To address 'immediate health and safety concerns' in Denver, new coalition aims to hire more police

A focus on public safety and law enforcement

The efforts to reach the coalition’s goal of addressing “both immediate health and safety concerns in the center city while targeting root problems and long-term solutions” include hiring nearly 200 more police officers over the course of 2023.

Only time will tell how, or if, these expenditures will improve public safety in Denver, though research shows no correlation, at a national level, between police spending and crime rates.

But the group’s plan, called “Together We Will,” includes more than an increase in police officers; the city will also use environment design in an effort to reduce crime — strategies like lighting, wayfinding and music. Other cities have had success with similar measures. In New York City, a recent study found that lighting “reduces outdoor nighttime index crimes by approximately 36 percent.”

“We can’t just arrest everyone on the mall,” said Armando Saldate, Denver’s director of public safety and one of the panelists at the “Together We Will” event. RTD Transit Police Deputy Chief Steven Martingano, Denver Police Department District 6 Commander Kimberly Bowser and Denver City Attorney Kerry Tipper served as the other panelists.

Bowser said since Monday, her officers have made 193 arrests and citations, mostly for “chronically service-resistant folks.”

On the other hand, Ryan Ertman, the director of safety and security for DDP, said the new coalition has made eight “direct connections to support” since the group formed.

“This is the one that I’m celebrating so much,” Ertman said. “Because this means we’ve taken somebody, we’ve asked them what they needed, they’ve told us, and we’ve provided it … and provided it immediately.”

Most of the panelists spoke about downtown Denver’s problems in a very general way. The word “homeless,” for example, was uttered just twice in the hour-long event, in both instances by Martingano, who was referencing RTD’s new homeless outreach coordinator positions.

But in an interview with Rocky Mountain PBS after the discussion, Tipper gave some concrete examples of the challenges Denver is facing downtown.

Tipper said, “individuals that have substance and mental health and substance misuse issues that we see on the streets of Denver” is probably the top-of-mind issue for many of the city’s residents. “And we do have some safety issues that overlap with that community but aren’t exclusive to it.”

A return to downtown Denver

During a Q&A portion of the event, Chris Payne asked the panelists what he can tell people who are nervous to come downtown. As a senior VP of a development company, Payne said he wants people to visit downtown, but that sometimes it’s a hard sell.

“The more people who are downtown, the better it feels,” Saldate said. He said that large events like the Avalanche championship parade or the MLB All-Star Game are a deterrent to crime.

Martingano encouraged people to look beyond the data. He said that many of the crime that happens on RTD vehicles does not involve tourists or commuters. He said by further dissecting the crime data, the public will realize that "this really is a safe area, a safe city and a great public transportation agency."

As for Bowser, she said her advice for traveling downtown is the same as it would be in any part of Denver, or in any city: it’s best to travel in pairs, stick to well-lit areas and avoid leaving valuables in your car in an obvious way.

Garrett said that Denver is only at 57% of the pre-pandemic levels of downtown foot traffic during the work week, but that visitors during nights and weekends are above pre-pandemic levels.

You can watch the full panel conversation below.