORY FOR TARGET 7, CALL THE TIP LIN