DENVER (KDVR) — The violent crime wave of 2020 has not died down in Denver or Aurora.
Both Aurora and Denver set new violent crime records in 2022, though Denver’s murders have not climbed at the same rate as Aurora’s.
Aurora’s murders, aggravated assaults and robberies are at all-time highs according to Aurora Police Department reports and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
There have been 50 murders in Aurora in 2022 through Dec. 25 – more than any year in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation database that goes back to 2008. It is almost double the 28 murders that occurred in Aurora in 2019.
Aurora’s aggravated assaults are also at record levels, eclipsing the last two record-setting years. There have been 3,228 aggravated assaults in Aurora through Dec. 25, 2022 – over 400 more than in 2021 and twice the number of aggravated assaults that occurred in 2019.
With 885, the number of robberies in Aurora is also at a historic high, up from 774 last year.
Denver’s crime trends are slightly different.
The Mile High City did not experience a record year for robberies or murders, but both are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Aggravated assaults, auto thefts and public disorders, however, are at record highs.
There have been 86 murders in Denver through Dec. 28, according to city records. This is fewer than through the same date in either 2021 or 2020. However, that is a 37% increase when compared to 2019.
Aggravated assaults, though, rose to 4,992 – roughly 500 more than in 2021.
Auto thefts have risen dramatically in the last three years. To date, Denver counts 14,711 in 2022 – nearly three times as many as in 2019. Counts of public disorder have also spiked, nearly doubling from 7,865 in 2019 to 12,374 in 2022.