There was a time in Wheat Ridge where one in ten police calls for service were dedicated to just a handful of businesses in the city.
Ever since Wheat Ridge Police Chief Chris Murtha took on the job in 2020, creating better public safety around the I-70 and Kipling area and the hotels in the district has been a clear priority. It was clear that there needed to be a collaborative approach across city departments to address core safety issues at the hotels in the area.
In 2020, the Wheat Ridge Police Department responded to 7,030 calls for service across seven hotels in the city, including The American Motel. That year, police resources were requested to The American Motel 2,497 times, representing 35% of all calls that year from the hotels.
Having officers show up to one local businesses six to seven times per day was not sustainable and created a public safety concern for the rest of the city.
After working across departments to find a solution, Wheat Ridge City Council passed an ordinance to establish a hotel licensing program in October of 2021. The ordinance created guardrails, including capping the number of days a guest could stay (unless they had an extended stay addendum), required participation in the WRPD crime free hotel/motel program and set an acceptable number of calls for service per month based on the size of the hotel or motel.
If hotels or motels are in violation of this ordinance, the City can push for safety changes or even revoke the business license if necessary.
In the five years since calls at the hotels peaked in 2020, calls for police services at the same seven hotels have plummeted to just 1,123 in 2025, a nearly 85% decrease. The ordinance is working, as some hotels have made it a priority to align with the City’s values and prioritize safety and best practices.
Calls for service at The American Motel dropped to just 240 in 2025, as the business started limiting its operation ahead of remediation and a teardown.
Because the Wheat Ridge Police Department is not getting constantly called to the hotels in our community, it can focus resources in ways the community wants to see: being proactive to drive out crime and build stronger relationships with the community we serve.
Social Media comments
Goodbye drug den, full of prostitutes and losers. Goodbye, bedbugs, and cockroaches. Are these the memories that you speak of? I used to work across the street at a different hotel. The Affordable Inns of Wheat ridge and the people that would come with the most outrageous stories about this place. There would be all bitten up by bedbugs, telling me how people (the staff) were going in their rooms without their permission and stealing their stuff.
Heather Kraft
That was my home away from homelessness it was my final refuge for dozens of years as I already miss it. I was one of the last patrons there. Thank you Sandy. You will be missed.
Rick Foster
The history before it became the main attraction to losers. Once upon a time, it was beautiful. It was a part of either the Ramada or Radisson chain. It has been said, many times, that Elvis had taken up the entire top floor with his staff when he was visiting Denver, once, long ago.
Patricia Adele
American Motel
The angel of doom arrived on Tuesday
With a cast of supporting destructors
Iron beasts and heavy-duty haulers
With crunching jaws to feast on bare concrete bones
Guest rooms stripped of heavy drapes and sad stories
Even the room that Elvis slept in
Once a shining star among roadside attractions
With glittering ballroom, restaurant and comfortable overnights,
Yet a slow descent into irrelevance and disrepute.
Thirty-two ninety-five and up, shouted the sign,
The common currency of shame and misdemeanor.
Until finally, they said “that’s enough!”
With each reinforced concrete chunk,
Evaporated a tale of high revelry and low despair
Of wedding receptions and of just getting by.
One-by-one, the bone-white slabs tumble,
Dropped into dent-scared dumpsters
And carted off to who knows where.
Each carrying a short story,
Maybe wistful but too often wretched.
Forgotten tales of weary travelers and tipsy revelers
And the slow slide into notoriety and ruin.
Even the patriotic name and giant flag
Could not long deflect that tawdry reputation.
And so, such places are best removed from time’s river
To be replaced by anything at all.
While the noisy canal of interstate traffic
Still speeds uncaring, just feet away.
Might it wake a sleeping Elvis?
And what would he have to say?
Dan Larson
