[Mickey Greenberg, WDCA Safety Chair]
Bicycle Registration
Denver has transitioned their bicycle registration to the national 529Garage program so that your registration is linked to cities across the country. 529Garge is an app on your phone or on your computer www.project529.com. If you have already registered your bike with the city of Denver the information should have been automatically transferred to 529Garage. Go to the app and add a photo and a detailed description of the bike and any accessory equipment. Once registered you can get a non-removal sticker to attach to the bike to indicate it is registration. This sticker has proven to deter theft and it will also alert bike shops that service bikes to verify ownership. You can buy a four-pack of stickers at the bike shops or they will be free at future 529Garage events.
Auto Theft
The DenverTrack system went into operation in the beginning of March and to date no car registered in the system has been stolen. If your vehicle has a built-in tracking system like OnStar or Uconnect or if you have placed your own GPS tracker or Apple Air Tag in the vehicle you should register it with DPD at denvergov.org/denvertrack. This will give the DPD authorization to use your tracker if you report your vehicle stolen. You will also get a warning sticker to advise would be thieves that it is tracked. You can also register and get stickers in person at DPD District 3. There is a dedicated group of detectives assigned to the Auto Theft Team that will be tracking these stolen vehicles.
It may surprise you to know that 85% of the vehicles stolen in Denver are actually recovered, although many are damaged. In Denver stolen cars are often used to commit other crimes and then are abandoned. The data shows that there is a direct correlation between the amount of auto theft and property crime, reducing auto theft reduces other crime, too. Unlike other major cities, we don’t have a large chop-shop problem where the stolen cars are stripped for parts, nor do we see a lot of cars shipped overseas as is common in cities with seaports. Colorado has an organization called CMAT, Colorado Metro Auto Taskforce that is dedicated to the auto theft problem.
Our DPD District 3 Team in Sector 1, the area west of Colorado Blvd, that includes the Cherry Creek Mall and shopping area has instituted a new program on social media. They are reaching out to customers of businesses and restaurants in the area to remind them to lock their cars and not to leave anything in the car that thieves would target. This approach has been tried in another DPD district and they saw a 30% reduction in auto thefts and an accompanying reduction in property crimes. It is best to leave nothing in your car, leave it as empty as the rental car you pick up at the airport. Don’t leave a registration in the glove box with your address on it and above all don’t leave a garage door opener clipped to your sun visor, together they give a thief a key to your house.
Crime Maps
Denver has a new enhanced online crime map at https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Police-Department/Crime-Information. It has filters that let you select your neighborhood (Washington Virginia Vale), the type of crime and then home in the details. You can explore just your neighborhood or the entire city and get comparisons between areas. Another map that is super easy to use is SpotCrime.com. You set your location and a radius around it and you get a daily email with a map of the crimes and a listing of each with a link to the geolocation down to the specific house or store.