In an effort to combat car theft, the Denver Police Department is installing 111 cameras all across the city, which will read license plates and flag stolen plate numbers. The cameras will also be able to flag license plates associated with violent crimes and hit and runs.
The upgrades are part of a larger approach from the city aimed at decreasing car theft, which has become more frequent in Denver and cities across the country. At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Mike Johnston attributed high levels of car theft to car designs that are easier to steal, a broader pattern of rising crime and a drop in police staff. Johnston's own car was stolen in November.
Part of the new response involves permanent implementation of a pilot program within DPD that created a dedicated unit focused on car theft. Other measures include rolling out license plate scanners, promoting a vehicle registration program, recruiting more police officers and running specific events for KIA and Hyundai owners with vehicles prone to theft.
"We are excited today to announce a comprehensive strategy to fight auto theft across the city of Denver, and what we think will put us on path to be one of the most aggressive enforcement cities to make sure we can reduce auto theft across the city in a comprehensive way," Johnston said at a press conference Thursday.
A major part of DPD's approach involves spreading license plate readers across the city.
Denver International Airport, which has seen some of the highest rates of car theft in Denver, has had success with the cameras at their parking lots in recent months. According to data from the airport, Nov. 2023 saw 11 thefts compared to 39 thefts in Nov. 2022. Johnston said the airport has seen a 90% decrease in thefts over the past six months.
Now the cameras will start to roll out across the city, with a focus on areas with high rates of theft. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said he expects the license plate readers to go up in the "very near future." While exact locations are still unknown, Thomas cited downtown, East Colfax and West Denver as potential hotspots.
Johnston said some cameras will still be spread throughout the city to catch potential thieves trying to take a stolen car out of town.
"We want to make sure every neighborhood is secure, we want to make sure no neighborhood is exposed and we want to make sure that there's not one sneaky route to get out of Denver that every thief knows they can use without being detected," he said. "We want to make sure we can find them wherever they go."
Once a car gets flagged as stolen, the cameras can put an alert on the license plate to help locate the car as it moves across the city and passes other cameras in the system. Thomas said that the cameras will not scan any personal information beyond license plates, and that the info will only be stored for 30 days unless it becomes evidence in a criminal investigation. Thomas also said the cameras will not be used for traffic enforcement or to justify searching vehicles.
"Certainly we want to have some policy safeguards," Thomas said. "All searches of the database will be tracked and we will be performing random audits of the searches. It is also important to acknowledge that the footage is going to be owned by the Denver Police Department, the City and County of Denver and not going to be sold or shared by the vendor."
Surveillance has been a concern in the past.
In 2018, DPD installed two sets of license plate readers at Sixth Avenue and Federal Boulevard to scan plates and run them through federal and criminal databases. At the time, community members expressed concerns about cameras disproportionately targeting people of color and people accessing social services, or that data might be used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Denverite reported in 2019 that the cameras had led to 22 felony charges between Oct. 2018 and July 2019, but that they had also occasionally flagged people with misdemeanors like suspended licenses.
Thomas said the new license plate scanner cameras will operate separately and with different restrictions and goals from the cameras at Sixth Avenue and Federal Boulevard.
"The tolerances on these cameras are not going to be set for that [traffic violations]," Thomas said. "It is only going to be set for auto theft and violent crimes and hit and runs. It's going to stay that way, our policy is going to ensure that it stays that way. We're going to have insurance measures in place to make sure that no one is searching the database and using it for any other justification, and by city policy and mandate, we're not going to be sharing any information."
In a statement to Denverite, Catherine Ordoñez, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said that people driving through Denver shouldn't have to be concerned about more license plate readers and urged the city to enact strong privacy oversight measures for the new theft-prevention program.
"Our leaders must protect the privacy of all people by limiting the ways in which DPD can collect, store and use license plate data. Robust privacy policies, procedures and oversight are essential in guaranteeing this does not jeopardize data security or become a tool of mass surveillance," Ordoñez said in the statement.
In addition to the cameras, the city is planning events this spring for people with KIAs and Hyundais prone to theft.
Certain KIAs and Hyundais see especially high rates of theft because of software deficiencies that make their cars particularly easy to steal.
Johnston said the city will host events this spring in partnership with KIA and Hyundai, where owners of those cars can upgrade vehicle software to make cars more difficult to steal. In the meantime, KIA and Hyundai owners can get manual protection for those cars from the Denver Police.
Johnston is also urging car owners to register their vehicle with the police.
Denver Police rolled out a new program in March of 2023 called DenverTrack, which voluntarily gives DPD consent to immediately access an owner's car GPS data if a car is stolen. The program also gives people enrolled window stickers identifying the car as part of DenverTrack, aimed at deterring theft to begin with. To enroll, owners must provide the year, make, model, VIN number, license plate, state of issuance and vehicle's tracking ability to the police.
When rolling the program out, police staff said DPD would not use car information to find owners if they were suspected of a crime or had a warrant out for their arrest. Thomas said that around 2,800 people have signed up for the program since its launch.
The GPS program only works for cars built after 2014, but Thomas said owners of cars made before then can get Tile trackers to track their cars.
Johnston also highlighted city efforts to grow Denver's police force.
The city has cited staffing issues as a reason behind struggles in going after car theft. Johnston budgeted $8.2 million to recruit 167 new officers in 2024. Before leaving office, former Mayor Michael Hancock budgeted $8.4 million for nearly 190 new officers, the first budget in years aimed at boosting the police force.
Thomas said that the DPD pilot team specifically focused on car theft prevention has already started to have an impact. According to data from DPD, teams working on car thefts have made 200 arrests for car thefts, made 45 arrests for felonies and recovered 30 illegal guns as part of the effort.
In addition to recovering cars, Johnston hopes the more aggressive efforts will deter thefts altogether and save city money along the way.
Thomas said that the average cost to a car theft victim is about $10,000, while it costs DPD approximately $600,000 annually to investigate auto theft.
"Our goal is this should be a clear message that if you steal a car in this city, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted," Johnston said. "That means you want to decide to either not do it or to do it someplace else."
This article has been updated with comment from the ACLU of Colorado.
