Automobiles refill a parking zone at Denver Worldwide Airport on Friday, November 11, 2022. (Eli Imadali/Particular to The Denver Submit)
Automotive thefts at Denver Worldwide Airport dropped within the ultimate months of 2023 after months of makes an attempt by the airport to rein within the crime, although the variety of vehicles stolen from airport jumped considerably in comparison with 2022.
Thieves stole 11 autos in November, down from 61 thefts the earlier month and 39 thefts in November of 2022. In December, throughout the busy vacation journey season, thieves stole 10 vehicles.
Airport leaders cheered the decline within the final two months in a information launch Thursday and mentioned the numbers have been a part of a downward development in automotive thefts because the summer time.
Nonetheless, the whole variety of vehicles stolen in 2023 far surpassed the quantity stolen in 2022, in accordance with Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority knowledge offered to The Denver Submit. Thieves stole 689 vehicles from the airport final yr — a 74% improve from the 396 stolen in 2022 and a 610% improve from the 97 stolen in 2020, when airport officers first cited considerations in regards to the development.
Airport CEO Phil Washington attributed the discount in thefts in current months to elevated safety on the parking heaps.
“One auto theft at DEN is one too many. However by way of a centered and coordinated effort with our companions all through 2023 to enhance and improve safety measures, surveillance, and enforcement, we now have lastly begun to see thefts at DEN trending down,” Washington mentioned Thursday in a information launch.
To scale back automotive thefts, airport employees put in 11 further safety cameras in parking heaps, elevated the presence of safety guards and put in new limitations to maintain thieves from fleeing in stolen vehicles.
Though airport officers and legislation enforcement have been involved in regards to the uptick in automotive thefts, the prospect of theft stays statistically low. Greater than 14 million vehicles parked within the airport’s 51,000 parking areas final yr.
Automotive thefts surged all through Colorado throughout the COVID-19 pandemic earlier than reducing in 2023.
The spike in thefts on the airport caught the eye of two of Colorado’s congressional representatives. U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, and U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, on Wednesday launched a invoice that will enable airports like Denver’s to make use of federal infrastructure cash to cut back automotive thefts.
The Securing Airport Amenities for Improve Parking Act permits airports to use for grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Infrastructure Program to pay for closed circuit digital camera methods, bodily limitations, alarm methods and different instruments to reduce theft.
“Individuals ought to be capable to go out and in of the airport with out the concern of getting their automotive stolen,” Caraveo mentioned in a information launch. “Automotive thefts are crimes that signify a major monetary loss to those automotive house owners and we should sort out this crime disaster instantly.”
