DENVER (KDVR) — Preliminary data says Colorado set a new record for violent crime, and the growth was concentrated in a handful of counties.
Colorado’s murders rose 8.5% and its aggravated assaults 9% in 2021, the second straight year that both violent crime and property records have broken records. Though crime did rise in most counties, the jumps in violent crime were largely located in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Jefferson and Pueblo counties.
There were 51 more murders in 2021 statewide than there were in 2020. The bulk of those came from five counties.
Adams County had the largest uptick in murders, with 15 more in 2021 than it had in 2020. Pueblo County had nine more, Arapahoe County eight more, Denver four more. Otero County had four total murders in 2021, compared to one in 2020 and five in 2019.
Adams County also led the growth in aggravated assaults, with nearly 700 more in 2021 than in 2020. This is double the growth that the City and County of Denver in the same time period.
Aggravated assaults in Adams County saw the biggest leaps in Aurora and Commerce City. Of the county’s 698 additional aggravated assaults in 2021, 514 of them were responded to by the Aurora Police Department. Another 92 were in Commerce City and 90 in Westminster.