This article was first published in Complete Colorado.
What you thought you knew is correct: Ever since “progressive” forces took over Colorado, the state has been experiencing a crime wave.
Leftists destroy things. I’ve already reported on other ways they are trashing this beautiful state. Now let’s focus on crime.
Since 2010, violent crime in Colorado is up an astonishing 79 percent. In uber-progressive Denver, it’s up over 91 percent.
And that’s only part of a larger, and even more disturbing, scenario.
To illustrate what has happened, I chose two periods for comparison. I selected the longer period—2010-2024—for personal reasons. My wife Betty and I moved back to Colorado from Montana in 2010. When we returned we saw a lot of changes from the time we left a quarter-century earlier. But we also saw important similarities. Among them were that Colorado was still a purple state and still a great place to live.
So I decided to start the comparison with 2010 and extend it until the end of 2024, the last year for which we have full crime statistics.
In addition, I chose a shorter period for a more objective reason: It is essentially the the most recent decade—that is, from the beginning of 2015 until the end of 2024.
My source was the website “Colorado Crime Statistics,” which you can access here. It’s a rather slow website to work with, so I’ve done the job for you. A PDF of my spreadsheet is here. (Be sure you scroll down for the second page.)
Some caveats
Before we go further, keep several things in mind.
First: From 2010 to 2024, Colorado’s population grew 18.5 percent while Denver’s grew about the same: 18.8 percent. The comparable growth numbers for the 2015-2024 period were 9.2 percent for Colorado, and 4.8 percent for Denver.
As we shall see, the surge in crime has swamped the rise in population.
Second: During a crime wave, the numbers tend to be under-reported. This is because people become discouraged and are not as aggressive in reporting offenses. It’s also because the police become overwhelmed.
Third: The category “violent crime” includes some of the other categories we’ll mention, including sexual offenses, aggravated assault, robbery, and murder.
Finally: The crime numbers from the City and County of Denver are those processed through the Denver Police Department; although the crime statistics website lists the Denver Marshal’s Office and Sheriff’s Department separately, no crime was reported through them.
A sliver of good news
Let’s start with the good news: Burglary—or at least reported burglary—is not part of the crime wave. During the 2010-2024 stretch, it rose 13.3 percent in Denver, which was less than the growth in population. Statewide, the annual burglary number dropped almost ten percent.
Theft crimes
On the other hand, other theft crimes rose during our periods. Motor vehicle theft simply exploded.
Here are the figures for fraud, motor vehicle theft, larceny, and robbery. For simplicity, I’ve rounded off to the nearest percentage. Remember that the second period is significantly shorter than the first, which is one reason most of the percentage increases are smaller:
As a rule, crime ebbs and flows from year to year. As you can see, some crimes surged more before 2015 while others jumped more later on. But with the exception of burglary, they all are continuing to increase.
The growth in larceny is almost certainly understated. It includes shoplifting, but many retailers simply have given up reporting this crime. Instead, they lock up their shelves or close down their stores. For example, I used to shop at the now-shuttered Colfax Avenue Safeway in Lakewood. From employees, I learned what this newspaper report doesn’t mention: Shoplifting was a contributing reason for the closing.
Violent Crimes
Murder—which, fortunately, is a relatively rare crime—has risen relentlessly, both in Colorado and in Denver. In 2010, there were 114 murders statewide, 30 of which occurred in Denver. In 2015, the corresponding numbers were 175 and 52. In 2024, they were 272 and 72. During the 15 years my wife and I have been back in the state, Colorado murders have jumped 139% annually. I don’t think Betty and I have been to blame.
The rise of other violent crimes is even more frightening, because they are far more common than murder. During 2010, there were 9,725 aggravated assaults in Colorado. Last year, there were 21,218. The numbers for Denver were 2,063 and 3,310. There also were less dramatic increases in non-consensual sexual crimes—that is, rape and attempted rape.
Conclusion
No doubt some will quibble with some aspects of these numbers, but the overall story is hard to deny. It’s also hard to disregard how the rise in crime has accompanied the rise of leftist control, both at the state level and in Denver.
As I have pointed out before, it is part of a larger—in fact, a worldwide—pattern.
