As most people are now aware, violent crime increased significantly in many large American cities since 2020. Unfortunately, Denver was no exception. While we may never know the exact causes of the increase, it is believed, and we agree, that the wide-ranging social disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic played a major role.
As we look back at 2023, however, we see clear signs that crime is returning to pre-pandemic levels, both nationally and in Denver. Data recently released by the FBI shows major declines across the country in violent and property crimes, and the Denver District Attorney’s office and Denver Police Department are pleased to report that Denver was part of this encouraging trend.
In 2023, Denver saw decreases in both violent and property crimes — including murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault, auto theft, robbery and burglary — compared to 2022. In some cases, the declines were steep, such as the number of stolen cars, which dropped 19% — resulting in nearly 2,870 fewer auto thefts. In addition, there was a reduction of nearly 245 reported violent crime incidents in 2023, driven in part by a 7% reduction in non-fatal shooting incidents and a 5% reduction in homicides.
These reductions did not happen by chance. The women and men of DPD and the DA’s office worked tirelessly, and in partnership, every single day to help bring the reductions about. The following were among the departments’ achievements in 2023:
• DPD reduced its average response time for emergency calls by 10 seconds from when the 911 call was placed to a DPD officer arriving on the scene.
• A dedicated DPD auto theft team, which started in late March, made 201 auto theft arrests and 45 additional felony arrests for other crimes.
• DPD officers removed more than 2,235 illegal firearms from the city’s streets.
• DPD continued its proactive enforcement and outreach efforts in crime hotspots. One hotspot area, the Westwood neighborhood, did not have a single shooting the entire year.
• DPD created community homicide review events, which bring together law enforcement, city agencies, city council members and community members to propose and implement solutions to reduce violence.
• The Denver DA’s office established more specific guidelines for prosecuting motor vehicle theft and the sale of fentanyl.
• The DA’s office expanded its Organized Crime Unit by adding two attorneys and two investigators. The unit recently charged 23 people with aggravated motor vehicle theft, robbery and burglary (of marijuana dispensaries).
• Prosecutors secured more than 70 guns from domestic violence offenders as part of the DA’s Firearms Relinquishment Program.
• Prosecutors filed more than 7,900 misdemeanor cases and more than 5,600 felony cases, and successfully prosecuted 51 murder cases.
• The DA’s office successfully argued and won a case in the Colorado Supreme Court upholding digital evidence search warrants in the Green Valley Ranch arson/homicide case. These warrants are critical in solving various crimes.
• The DA’s office helped establish a new competency court to better address defendants with mental health issues.
• The DA’s office expanded its Restorative Justice Program, which, since its inception in 2019, has had a 2% recidivism rate among its participants.
Though these developments are important steps in the right direction, we are well aware that there is still much work to be done to achieve the lower levels of crime that Denver recorded prior to the pandemic. Rest assured, we remain deeply committed to enhancing public safety, and we are confident that, with the help of everyone who loves our great city, Denver will be an even safer place to live, work and play in 2024.
Here’s to a peaceful, healthy and happy New Year!
Beth McCann is the Denver district attorney, and Ron Thomas is Denver’s police chief.
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