Douglas County Sheriff's Office delivers anti-theft clubs to residents as incidents rise

With multiple cars parked outside his Douglas County home, Thomas Cooper is done taking chances.  

For two weeks now, he's been locking up his steering wheels with anti-theft clubs, which so far, has been a small, but effective way to deter criminals. 

"It's scary," Cooper said. "You just wonder when it's going to be you next."  

The Roxborough resident received his first one thanks to a giveaway by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. In just one day, the office handed out and registered about 40 free clubs, received in partnership with Colorado's Multi-Agency Auto Theft Task Force.

 According to Sheriff Darren Weekly, auto thefts have long been a department priority, because oftentimes the act is a nexus for other crimes.  

"It's an extremely big problem for us," Weekly said. "Typically, the offenders are known to carry weapons, typically it involves drugs. The shootout we recently had at the RTD park and ride, that was involving a stolen vehicle."  

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Colorado is first in the nation for car thefts per capita.                

Since 2019, auto thefts are up 132% in Douglas County, compared to 131% statewide, according to C-MATT's latest annual report. 

Last year though, the department appeared to make progress, seeing thefts go up just nine percent, compared to the statewide eleven percent.   

"In the last couple years, we've had a slow but steady increase," Weekly said. "We're faring better than the rest of the metro area."  

Among other things, Weekly credits countywide license plate readers and his department's tactics for the recent progress. In Douglas County, deputies are instructed to take stolen cars as evidence and pursue suspects, a practice other departments around the state have halted.  

"We're not recklessly endangering people, but criminals know that they're going to chase them in Douglas County," Weekly said.  

Moving forward, Weekly said he believes adding more deputies to his ranks will help deter criminals. He's also supportive of stiffer penalties, an idea that is being debated at the state capitol this session.  

"If these criminals are looking at serious time, they're less likely to offend and commit these types of crimes," Weekly said.  

Across town, the Castle Rock Police Department is experiencing an even more promising trend. For two straight years, it has seen a decrease in vehicle thefts. 

"We experienced a 25% decrease in auto thefts in 2021 and then following that a 15% decrease of thefts in 2022," Police Chief Jack Cauley said. "So far, we've seen that what we've done with auto theft has had a direct result to our overall crime rate."  

According to Cauley, success comes down to putting an emphasis on proper staffing and innovation.  

"It's about supporting your team members, giving them the resources and training that they need to address the problem," Cauley said. "It's about looking at innovation and technology as tools to help you. 

For CRPD, a healthy partnership with the community is also a major key in preventing future thefts. That includes reporting suspicious incidents or preventing them.  

"Lock their cars, take their keys, park in lit areas when they can, that's going to really go a long way to deterring an individual from stealing your vehicle," Cauley said.