While national numbers show violent crimes decreased in 2022, public perception is that crime is on the upswing, primarily due to social media and the news media, said Wheat Ridge Police Chief Chris Murtha.
The city’s own crime numbers for 2023 are a mixed bag of declines and upswings in various categories typically found in year-to-year comparisons, he added. City officers handled 565 fewer calls and reports in 2023 than the previous year.
The Wheat Ridge community feels “relatively safe,” according to feedback in the city’s annual citizen survey, Murtha noted.
“It’s difficult to push back against social media when people see videos of crimes and porch pirates and watch the news,” he added. “I think the perception that crime is increasing is more of a national narrative than in local jurisdictions.”
In October, the FBI released numbers that show national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 estimates:
- Murder and non-negligent manslaughter was down 6.1%;
- Rape saw an estimated 5.4% decrease; and
- Aggravated assault decreased 1.1%.
- Some areas were up, such as robbery with a 1.3% increase.
Despite those figures and others, Gallup’s 2022 crime survey results, released in November 2023, found a record number of people, 63%, called the national crime problem “extremely” or “very serious.” Far fewer people, 17%, said their local crime problem was in the same category. However, that also increased from 2021 and is the highest result in history for the question.
The attention paid to crime online and in many news outlets gives it a “very high profile,” Murtha said.
“People talk a lot about it and come to believe it applies to their cities, too,” he stated. “So it’s a bit of an uphill battle.”
“We’re in a new, challenging environment with social media that may stream something that’s unverified,” Murtha continued. “I think our department is very trusted by the local community but we see people are upset about crime elsewhere. We have an overall safe community, especially when it comes to personal crimes in an area like Denver.”
Murtha said the city’s 2023 crime numbers show Wheat Ridge much closer to the pre-pandemic years than many peer cities. Half of the 28 categories showed an increase and half a decrease compared to 2022.
Simple assault cases climbed from 266 last year to 309 in 2023, slightly under the city’s 5-year average, Murtha said.
“I think that increase just shows people are more physically engaged,” he added. “Some of it, too, is a small number of people with mental health and drug issues, which sometimes leads them to think they should take matters into their own hands.”
An area of concern is weapons-related offenses, which jumped from 57 in 2022 to 69 last year, 14 above the 5-year average.
“Those can be felony menacing when someone in a vehicle pulls a gun on someone else and points it at them after some type of interaction,” Murtha said.
Drug-related offenses numbered 256 in 2023 compared to 225 a year earlier. Both are higher than the city’s 5-year average of 192.
“Some of that might be due to changes in state laws regarding arrest procedures,” Murtha noted.
Other areas, such as burglaries, can be misleading. Last year, the department responded to 199 such offenses, an increase of 22 over 2022.
“But about 50 of those were to the same storage facility,” Murtha said. “We worked with the owner to get him to install a security system.”
Motor vehicle and auto parts thefts — especially catalytic converters — were a primary concern a few years ago. However, motor vehicle thefts declined from 520 in 2021 to 310 last year due to good police work and changes in state laws, Murtha added. Likewise, auto parts thefts dropped from 286 in 2022 to 107 last year.
“It’s important to learn how the supply chain works and we got some good peer information from surrounding departments on how the metals in the converters moved,” Murtha said. “We also worked with regional task forces by sharing our information and conducting operations in the city.”
Murtha said the department uses the crime numbers to help reassign officers to certain areas and develop strategies. The department has money for 87 officers and currently employs 86, with five recruits enrolled in a police academy. The department’s professional staff is also at full strength, he noted.
“We think we’re in a good place and can handle the normal attrition and retirements that take place” to maintain those numbers, Murtha stated.
(standing with raised hands). PHOTO COURTESY WHEAT RIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT
