APD police chief speaks about what's driving down crime numbers in the city

Yahoo

15-05-2025

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — New numbers compiled by the Major Cities Chiefs Association show the number of homicides and numerous other violent crimes are down in the city of Aurora.
Homicides in the city dropped 36% from 14 to 9 in the first quarter of 2025 compared to last year. Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain says when his officers evaluate crime, they look at the three Ps: Policies, process, and people.
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He says it's not just an enforcement component driving down numbers but also an intervention aspect.
'I think we're in a much better place than we were, and I think we are going in the right trajectory,' said Chamberlain.
He said it wasn't surprising to learn of the declining crime rates in his city, but instead rewarding.
'Last year at this time, we had 5,193 people that were victimized by crime,' said Chamberlain. Right now, year-to-date, we have 4,045. That's a difference of 1,148 individuals that weren't victimized. That's what the mission of law enforcement is.'
Chamberlain said technology, work from community groups and government approaches like Aurora SAVE, aimed at reducing youth violence, have played a role in the dropping numbers.
'Not just giving them the aspect from law enforcement but also giving them alternatives,' he said. 'Working with other nonprofit organizations that can provide tattoo removal, that can provide gang intervention, that can provide some type of job in the union. They can provide anything again that's not strictly just enforcement.'
Aurora has been in the national spotlight after a narrative was picked up by President Donald Trump that crime and gang violence had increased with the arrival of Venezuelan migrants and the presence of Tren de Aragua.
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'All of those things we constantly address. It's not just a one-time shop where you go in there and say this problem is solved. That's the complexity of working in an incredibly diverse community,' said Chamberlain. 'That's the complexity of working in law enforcement.'
He said he is a big believer in statistics and data.
'It validates what we're doing incorrectly and correctly and when you look at evidence-based policing, that's something I was very thankful to bring into APD,' Chamberlain told FOX31. 'Where we looked at different strategies, we looked at opportunities to have impact on crime from a near, mid and far term.'
Officers use the hotspot policing approach to first identify a problematic area and focus there instead of over policing. Then they turn to problem-oriented policing using partnerships with the community.
'I'll use Dallas (Street) as a good example of problem-oriented policing,' said Chamberlain. 'We knew there was a problem. We knew there was an issue. We addressed the offenders, but then we had to go beyond that and address issues to that complex related to how it was managed. What was occurring? Then that's when the crime nuisance came and that complex was closed and that's the part that's important.'
Officers then focus on a long-term strategy that uses an 'Intervention Prevention' component. where officers identify people with a high propensity to violence and offer alternatives.
'The biggest challenge right now it's going to be a continuous effort. I don't think we can ever let up the gas. It's never a time when you're spiking the football in the end zone,' said Chamberlain. 'There's never a time when you close your locker and say that's it, because it never stops. There's always crime happening, always victimization happening, and it's always a need for law enforcement to respond to those.'
Overall crime is down 22.8% in the city. Chamberlain says the department will continue to evaluate its process and policies. One example of one working is the pursuit policy implemented back in February.
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'We had about 30 pursuits since that came out in February. Out of those 30 pursuits, we had no major issue with any of them,' he said. 'Almost all of them ended in one or two minutes, which is exactly what you want because the longer a pursuit goes, the higher the risk related to it. Almost every single person had prolific, prolific criminal history, we've gotten multiple guns out of vehicles.'
The report showed a slight increase in sexual assault cases. Those crimes increased from 56 to 58.
'It's really a complex thing because we want to make sure people are victims of it first feel they can report it. A lot of times those incidents occur behind closed doors and happen in domestic situations. They also occur with dates. That's what I want to make sure with our community at all times we want them to know we want to hear that information,' said Chamberlain. 'I hope that's part of the reason why the numbers have gone up because we've reached out to some of our communities that may have not come forward based upon their status, based upon where they are from.'
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