@classmethod
def decrement(cls, metric_name, value=1, tags=None, **kwargs):
    """
        Decrement a metric_name value (all the increments and decrements within
        a given minute are summed together).

        Args:
            metric_name (str): name of the metric to be decremented
            value (int or float): how much to decrement the metric value
            tags (list or dict): miscellaneous tags to describe the value
        """
    cls.stats().decrement(cls.get_metric_name(metric_name), value=value,
        tags=cls._convert_tags(tags), **kwargs)
