Denver police announce new Auto Theft Investigations Team

While auto thefts along the metro continue to rise, the Denver Police Department announces the first phase of completion of a new auto theft investigation pilot program.

DPD created and centralized a team whose focus was investigating auto thefts throughout the city and arresting auto thieves.  

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas then created the Denver Auto Theft Team (DATT) as a pilot program that ran between March 27 and June 15. The program was made to concentrate on preventing auto thefts and increasing the number of arrests for auto theft while building strong cases for prosecution, and reducing the recovery time for stolen vehicles. 

DPD says since the DATT pilot was initiated, it has achieved significant results with 104 arrests, 64 of those for auto theft, and 80 recovered stolen vehicles. Additionally, nine illegal guns were recovered during the proactive operations. 

"Preventing auto thefts, arresting auto thieves and recovering stolen vehicles are priorities of the Denver Police Department," said Thomas. "Creating this specialized team, which uses a proactive approach to arresting car thieves in the moment, is effective in holding offenders accountable. This team has increased safety in Denver during a short period and I am excited to see what they will accomplish in the next few months."

To learn more about DPD's innovative program, please visit: https://bit.ly/3XFAylR