ALBUQUERQUE – With more than four months remaining, Albuquerque has already matched a record number of homicides this year within the city limits.

City police said the homicide total hit 81 early Sunday. That's equivalent to the record set in 2019, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

The total dropped to 77 in 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that the city isn't alone in seeing a tremendous spike in violence in 2021.

Data released by the Major Cities Chiefs Association showed that in the first six months of 2021, 45 cities out of the 66 that responded to a survey saw more homicides than in the first six months of 2019.

The percentages range from a 12% increase in Kansas City, Missouri, to a 350% increase in Mesa, Arizona.

Tucson has seen 57 homicides so far this year, compared with 34 at this time last year.

According to Tucson police, the city’s highest number of homicides was 74 in 2009 and the department expects to surpass that total this year.