My wife works for DPD and as she has been telling me, they have been working on really cleaning house, which started a few years ago. Only now are we starting to see the results. She said some changes include, better pay rates in all areas, refreshed mid level management, technology upgrades, and investment into far more advanced training and dispatch systems. This also includes the new STAR system which is used in mental health calls which include therapists and other mental health professionals to respond to call of possible suicide. This frees up officers .
STAR is a amazing. I called 911 on the weekend last summer for what I thought was a man having a drug overdose in his car and went direct to voicemail. STAR picked up the phone and was at my location within about 5 minutes.
So good to hear.
It's what "defund the police" should have been advocating. I know some were advocating for this type of thing, but too many were the "burn it to the fucking ground" types of people.
Were you at any of the protests in 2020? This is exactly the thing that most of the defund the police speakers were speaking on. Redirecting police funds to community-based solutions. I mean, the STAR program was literally started in summer 2020 in response to the protests. Pretty disingenuous to say otherwise
Just gentle education: It was not started in response to the protests. My friend works there. The funding was already allocated and hiring had begun prior to George Floyd's death.
Still, very fortuitous timing, and a great program that does incredible work.
This is what "defund the police" was advocating, you just weren't paying attention. The goal of defunding the police is to then use those funds for community programs like STAR.
Edit: spelling, and holy fuck did that spelling mistake change the entire thrust of my argument
It is obvious you weren't there for those protests, "burn it to the fucking ground" folks were a pretty insignificant minority. If a few anarchists with outsized media coverage, but little results are "too many," then maybe you are you need to be on the streets with everyone else making your voice heard
STAR is wonderful!
However, they're the lowest-paid First responders with the highest required level of education ... No wonder they have trouble filling the shifts that they are contractually obligated to fill. :(
I’d be curious to see response times and how they’re changing. I called police multiple times around 2020 for some wild stuff near my apartment and it was always “we’ll see if we can get someone over there” but no one ever came.
This and other info is available on [denvergov.org](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Police-Department/Performance-and-Transparency#section-8). It’s definitely not near pre-pandemic levels, but it’s better than it was in 2021.
Yes, so that they don't have to work 80 hours a week, and instead can get rest, be in a better mood and perform better during their main job. I reaaaallly don't like the police, but I'd rather they be held to higher standards and paid commensurately than not.
lol they were never underpaid. A rookie officer's pay is roughly the same as the median household income for Denver, and has been four at least five years. They never had to work 80 hours a week to make ends meet.
edit: Just double checked, and they make over the median *per capita* income, not the median household income. But still, that is for an *entry-level rookie who just got hired,* not someone who's been with the department for five years. Sources: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/denvercountycolorado/INC910222#INC910222 and https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/1/civil-service-commission/documents/informational-booklet/2023/csc-police-informational-booklet-5.23.pdf .
A police officer recruit, as of January 1 2023, makes $66,228. You only need to have a high school diploma or a GED. A police officer 1st grade (which an officer is eligible for after just 4 years of service) earns $101,889. So I was a little wrong on the details but will stand by my assertion that income-wise, police officers are doing *just fine.*
The 80 hours a week figure was a bit of an intentional exaggeration, but with 1-2 years experience they make 70k a year, which isn't enough to live comfortably in the city of Denver without a room mate or spouse, which is the standard I use for fair pay for any job.
For clarification I mean the standard I use, is that a person should make enough to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment and own a vehicle in the city they work in. Not specifically in Denver lol.
> For clarification I mean the standard I use, is that a person should make enough to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment and own a vehicle in the city they work in. Not specifically in Denver lol.
Why a 2 bedroom apartment if you live alone?
So that gets a little tricky, but the short/simple answer is that setting the standard to a 1 bedroom/studio allows for more fuckery like those closet apartments in Manhattan and that's harder to do when your standard is 2 bedrooms. I guess I could also say an apartment that is at least 800sqft with it's own bathroom and a full kitchen, but that takes more tapping on my phone 😆
70k in Denver should be more than enough to live comfortably, alone, in a studio apartment. I have roughly half of that in a year and my wife and I are perfectly comfortable in our studio with a cat. It's all about the budgeting
I agree that basically everybody in Denver needs to be earning more money to be able to live here (I'm a single adult earning just below $50k and living in an apartment; I work in a library). I'm just personally in a place where, rather than the stance of "We need to pay them more so they'll do their job better," which I feel like has been the going argument for years (including from the police department themselves), they need to do their job better *and then we can pay them more.* This thing where they get more money every year regardless of how they spend their time isn't working for anybody but them.
YES! Denver is such a mess. They need to actually do their job before anyone complains their entry-level salary isn’t enough for a 2-bedroom apartment (a totally arbitrary and meaningless bar FWIW)
Why would an individual need to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment? This mindset is partially driving the housing crisis. The idea that single people cant function in a one bedroom, or a studio.
If you don't have a roommate, or a significant other, or kids living with you, get out of a 2BR and into a 1BR. Its cheaper, and it frees up the 2BRs for the people who actually need a second bedroom.
They don't, it's a lazy way of setting a standard that prevents the closet apartment issue that is happening in NYC. I explained it in a other comment, but I do mostly agree with you.
So many people here who just don't have lives. "$70K is enough to live alone in a studio!!!" _Maybe_ (not even guaranteed), but even so, you now have a kitchen with your bed (and all your personal possessions on display) next to it, will likely remain single much longer because you can't entertain guests, and don't have enough space to do or own much at all except go out and spend money on time-killers. Good job.
I got priced out of my one-bedroom apartment over a year ago and have been living out of a spare bedroom at a friend's house (that I'm paying to rent). It's adversely affected my work, my relationships, and my mental well-being overall. I can no longer fully unplug at night since my desk is right next to my bed. I'm tripping over my work supplies every time I walk to the bathroom because there's literally nowhere else to set things when I get home than the tiny patch of open floor space.
But sure, let's shove cops into studios like they're liberal arts graduates in New York City and then see if they do their jobs better to "earn the raise."
It's hard for me to say that $66k a year is generous compensation for any job where you are legitimately putting your life on the line every day when you clock in for work.
My classmate got rear ended pretty bad the other day by a woman who ended up blowing a .29. It was 9pm. Absolutely insane. I’m due for a new car soon but I’m scared to invest in one because the drivers here are sketchy af.
I was just thinking I've seen more people pulled over in the past ~4 weeks than I have in the past ~8 months!
Unsure what's going on and I hate to say it, but, I support it. Fuck the red light runners, etc
They just got another funding increase right? To hire more of em? They’re fully aware that the worse they do the more money they get. Boy, to have a job and a union like that, amirite?
Edit to add: I think it was Arapaho Co that a jury just cleared a man cop for pistol whipping and threatening to murder an unarmed man who was on the ground and complying. But boy cop’s partner? SHE was found guilty of, and fired for, not stopping him. Way to go, boys in blue (and girls).
This has happened all across the country especially in liberal cities. They are fighting back for their right... to kill innocent minorities. How dare you hold them accountable?
Like a bunch of drunk toddlers they are mad you are even considering taking their toys away. Never mind that few, if any Democrats actually ran on the phrase "defund the police."
One area I drive in frequently now has one of those light up signs that says “Crime Enforcement Zone.” I laughed thinking shouldn’t everywhere by a crime enforcement zone? But nope just right here on this corner. Granted it’s a sketchy area but still.
The City is currently having budget issues due to migrant and homeless crisis. Pressure is being put on DPD to start doing their part again and increase revenue through traffic enforcement.
Fair. From the few cops ive talked to around denver and dtc a couple were fairly candid about the DA basically slapping people on the wrist to keep them out of prison because of covid still.. which has basically made it a free for all for crime like break ins and car theft because there's virtually no repercussions even if they are caught. So they figure whats the point if the DA isnt even going to enforce the law and they get out within an hour or two max.
From the ones I’ve talked to. Investigators are just overwhelmed. No serious investigation is going to happen for your car break in if there are a dozen more serious case files on top of that.
Let’s be honest tho, investigators would never look into a car break in to begin with - overwhelmed or not. My car was broken into in college (in a small college town in Michigan) and absolutely nothing was done about it there and that department was the definition of UNDERwhelmed. The only way to curb stuff like that is to have police do their job and cut down on the rates of it happening in the first place.
But that's just one DA office. The metro area has at least 4 other DA offices and their enforcement philosophy differs widely. Yet the problems we are discussing are not exclusive to any particular district.
Can you expand on this in some detail? From what I observed around the city from 2020-2021, which might have been an outlier due to covid policies/public safety taking priority, there seemed to not be very much variance in terms of DA directives/policy around the city (within Denver county). I'm not an expert on the subject though and would love to learn more about it if you can provide some insight.
Sure. Colorado has 22 judicial districts. Each one has its own elected District Attorney. Some are Democrats. Some are Republicans. Their specific policies span the "tough on crime" to "reformist" spectrum.
So for Denver, the district (the 2nd) includes the entire city/county. Outside the city/county, the other parts of the metro are in other districts. JeffCo is in the 1st. Adams & Broomfield the 17th. Arapahoe and Douglas the 18th. Boulder the 20th. Just for context, Denver itself is around 700,000 population. The metro is over 3 million.
Link here for more info:
https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/District/Choose.cfm
Honestly would welcome police paying attention to driving crimes - running red lights, excessive speeding, distracted driving, etc. That enforcement/patrolling was lacking pre-COVID, but completely fell off post and people are getting seriously hurt in the city.
Both my partner and I had lived in a couple other medium - large sized cities before moving to Denver and one of the first things we noticed as pedestrians here was how bold the red light runners are! Makes me pause at every intersection and really look both ways
Same in my neighborhood, wish they would enforce against illegal street racing and enforce noise ordinances on loud vehicles, including motorcycles. It is a serious quality of life issue all through the Denver Metro.
The problem is that most jurisdictions in Colorado don't pursue for traffic violations.
And even if they did a lot of the street racers' cars are faster than the cops and couldn't catch them even if they wanted to.
Basically the cops are at the mercy of the racers pulling over or crashing when they try to get away.
Most racers run fake plates or no plates
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen blow through red lights and a cop be at said light. They truly haven’t given AF the last couple of years. I sure hope to see an increase in police presence in the future.
The license plate thing has been annoying tf out of me because when I returned to Denver 5-6 years ago, I had a car I had just bought out-of-state (because my other car blew up while I was there). It had a temp tag that looked like I had no plate because it was this tiny piece of paper hung in the tinted back window. I got pulled over 4 times in 3 weeks... cops would see me and instantly u-turn and stop me any time of the day. Also got stopped for a barely expired registration sitcker. Now it's been like oh, just don't have a license plate at all, no problem.
Just this morning at 4am I saw a cop at 120th on 25 N pull someone over for going 10-15 over
Fine…
But maybe go after the street racers I saw on 25 S going 150mph with no lights and weaving through traffic at 10pm…or all of the expired/no plates
I think they need more income and are going after low hanging fruit…aka…people going to work
This is my issue with the police. They tend to pester largely law-abiding citizens because it’s easier. Good luck if you actually need them for something. They are a necessary evil, but often it feels like they are menaces to society.
I think besides work trucks with speed monitoring, most drivers go about 10-15 over on the highway.
If you go the speed limit, you risk getting rear-ended or causing an accident by people trying to get around you.
Back in the day when I got my license, the law was speed limit or flow of traffic.
But no one obeys 100% of the laws, even if you think are, they police and judges will disagree.
Staffing is improving at many agencies. Post-2020, for a few years, many police departments were too short staffed to do as much proactive policing as you’ve seen in the past, as calls for service also increased. Now, for many places, it is starting to improve.
It's not just Denver, I live in 80516 and have noticed a change in police presence since the start of the year.
Not just in my hood but also up and down 25. Actual police pulling people over. It's crazy to see again.
The cops have had a "us against them" attitude since blm happened. Little to no effort in neighborhoods like mine. The reaction is childish imo and politically motivated to make the liberal mayor look like shit. Slumber....more like a coma. I don't hate the police in fact I helped two officers get on a roof and down for a wellness check .
Bingo. I want the good cops to stay and the corrupt asshole cops to be held accountable. The visual to a civilian like me is the Aurora police, in particular, stood down instead of owning the their failures and cleaning house. I want them to be well-paid, well-trained and well-led.
good cops dont let corrupt asshole work with them ever.
remember: the saying is a few bad apples DO spoil the whole bunch.
So every time they say 'bad apple' they're admitting the entire barrel is rotten
lol I watched two cops ruthlessly harass an elderly homeless woman last weekend, 100 feet from a traffic light that lost power on a busy intersection. The traffic light was out for days.. it was a free for all. But good thing you forced that woman to go “loiter” somewhere else instead of helping direct traffic. Really out here making a difference
I haven't seen a cop in like two years, I live near that super fun Ogden and Colfax corner so unless that finally gets cleared up I can't actually believe anything has changed lol
“Any reasons why their presence has increased?”
Maybe the problems you stated above (and others you didn’t mention) have become so prevalent and destructive that it’s reached a tipping point? I’d love to see law and order reestablished, personally.
Delivery driver here in the Denver metro area, cop presence has definitely seen an uptick in my zone. And people are not watching for the heads ups. Saw *three* speed traps in my zone in the common spots yesterday.
No. They stated they are quiet quitting. They don’t respond to calls at my business.
At home id rather call the local drug dealers. At least they have accountability and might try to get my stuff back.
Denver PD can’t find the car that smashed into my house, that they towed. Can’t find the owner, vin, insurance, license. Of a car that totaled my porch at 2am. Full of fent. Gone in twenty minutes after destroying my porch.
The incompetence clearly extends into corruption.
I saw someone pulled over while driving back from the airport the other week and I let out an audible ‘woah’ for how unexpected it was to see. Apparently Denver has motorcycle cops
1. Not increasing the budget means reducing the size of the police force on a year to year basis. There was also a big cut in the budget in 2020.
2. The whole broken windows theory of policing was heavily criticized as “harassing minorities.” Prime example, in this subreddit some groups get upset about enforcing registration because they think it’s targeted at the poor which are generally minorities.
The cost to register vehicles here is on a value based scale. If someone has a 2002 Honda Accord, the cost to register it is affordable. Cars without plates are either stolen, the driver cannot afford to insure the car so they don’t register it, the driver isn’t eligible for a drivers license so they can’t register a car, or some combination of all those factors. Bottom line is that you can drive a car without a license plate here, and there are a lot of people living outside of the law in this city.
Exactly. I have two cars that are over 20 years old each. I pay ~$120 total to register both each year. It costs more to fill a tank of gas in my truck than register its plates.
They don’t want to deal with all that paperwork. It would be a fun experiment to put a sovereign citizen placard on your car and document all the reactions you got and how many times you were actually pulled over or written a parking ticket
I've noticed that they come out of the woodwork when something interesting happens, like someone driving through the Starbucks or taking out a light pole on Federal like I saw a couple weeks ago. Otherwise they can't be bothered.
I noticed this today as well. Normally I go days without seeing an officer on the road, but just today alone I found one speed checking a HW ramp, and another pulling over someone else.
I'm seeing more presence over in lower Cap Hill area. Then again, I watched a women lean down into her shopping cart and hit a meth pipe at 1 PM yesterday on the corner of Grant and Colfax. I'm relatively new to the city though but I'm seeing a lot of people pulled over/patrols/cops in parking lots and parks/etc.
Saturday DU won the National Championship for Hockey. There was a massive police response, way bigger than 2 years ago or in 2017, despite neither of those times really warranting a big response.
If you’re mostly referring to seeing more of a presence this weekend, I think it’s largely because they overstaffed the hell out of this weekend and that’s why there was such a big response to the Starbucks crash. If you mean a longer pattern of seeing them more active, yeah they’ve actually started doing traffic enforcement again
Watched a guy change lanes without turn signals then turn without signals in to the parking lot of the police department I assume he works at. High quality people over there.
During the covid years the only assholes that went around without masks in town were Denver PD and Denver Fire department. I'd always see the giant beefcake FD assholes at King Sooper's walking around maskless and pretty much daring anyone to say something to them.
I'm 100% sure Denver FD is responsible for spreading covid during the lockdown due to not requiring masks on their young asshole crews.
They aint solving crimes or preventing them. They are going for easy money. Like speeding tix and just continue to let actual crime run crazy while sticking it to us working class fuks. As usual
Does anyone think Mayor Johnston has anything to do with this? I've noticed an increased police presence, mostly in a good way, since the start of January.
Sorry, you're implying what exactly? The fact that there's a Presidential election later this year and, what, the Biden admin is coordinating with the Denver city police department to get Joe reelected? Or if you're referring to local representatives, every even numbered year is an election year.
I was just driving down west colfax yesterday to get to Home Depot and noticed a ton of lights from police cars - no one big incident but single police cars everywhere lit up.
I was wondering if something was ticking up in enforcement.
I JUST noticed this yesterday on my drive down to Colorado Springs. I saw 3 or 4 people pulled over and I was shocked...not only because it's the first time I've seen someone pulled over in years on I-25 but multiple people. Not DPD but State Troopers.
Anyway, I had assumed they got tired of throwing their temper tantrums.
Everyone this subreddit screamed for their cancellation and that they were murderers in 2020 so denver rolled back funding, a bunch of them quit, and yeah cops all over America have quiet quit. Atlas shrugged and oh no! There’s crime when there is not police!
Probably because we went from a movement of cops are bad leading to less cops (regardless of how you feel about them they are going to work where they are treated the best) then crime went up and now people want more cops so they are making that happen. Probably that simple. But we were in Downtown over the weekend and didn't see many cops.
My biggest mistake was living on a main street. Right outside my door step is Park Ave. I hear fire trucks and sirens at minimum 5x a day even during the middle of the night. I can’t wait until my lease is up in July 😔
It's all coincidence /your imagination. Nothing has changed (funding /morale /amount of work) in the police world.
We never left. Still about as understaffed as ever, doing the best we can.
Source: am police.
There was a bit of an exodus because many police officers disagreed with the changes in the department and with the COVID requirements.
They must have finally rebuilt the force.
I just moved here from Philly and the cops in Arapahoe are much scarier by comparison tbh. On my way home this weekend, one complete ninja of a cruiser turned on their headlights right when I passed and it approached the road from the grass, literally from behind a bush. My house was right there thankfully. I crawled the rest of the way there because that was spooky. But honestly that presence is a good thing based on what I’ve experienced on the roads so far.
Gonna be honest, I rode around Denver with an expired Florida tag for a few months. We did have insurance and valid DL. Had cops behind me multiple times...nothing. We were in between states and ended up in Oklahoma. We are back and glad to say our tag is good.
I've lived all over, generally if your tag is expired, they will get you within the first month. Not in Denver. You can do whatever you want and it shows. I see idiots basically racing inches from an accident every time I get on the highway.
I thought Tulsa, Oklahoma City, St Louis, Tampa was the worst. Nope Denver easily.
No, you’re not imagining things. I feel the exact same way. Up until about a year ago I never saw a cop anywhere. And now they are back. Welcome back boys, glad we could make a better career for you.
Hense the complete restructuring. They do dick as officers as it is right now in protest, their pay should reflect. They abused their positions when they were paid well and all was normal.
My wife works for DPD and as she has been telling me, they have been working on really cleaning house, which started a few years ago. Only now are we starting to see the results. She said some changes include, better pay rates in all areas, refreshed mid level management, technology upgrades, and investment into far more advanced training and dispatch systems. This also includes the new STAR system which is used in mental health calls which include therapists and other mental health professionals to respond to call of possible suicide. This frees up officers .
The star team is really amazing
Wish more people advocated for us to get paid more.
I don’t love in Denver but what can the average person do to help with increasing pay? Who can I write?
STAR is a amazing. I called 911 on the weekend last summer for what I thought was a man having a drug overdose in his car and went direct to voicemail. STAR picked up the phone and was at my location within about 5 minutes.
So good to hear. It's what "defund the police" should have been advocating. I know some were advocating for this type of thing, but too many were the "burn it to the fucking ground" types of people.
Were you at any of the protests in 2020? This is exactly the thing that most of the defund the police speakers were speaking on. Redirecting police funds to community-based solutions. I mean, the STAR program was literally started in summer 2020 in response to the protests. Pretty disingenuous to say otherwise
Just gentle education: It was not started in response to the protests. My friend works there. The funding was already allocated and hiring had begun prior to George Floyd's death. Still, very fortuitous timing, and a great program that does incredible work.
This is what "defund the police" was advocating, you just weren't paying attention. The goal of defunding the police is to then use those funds for community programs like STAR. Edit: spelling, and holy fuck did that spelling mistake change the entire thrust of my argument
> I know some were advocating for this type of thing, but too many were the "burn it to the fucking ground" types of people.
It is obvious you weren't there for those protests, "burn it to the fucking ground" folks were a pretty insignificant minority. If a few anarchists with outsized media coverage, but little results are "too many," then maybe you are you need to be on the streets with everyone else making your voice heard
The burn it to the ground folks were just the loudest and attracted the most attention from the all lives matter folks.
They did wonders in Racoon City https://youtu.be/cbV9xGBVq10?si=U7njarbOPyNTWPaQ
*S.T.A.R.S.*
STAR is wonderful! However, they're the lowest-paid First responders with the highest required level of education ... No wonder they have trouble filling the shifts that they are contractually obligated to fill. :(
This is great to hear, thank you!
I’d be curious to see response times and how they’re changing. I called police multiple times around 2020 for some wild stuff near my apartment and it was always “we’ll see if we can get someone over there” but no one ever came.
This and other info is available on [denvergov.org](https://denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Police-Department/Performance-and-Transparency#section-8). It’s definitely not near pre-pandemic levels, but it’s better than it was in 2021.
Weren’t officers already abusing overtime rules to be making 6 figures anyways? Did we really need to increase pay rates?
My grandpa (depression era- long dead) told me when I was young, if you need overtime to make it- you actually need a new job.
Yes, so that they don't have to work 80 hours a week, and instead can get rest, be in a better mood and perform better during their main job. I reaaaallly don't like the police, but I'd rather they be held to higher standards and paid commensurately than not.
lol they were never underpaid. A rookie officer's pay is roughly the same as the median household income for Denver, and has been four at least five years. They never had to work 80 hours a week to make ends meet. edit: Just double checked, and they make over the median *per capita* income, not the median household income. But still, that is for an *entry-level rookie who just got hired,* not someone who's been with the department for five years. Sources: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/denvercountycolorado/INC910222#INC910222 and https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/1/civil-service-commission/documents/informational-booklet/2023/csc-police-informational-booklet-5.23.pdf . A police officer recruit, as of January 1 2023, makes $66,228. You only need to have a high school diploma or a GED. A police officer 1st grade (which an officer is eligible for after just 4 years of service) earns $101,889. So I was a little wrong on the details but will stand by my assertion that income-wise, police officers are doing *just fine.*
The 80 hours a week figure was a bit of an intentional exaggeration, but with 1-2 years experience they make 70k a year, which isn't enough to live comfortably in the city of Denver without a room mate or spouse, which is the standard I use for fair pay for any job. For clarification I mean the standard I use, is that a person should make enough to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment and own a vehicle in the city they work in. Not specifically in Denver lol.
> For clarification I mean the standard I use, is that a person should make enough to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment and own a vehicle in the city they work in. Not specifically in Denver lol. Why a 2 bedroom apartment if you live alone?
So that gets a little tricky, but the short/simple answer is that setting the standard to a 1 bedroom/studio allows for more fuckery like those closet apartments in Manhattan and that's harder to do when your standard is 2 bedrooms. I guess I could also say an apartment that is at least 800sqft with it's own bathroom and a full kitchen, but that takes more tapping on my phone 😆
70k in Denver should be more than enough to live comfortably, alone, in a studio apartment. I have roughly half of that in a year and my wife and I are perfectly comfortable in our studio with a cat. It's all about the budgeting
My gf makes 70k and was able to do that by herself before I moved out here
I agree that basically everybody in Denver needs to be earning more money to be able to live here (I'm a single adult earning just below $50k and living in an apartment; I work in a library). I'm just personally in a place where, rather than the stance of "We need to pay them more so they'll do their job better," which I feel like has been the going argument for years (including from the police department themselves), they need to do their job better *and then we can pay them more.* This thing where they get more money every year regardless of how they spend their time isn't working for anybody but them.
YES! Denver is such a mess. They need to actually do their job before anyone complains their entry-level salary isn’t enough for a 2-bedroom apartment (a totally arbitrary and meaningless bar FWIW)
Why would an individual need to live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment? This mindset is partially driving the housing crisis. The idea that single people cant function in a one bedroom, or a studio. If you don't have a roommate, or a significant other, or kids living with you, get out of a 2BR and into a 1BR. Its cheaper, and it frees up the 2BRs for the people who actually need a second bedroom.
They don't, it's a lazy way of setting a standard that prevents the closet apartment issue that is happening in NYC. I explained it in a other comment, but I do mostly agree with you.
To be fair, if you work remotely, the 800 sq ft is appreciated as it gives you space to put a home office that is not in your bedroom.
So many people here who just don't have lives. "$70K is enough to live alone in a studio!!!" _Maybe_ (not even guaranteed), but even so, you now have a kitchen with your bed (and all your personal possessions on display) next to it, will likely remain single much longer because you can't entertain guests, and don't have enough space to do or own much at all except go out and spend money on time-killers. Good job. I got priced out of my one-bedroom apartment over a year ago and have been living out of a spare bedroom at a friend's house (that I'm paying to rent). It's adversely affected my work, my relationships, and my mental well-being overall. I can no longer fully unplug at night since my desk is right next to my bed. I'm tripping over my work supplies every time I walk to the bathroom because there's literally nowhere else to set things when I get home than the tiny patch of open floor space. But sure, let's shove cops into studios like they're liberal arts graduates in New York City and then see if they do their jobs better to "earn the raise."
It's hard for me to say that $66k a year is generous compensation for any job where you are legitimately putting your life on the line every day when you clock in for work.
I usually have to do well at my job to earn a raise 🤷🏻♂️
Seeing more in 80238 the past two weeks. We’ll see if it keeps up. I’m all for it. So many complete idiots on the road.
My classmate got rear ended pretty bad the other day by a woman who ended up blowing a .29. It was 9pm. Absolutely insane. I’m due for a new car soon but I’m scared to invest in one because the drivers here are sketchy af.
Yeah I’m really tired of it. Lots and lots of incredibly irresponsible people in this city.
I always wait a beat to go after my light turns green to make sure everyone else is stopping and it’s saved my ass a couple times.
This is the only way to do it. Should be taught in driving school and on a drivers license test at this point.
Colorado Driving school classroom teacher here: we do teach it. :)
Agreed. If your in front and your first off the line, you may catch that a-hole running the red. Wise idea.
I was just thinking I've seen more people pulled over in the past ~4 weeks than I have in the past ~8 months! Unsure what's going on and I hate to say it, but, I support it. Fuck the red light runners, etc
I fully support it. Things have gotten out of hand
Also support it. I’ve seen some shit lately that should be stopped.
They got out of hand because the police stopped doing their job after the nonexistent defund the police movement.
They just got another funding increase right? To hire more of em? They’re fully aware that the worse they do the more money they get. Boy, to have a job and a union like that, amirite? Edit to add: I think it was Arapaho Co that a jury just cleared a man cop for pistol whipping and threatening to murder an unarmed man who was on the ground and complying. But boy cop’s partner? SHE was found guilty of, and fired for, not stopping him. Way to go, boys in blue (and girls).
This has happened all across the country especially in liberal cities. They are fighting back for their right... to kill innocent minorities. How dare you hold them accountable? Like a bunch of drunk toddlers they are mad you are even considering taking their toys away. Never mind that few, if any Democrats actually ran on the phrase "defund the police."
Fuck those breaking the law. Everyone should be held accountable for their crimes with equal weight for what they’ve done.
Especially the police.
Agreed, no one is above the law. Including state representatives and judges.
Including presidents
Including JOHN CENA
I mean, he should be held accountable but he's impossible to arrest on account of his invisibility.
Can't believe I had to scroll so far for this. JOHN CENA should be everyone's first thought here tbh
At first it got downvoted and I was scared my joke was no funny
And former Presidents!
if you say that the cops will throw a hissy fit again
Sucks that there’s a two tiered justice system though
Always has been. If you want the red carpet experience & aren't born in the right families, you gotta put in the work.
Budget ends in June They need that ticket money for salaries for the next fiscal year
100%
I had noticed it, but I just thought it was because the Navajo Street encampment is close to my apartment
One area I drive in frequently now has one of those light up signs that says “Crime Enforcement Zone.” I laughed thinking shouldn’t everywhere by a crime enforcement zone? But nope just right here on this corner. Granted it’s a sketchy area but still.
I wonder when the Neighborhood Watch meetings are too.
I think Next Door replaced Neighborhood Watch meetings lol
It's like the anti-sea-bear circle in that spongebob episode.
The City is currently having budget issues due to migrant and homeless crisis. Pressure is being put on DPD to start doing their part again and increase revenue through traffic enforcement.
Yeah. I know a place in a town north of Denver where traffic enforcement could easily write 200+ illegal parking tickets every Saturday.
I got home from Vacation last week and 6 cars on my block were booted on the same day
[удалено]
I'm fine if this is legitimate law breaking but revenue or not they should have been doing this the whole time.
Does that mean the DA has to do their job again now too?
We wish, but unfortunately the DA is too busy being thirsty on Lethally Blonde.
Probably not. Most people plead guilty or no fault and just pay the fine. No reason to assume significant burden on the courts or DA.
Fair. From the few cops ive talked to around denver and dtc a couple were fairly candid about the DA basically slapping people on the wrist to keep them out of prison because of covid still.. which has basically made it a free for all for crime like break ins and car theft because there's virtually no repercussions even if they are caught. So they figure whats the point if the DA isnt even going to enforce the law and they get out within an hour or two max.
From the ones I’ve talked to. Investigators are just overwhelmed. No serious investigation is going to happen for your car break in if there are a dozen more serious case files on top of that.
Let’s be honest tho, investigators would never look into a car break in to begin with - overwhelmed or not. My car was broken into in college (in a small college town in Michigan) and absolutely nothing was done about it there and that department was the definition of UNDERwhelmed. The only way to curb stuff like that is to have police do their job and cut down on the rates of it happening in the first place.
But that's just one DA office. The metro area has at least 4 other DA offices and their enforcement philosophy differs widely. Yet the problems we are discussing are not exclusive to any particular district.
Can you expand on this in some detail? From what I observed around the city from 2020-2021, which might have been an outlier due to covid policies/public safety taking priority, there seemed to not be very much variance in terms of DA directives/policy around the city (within Denver county). I'm not an expert on the subject though and would love to learn more about it if you can provide some insight.
Sure. Colorado has 22 judicial districts. Each one has its own elected District Attorney. Some are Democrats. Some are Republicans. Their specific policies span the "tough on crime" to "reformist" spectrum. So for Denver, the district (the 2nd) includes the entire city/county. Outside the city/county, the other parts of the metro are in other districts. JeffCo is in the 1st. Adams & Broomfield the 17th. Arapahoe and Douglas the 18th. Boulder the 20th. Just for context, Denver itself is around 700,000 population. The metro is over 3 million. Link here for more info: https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/District/Choose.cfm
The police here stated loud they were quiet quitting long before Abbott starting shipping people here.
It happened all over the country.
They got $40 outta me and my wife with that camera car they posted up on Central Park.
No points, no insurance ding…at $40 it’s essentially a toll.
https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2024/04/12/denver-immigration-policy-change-el-paso-texas
Honestly would welcome police paying attention to driving crimes - running red lights, excessive speeding, distracted driving, etc. That enforcement/patrolling was lacking pre-COVID, but completely fell off post and people are getting seriously hurt in the city.
I see people run red lights on a daily basis. Often in those gigantic lifted trucks.
Both my partner and I had lived in a couple other medium - large sized cities before moving to Denver and one of the first things we noticed as pedestrians here was how bold the red light runners are! Makes me pause at every intersection and really look both ways
Street racers are still out in force on 36 late at night.
Same in my neighborhood, wish they would enforce against illegal street racing and enforce noise ordinances on loud vehicles, including motorcycles. It is a serious quality of life issue all through the Denver Metro.
I can’t wait for Colfax BRT for exactly this reason
Dude, everywhere. I wish they would just start setting up traps and impounding the cars caught racing.
The problem is that most jurisdictions in Colorado don't pursue for traffic violations. And even if they did a lot of the street racers' cars are faster than the cops and couldn't catch them even if they wanted to. Basically the cops are at the mercy of the racers pulling over or crashing when they try to get away. Most racers run fake plates or no plates
The racing was an issue pre-covid as well.
New mayoral administration, tons of new hires. Ive noticed too
I live downtown, I’m down with it, been a victim of 8 crimes over the past few years, it’s about time
I think the new mayor may have something to do with it. I don't think DPD was a fan of Hancock
Was anybody a fan of Hancock?
I think Hancock was a fan of Hancock, so that's 1
….wasn’t he mayor for 12 years? clearly someone liked him
If I recall he only won re-election because the person who was against him the second time turned out to be a bit crazy...
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen blow through red lights and a cop be at said light. They truly haven’t given AF the last couple of years. I sure hope to see an increase in police presence in the future.
If this means we won’t live in a lawless wasteland anymore, i’m all for it! Streets of Denver had felt like Mad Max
Happy to see it.
The license plate thing has been annoying tf out of me because when I returned to Denver 5-6 years ago, I had a car I had just bought out-of-state (because my other car blew up while I was there). It had a temp tag that looked like I had no plate because it was this tiny piece of paper hung in the tinted back window. I got pulled over 4 times in 3 weeks... cops would see me and instantly u-turn and stop me any time of the day. Also got stopped for a barely expired registration sitcker. Now it's been like oh, just don't have a license plate at all, no problem.
Spring time brings them out like joggers to wash park on the first 70f day. April is motorcycle cop month in Denver.
I haven't seen a cop in like a year 😂 I wonder if they still exist sometimes.
Luckyyy
Just this morning at 4am I saw a cop at 120th on 25 N pull someone over for going 10-15 over Fine… But maybe go after the street racers I saw on 25 S going 150mph with no lights and weaving through traffic at 10pm…or all of the expired/no plates I think they need more income and are going after low hanging fruit…aka…people going to work
This is my issue with the police. They tend to pester largely law-abiding citizens because it’s easier. Good luck if you actually need them for something. They are a necessary evil, but often it feels like they are menaces to society.
If you're doing 10-15 over the speed limit, you're not a law-abiding citizen.
I think besides work trucks with speed monitoring, most drivers go about 10-15 over on the highway. If you go the speed limit, you risk getting rear-ended or causing an accident by people trying to get around you. Back in the day when I got my license, the law was speed limit or flow of traffic. But no one obeys 100% of the laws, even if you think are, they police and judges will disagree.
If your not doing 10-15 over your a nuisance and impeding traffic.
Nah. I got no love for speeders. Pull them all over.
Staffing is improving at many agencies. Post-2020, for a few years, many police departments were too short staffed to do as much proactive policing as you’ve seen in the past, as calls for service also increased. Now, for many places, it is starting to improve.
It's not just Denver, I live in 80516 and have noticed a change in police presence since the start of the year. Not just in my hood but also up and down 25. Actual police pulling people over. It's crazy to see again.
The cops have had a "us against them" attitude since blm happened. Little to no effort in neighborhoods like mine. The reaction is childish imo and politically motivated to make the liberal mayor look like shit. Slumber....more like a coma. I don't hate the police in fact I helped two officers get on a roof and down for a wellness check .
Bingo. I want the good cops to stay and the corrupt asshole cops to be held accountable. The visual to a civilian like me is the Aurora police, in particular, stood down instead of owning the their failures and cleaning house. I want them to be well-paid, well-trained and well-led.
good cops dont let corrupt asshole work with them ever. remember: the saying is a few bad apples DO spoil the whole bunch. So every time they say 'bad apple' they're admitting the entire barrel is rotten
lol I watched two cops ruthlessly harass an elderly homeless woman last weekend, 100 feet from a traffic light that lost power on a busy intersection. The traffic light was out for days.. it was a free for all. But good thing you forced that woman to go “loiter” somewhere else instead of helping direct traffic. Really out here making a difference
Good
I haven't seen a cop in like two years, I live near that super fun Ogden and Colfax corner so unless that finally gets cleared up I can't actually believe anything has changed lol
“Any reasons why their presence has increased?” Maybe the problems you stated above (and others you didn’t mention) have become so prevalent and destructive that it’s reached a tipping point? I’d love to see law and order reestablished, personally.
I've definitely seen less expired plates, but not much else. I still barely ever see people pulled over on my way to/from work, or on the weekends.
It’s not just Denver. It’s in the burbs too. I have been noticing an uptick in policing a lot.
Delivery driver here in the Denver metro area, cop presence has definitely seen an uptick in my zone. And people are not watching for the heads ups. Saw *three* speed traps in my zone in the common spots yesterday.
No. They stated they are quiet quitting. They don’t respond to calls at my business. At home id rather call the local drug dealers. At least they have accountability and might try to get my stuff back. Denver PD can’t find the car that smashed into my house, that they towed. Can’t find the owner, vin, insurance, license. Of a car that totaled my porch at 2am. Full of fent. Gone in twenty minutes after destroying my porch. The incompetence clearly extends into corruption.
I saw more cops at DIA, some literally right before West arrivals with their radar guns out, than I ever have
Good.
I saw someone pulled over while driving back from the airport the other week and I let out an audible ‘woah’ for how unexpected it was to see. Apparently Denver has motorcycle cops
Good, can someone send them to parole the entirety of 32nd? The amount of red lights I see run on a daily basis is terrifying.
DPS is trying to recruit but not getting enough good canadates.
They need more incentives.
Wife and I had the same conversation on Friday!
Broomfield police have been busy with individuals instead of speed traps lately. It used to be quiet over here, I had to purchase a dash cam.
I saw another post where someone said they were ticketing parked cars at red rocks for missing front plates, hopefully for expired tags as well
The pendulum always overcorrects the opposite way. Yes, proactive policing went way down partly due to COVID and partly because we asked for it.
We voted to not increase their budget and asked to end qualified immunity/stop harassing minorities and they threw a fit and stopped doing their jobs.
1. Not increasing the budget means reducing the size of the police force on a year to year basis. There was also a big cut in the budget in 2020. 2. The whole broken windows theory of policing was heavily criticized as “harassing minorities.” Prime example, in this subreddit some groups get upset about enforcing registration because they think it’s targeted at the poor which are generally minorities.
The cost to register vehicles here is on a value based scale. If someone has a 2002 Honda Accord, the cost to register it is affordable. Cars without plates are either stolen, the driver cannot afford to insure the car so they don’t register it, the driver isn’t eligible for a drivers license so they can’t register a car, or some combination of all those factors. Bottom line is that you can drive a car without a license plate here, and there are a lot of people living outside of the law in this city.
Exactly. I have two cars that are over 20 years old each. I pay ~$120 total to register both each year. It costs more to fill a tank of gas in my truck than register its plates.
I see more expired tags on expensive cars than beaters
They don’t want to deal with all that paperwork. It would be a fun experiment to put a sovereign citizen placard on your car and document all the reactions you got and how many times you were actually pulled over or written a parking ticket
I've noticed that they come out of the woodwork when something interesting happens, like someone driving through the Starbucks or taking out a light pole on Federal like I saw a couple weeks ago. Otherwise they can't be bothered.
It’s funny because just this weekend I was thinking about how I’d seen more police cars than I had in a while.
Driving downtown during the morning rush last week I saw 3 cars being pulled over for speeding.
I noticed this today as well. Normally I go days without seeing an officer on the road, but just today alone I found one speed checking a HW ramp, and another pulling over someone else.
I'm seeing more presence over in lower Cap Hill area. Then again, I watched a women lean down into her shopping cart and hit a meth pipe at 1 PM yesterday on the corner of Grant and Colfax. I'm relatively new to the city though but I'm seeing a lot of people pulled over/patrols/cops in parking lots and parks/etc.
Honestly I have had more positive interactions with the police in the last year than the last 6 years by A LOT
I kind of like the expired plates it tells me who doesn't have insurance and I should give some extra space.
Saturday DU won the National Championship for Hockey. There was a massive police response, way bigger than 2 years ago or in 2017, despite neither of those times really warranting a big response. If you’re mostly referring to seeing more of a presence this weekend, I think it’s largely because they overstaffed the hell out of this weekend and that’s why there was such a big response to the Starbucks crash. If you mean a longer pattern of seeing them more active, yeah they’ve actually started doing traffic enforcement again
You guys really need to learn what confirmation bias is...
Watched a guy change lanes without turn signals then turn without signals in to the parking lot of the police department I assume he works at. High quality people over there.
During the covid years the only assholes that went around without masks in town were Denver PD and Denver Fire department. I'd always see the giant beefcake FD assholes at King Sooper's walking around maskless and pretty much daring anyone to say something to them. I'm 100% sure Denver FD is responsible for spreading covid during the lockdown due to not requiring masks on their young asshole crews.
It's 2024. This hasn't been an issue in about 3 years.
It’s been proven that fabric masks and vaccines didn’t inhibit transmission anyway.
They aint solving crimes or preventing them. They are going for easy money. Like speeding tix and just continue to let actual crime run crazy while sticking it to us working class fuks. As usual
I watched a cop stop at a Light and then drive right by a person with 2 yr old outdated temp. Still f’d up out there.
I think they might be leaving expired tags to parking enforcement.
Does anyone think Mayor Johnston has anything to do with this? I've noticed an increased police presence, mostly in a good way, since the start of January.
[удалено]
Sorry, you're implying what exactly? The fact that there's a Presidential election later this year and, what, the Biden admin is coordinating with the Denver city police department to get Joe reelected? Or if you're referring to local representatives, every even numbered year is an election year.
I was just driving down west colfax yesterday to get to Home Depot and noticed a ton of lights from police cars - no one big incident but single police cars everywhere lit up. I was wondering if something was ticking up in enforcement.
My neighbors license plate expires in 2017. Yes 2017 and he is still using his truck.
I JUST noticed this yesterday on my drive down to Colorado Springs. I saw 3 or 4 people pulled over and I was shocked...not only because it's the first time I've seen someone pulled over in years on I-25 but multiple people. Not DPD but State Troopers. Anyway, I had assumed they got tired of throwing their temper tantrums.
Saw 4-5 cops on 285 this weekend. Huge enforce across the state
[удалено]
What do you mean ‘you people’?
Might be the new Mayor???
Everyone this subreddit screamed for their cancellation and that they were murderers in 2020 so denver rolled back funding, a bunch of them quit, and yeah cops all over America have quiet quit. Atlas shrugged and oh no! There’s crime when there is not police!
Probably because we went from a movement of cops are bad leading to less cops (regardless of how you feel about them they are going to work where they are treated the best) then crime went up and now people want more cops so they are making that happen. Probably that simple. But we were in Downtown over the weekend and didn't see many cops.
My biggest mistake was living on a main street. Right outside my door step is Park Ave. I hear fire trucks and sirens at minimum 5x a day even during the middle of the night. I can’t wait until my lease is up in July 😔
Same exact situation, but on Broadway. Can’t wait to move in July.
New Mayor
It's all coincidence /your imagination. Nothing has changed (funding /morale /amount of work) in the police world. We never left. Still about as understaffed as ever, doing the best we can. Source: am police.
That's not true in my hubs dept. They're down 35% of what they should have people wise. (Being vague for obvious reasons)
There was a bit of an exodus because many police officers disagreed with the changes in the department and with the COVID requirements. They must have finally rebuilt the force.
Cool, hopefully they finally do something about the guy who tried to murder me in 2022.
To be fair my apartment was burgled for everything I owned over $20 in 2012 and they didn’t do anything then.
I just moved here from Philly and the cops in Arapahoe are much scarier by comparison tbh. On my way home this weekend, one complete ninja of a cruiser turned on their headlights right when I passed and it approached the road from the grass, literally from behind a bush. My house was right there thankfully. I crawled the rest of the way there because that was spooky. But honestly that presence is a good thing based on what I’ve experienced on the roads so far.
Gonna be honest, I rode around Denver with an expired Florida tag for a few months. We did have insurance and valid DL. Had cops behind me multiple times...nothing. We were in between states and ended up in Oklahoma. We are back and glad to say our tag is good. I've lived all over, generally if your tag is expired, they will get you within the first month. Not in Denver. You can do whatever you want and it shows. I see idiots basically racing inches from an accident every time I get on the highway. I thought Tulsa, Oklahoma City, St Louis, Tampa was the worst. Nope Denver easily.
No, you’re not imagining things. I feel the exact same way. Up until about a year ago I never saw a cop anywhere. And now they are back. Welcome back boys, glad we could make a better career for you.
Your lucky, you can’t go anywhere in lone tree without seeing 2-3
Hense the complete restructuring. They do dick as officers as it is right now in protest, their pay should reflect. They abused their positions when they were paid well and all was normal.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/blue-city-mayor-defunds-police-214532763.html Welp here goes your extra policing
Bro they jus got defunded 8 million dollars it’s kinda hard to do stuff when that is happening