DENVER (KDVR) — Crime in Colorado rose dramatically at the turn of the decade, but only in a few of Colorado’s cities has the wave continued into 2022.
Comparing the first three quarters of the year, Colorado crime has gone down in 2022. Of Colorado’s largest cities, only a handful have seen inflated crime rates continue rising into 2022.
The number of violent crimes in Colorado across the first three quarters increased from 2019 to 2021. This year, those three quarters had 22,392 violent crimes, that’s down from 23,095 in 2021.
Property crime has gone down even more.
In the first three quarters of 2021, there were 179,670 property crimes. There have been 153,167 in the first three quarters of 2022.
Of Colorado’s 10 largest cities, only three have seen violent crime worsen in 2022: Aurora, Greeley and Pueblo.
The number of violent crimes in Aurora rose 12.5% in the first three quarters of 2022 compared to the same quarter in 2021.
Greeley’s number of violent crimes rose 25.4%, while Pueblo’s rose 24%.
Denver’s violent crimes decreased slightly by 2.5%, Arvada’s went down by 4.5%, Fort Collins’ by 22.3%, Lakewood’s by 7%, Thornton’s by 13% and Westminster’s by 34.3%.
Similarly, only a few of Colorado’s largest cities still have rising property crime totals: Fort Collins, Greeley and Pueblo.
Of Colorado’s 10 largest cities, Greeley’s property crimes rose the most. Greeley’s property crime increased by 17.5% Fort Collins’ first three quarters of 2022 had 0.25% more property crime than the year before. Pueblo’s rose 6%.
Each of the others saw declines.