Safety · Portales
Portales, NM crime & safety
Portales's reported crime rate is close to New Mexico's. Most reported incidents are property crimes. 92 violent crimes were reported in 2024.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Portales compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
TownTapestry Safety GradeNew
Not graded yet
A grade needs all of the FBI's latest years (2023–2025). Portales's police department reported only 2024, so we don't grade it yet. The figures below are still real.
Reported crime, 2024
Portales at a glance
Violent crime
7.8
per 1,000 residents · New Mexico 7.4
Property crime
28.7
per 1,000 residents · New Mexico 28.9
Incidents reported
430
92 violent · 338 property
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2024
PortalesNew Mexico
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Portales property | New Mexico property | Portales violent | New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.8 | 31.8 | 6.5 | 8.3 |
| 2023 | not reported | 31 | not reported | 7.9 |
| 2024 | 28.7 | 28.9 | 7.8 | 7.4 |
What gets reported
2024, by type
Larceny / theft
126
Burglary
176
Vehicle theft
36
Aggravated assault
80
Robbery
5
Rape
6
Homicide
1
Arson
11
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Portales safe
Local public safety
👮 Portales Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 11,800, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2024, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.