Denver neighborhood crime doesn’t always match city trends. Here’s why.

Denver functionaries have heralded accomplished efforts to reduce homicides and gun violence in the city but certain Denver neighborhoods have higher rates of property and violent crime than the citywide average Denver s crime statistics paint a nuanced picture of how general safety can change between neighborhoods and experts say there s no one answer for why crime increases in particular areas and not others which means there s also not a single key to the issue Denver has grown tremendously in the last years commented Stacey Hervey an affiliate professor of criminal justice and criminology at Metropolitan State University of Denver Any time you add more homes you ll see more crimes and you re also seeing an increase in opportunity Denver Police Department information breaks down incidents by neighborhood and type of crime ranging from murder to masses disorder Citywide greater part violent crimes like sexual assault and murder decreased leading to fewer violent crimes in compared to for a total of But those trends don t necessarily translate to every neighborhood For example while Denverites communicated fewer aggravated assaults last year in the city overall folks in neighborhoods like Barnum and Cherry Creek saw the opposite trend Assaults tripled in Cherry Creek from nine in to in and increased by almost in Barnum from to according to the Denver Police Department s crime dashboard Property crimes in Denver followed a similar trend from to police details shows While those crimes decreased by citywide the number and types of property crimes that were shared fluctuated widely people stealing from cars dropped by but other thefts increased by The different neighborhood trends in violent crimes also extend to property crimes like the number of burglaries staying relatively flat citywide but increasing by in Capitol Hill from in to in An increase in property crime doesn t necessarily mean more violent crime will follow Hervey disclosed because they re often committed by different types of people A lot of our violent crime rates are driven by gangs or young people and they don t traditionally do property crimes which are often crimes of opportunity she disclosed like porch pirates or people stealing and pawning bicycles for quick cash There are plenty of theories about what influences crime rates disclosed Beverly Kingston director of the Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado Boulder One theory Kingston has studied in Denver neighborhoods is social disorganization theory which suggests that district factors other than individual behavior contribute to crime In a investigation Kingston and two colleagues discovered the biggest factors that can predict criminal behavior in young Denverites were objective poverty and the belief that they had limited opportunities for the future Those factors can look like children and teenagers not having access to a high-quality instruction or extracurricular exercises like summer camps The kids are oftentimes not getting those developmental necessities met by virtue of where they live and the support that they have Kingston revealed Denver Police Sgt Brian Husum District anti-crime association boots up his onboard computer before heading out on patrol in Denver on Thursday April Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post For DPD Commander Brad Qualley and Sgt Brian Husum figuring out what s causing spikes in neighborhood crime is less an academic exercise and more a regular part of the job Qualley oversees the District precinct which includes bulk of the city west of the South Platte River and south of West Sixth Avenue For the bulk part that district is primarily a working-class group with hardworking folks Husum reported DPD functionaries often look at increases in calls and crime input over the previous month to pinpoint areas of concern Qualley mentioned I do think selected of the trends or increases end up being area-specific and they re usually short-lived because we re able to identify who is responsible for that or they ve moved on he explained When they re not short-lived we start really focusing efforts on why that s happening in a specific area Certain of those are comfort areas Husum declared places like a home apartment building or bus stop where people feel peaceful with criminal activity Police also look for corrupting locations or places where there s a lot of crime and try to determine what is allowing criminal behavior to flourish In one affair Husum s company began studying why stolen cars were repeatedly showing up at a bar near South Raritan Street and West Mississippi Avenue Police revealed that the bar owner was allowing drug and gun sales in the bar and arrested the people involved A judge later ordered the bar closed and crime dropped in the Athmar Park neighborhood as a end Husum revealed Department figures shows violent crime in Athmar Park is down this year compared to the same time in The entire operation took about months It s not just finding and arresting criminals Husum reported It s changing the context For Kingston the good news is that research shows that crime is not an inevitable reality in Denver Protective factors like strong relationships with adults who care connecting at school and having positive friends and hobbies or interests they re passionate about and supported in are all linked to reduced crime rates We know without a doubt that crime can be prevented she reported Crime isn t so random There are reasons why it happens and we can do a lot to work upstream to prevent crime and intervene in the lives of people who are struggling and hurting and give them the promotion they need Traffic moves along South Federal Blvd near the corner of West Cedar Ave in Denver on Thursday March Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Another comfort area was a large apartment complex in the block of South Federal Boulevard that started seeing a high number of calls Qualley disclosed Related Articles Body camera footage shows Denver police firing dozens of times in police shooting outside Westwood middle school Carioca Cafe manager hopes to reopen legendary Denver dive bar after wall collapse Denver motorcyclist injured in hit-and-run on southbound I- Man shot by Denver police probing fireworks in Montbello Denver s naloxone vending machines dispense -plus free boxes in first months Qualley and other District officers started working on outreach with building managers though it was hard to get a foothold at first because management kept changing Eventually the precinct was able to have regular meetings about how the department could help whether through targeted enforcement or providing mental wellbeing or narcotics tools I understand that there is frustration out there with residents so I inevitably ask them to actively get involved and ask them to come to the commanders advisory board we have monthly Qualley noted It s good to have that face-to-face 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