Denver police, Mayor Mike Johnston introduce new auto theft program

The Denver Police Department and Mayor Mike Johnston have teamed up to introduce a new auto theft program in an effort to tackle the ongoing problem.

It is a part of a five-part plan as the city looks to hire more officers to provide help to drivers who are at the greatest risk of being stolen due to software updates. 

The department also solidified the Denver Auto Theft team, which is helping and encouraging drivers to sign up for its track program that works along with the vehicle's GPS system to locate stolen cars in real-time. 

DPD's final plan includes installing 111 special cameras that will be built into 70 intersections around the city. The cameras have the ability to scan and read the license plates of stolen vehicles. Once the car is identified as stolen, the cameras will scan for the license plate to find where the vehicle is currently located so motorists can recover it quicker. 

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas discussed the new auto theft plan on Thursday and sent a message to crooks who continue to try to break into vehicles.

"We want people to know that they exist. We want people to know that if you steal a car, you're going to be quickly tracked and identified and captured. And I think we want the public to have assurance that if your vehicle is stolen we have that opportunity to recover it quickly," he said. 

Johnston also addressed the new plan and believes that it will help make sure neighborhoods are safer while detecting thieves. 

Johnston has also fallen victim to auto theft in Denver. Last fall, his office confirmed that his vehicle was stolen back in October and it has been recovered. The incident wasn't the first for the Denver mayor as he was also carjacked back in 2017. 

"We want to make sure every neighborhood is secure. Every neighborhood is exposed, and we want to make sure that there is not one sneaky route to get out of Denver that every thief knows they can use without being detected. We want to make sure we can find them wherever they may go," said Johnston.

The license plate reader technology will not only be used for auto theft but will also help solve violent crimes along with hit-and-run incidents. 

Last year, there were 10,942 thefts and 9,444 recoveries in Denver.