Denver's police chief talks about making city a safer place, reducing auto theft
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas tells CBS NewsColorado the department is continuing to work to make the city a safer place. This includes violent crimes, property crimes and more.
Thomas told CBS News Colorado auto theft continues to be a huge program, especially for people who drive Hyundais and Kias. The department is combating this issue by partnering with Kia and Hyundai over the next few weeks. This way, the department can get these vehicles reprogrammed so they are not easily stolen.
The department shared new numbers with CBS News Colorado involving auto thefts over the last three years. In 2021, the department responded to more than 12,000 auto theft calls. In 2022, it was close to 15,000 auto theft calls and in 2023 it was approximately 12,000 auto theft calls. Thomas tells CBS News Colorado auto thefts are a huge problem with Denver being ranked the worst city in America back in 2022 for auto thefts. The chief tells CBS News Colorado they have created a "Denver Tracks" program, used to track vehicles that can be easier to find if stolen.
"We made some significant improvements, so we are seeing around 20% reduction with auto theft," Thomas said. "We want people to feel comfortable parking their car anywhere in the city without fear of it getting stolen."
Another topic Denver police discussed is how they are handling the increase of migrants in the city. As the city continues to house hundreds of migrants, this helps ease calls with the Denver Police Department. The department responded to between 4,000 to 5,000 calls for service a year with illegal encampments. Thomas tells CBS News Colorado that now the department can respond to other important calls with these calls for service decreasing.
"It's put 1,000 people in a much safer situation," Thomas said. "It has increased our capacity to where we respond to other issues."
The chief tells CBS News Colorado the next step is understanding where migrants will be rehoused and making sure they are staying off the streets.
The Denver Police Department is also working on plans to address youth-related crimes, an increase in homicides and an increase in drug-related issues.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story didn't include the full amount of auto theft reports across the last three years.
