But Is It Really?
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Who’s The Real King? The Denver Post insinuated that Glendale is the Car Theft Capital of the U.S. in order to hide the fact that Denver by almost all metrics is the title holder.
Glendale brands itself as “Rugbytown USA,” the capital of rugby in the United States. Forty years ago, a book by Jack E. and Patricia A. Fletcher about Glendale was titled “Colorado’s Cowtown.” Today, thanks to a front-page article on “How did Colorado become one of the worst states for vehicle theft?” by John Aguilar, featuring a picture of Glendale City Hall which went national on MSN, Glendale is being called the auto theft capital of America.
How did a town which has relatively few auto thefts from its residents and even fewer cars stolen by its residents become the auto theft capital of America? Easy, stats. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Colorado is the top state for per capita auto thefts with more than 500 vehicles per 100,000 residents. Glendale, in turn, has more auto thefts per resident than any other city in Colorado.
But Glendale, over the last four months through April, 2022, only had 79 auto thefts total which is not even a good night of auto thefts in metro Denver, which according to the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Taskforce (C-MATT) the Denver metro area has on average nearly 100 vehicles stolen every day.
The article does sheepishly admit that the “unenviable designation is somewhat misleading given Glendale’s daytime influx of office workers and shoppers versus its residential population of approximately 5,200.”
“Somewhat misleading?” Glendale has a massive office and retail base compared to a small population. Pre COVID-19 pandemic, over 80,000 to 100,000 people per day came to Glendale according to Glendale city officials. The car thieves come overwhelmingly from metro Denver and steal cars of residents of metro Denver. As a practical matter since Glendale has only two single family homes, a large number of its residents take public transportation or ride shares and don’t even own cars to steal.
Why then stigmatize Glendale? Denver itself is, in fact, the auto theft capital of the United States by most metrics, but The Denver Post does not want to highlight that fact. It, in fact, can’t since it depends on the City and County government for subsidies to keep it profitable. Thus, talk about Glendale and its 79 car thefts in four months and skip over the thousands in Denver over the same period of time.
“It’s nothing new,” said Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon. “The Denver Post and other media have at times, for decades, used Glendale as the punching bag to paper over any problems Denver is having.”
The mayor went on to state: “It’s not that we are unconcerned about the increase in auto thefts in Glendale and across the metro Denver area, but relatively speaking, car theft in Glendale happens far less than once per day on average. The changes in the state laws have resulted in car theft being viewed almost like jaywalking by some. Until the state rectifies what it has done, the problem will get worse. In Glendale and elsewhere if you are a person of modest means, having your car stolen means possibly losing your job, and making it hard to find a new job. I wish the State legislature and the justice system would care just a little bit more about the victims of car theft.”
Skyrocketing Thefts: Metro Denver saw a 107% spike in stolen vehicles from 2019 to last year.
Commander Mike Greenwald of C-MATT indicated that “97% of the people who have been arrested in the past three years for auto theft have multiple arrests for auto theft.” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told The Denver Gazette that: “We arrested one person six times for auto theft in 2021.” He pointed that Denver judges often release habitual car thieves to “personal recognizance” bonds, meaning they have to put up no funds and they just go back on the street and steal more cars.
An analysis of the “Colorado Crime Wave” by the Common Sense Institute in December of 2021, indicates that in Denver alone, personal recognizance bonds increased by 61% over the last two years and $0, $1 or $2 bonds by an incredible 1,879%.
Moreover, legal analyst Scott Robinson told 9News that “judges are reluctant to send car thieves to prison. Unless it’s fourth or fifth time unsuccessfully stealing cars.”
Glendale Police Captain Mike Gross indicates in Arapahoe County the backlog in the criminal system is so overwhelming that prosecutors will simply dismiss auto theft charges stati
Vehicle Theft Rate: Each of the 12 counties reviewed experienced an increase in their motor vehicle theft rate, although the range varied widely. While the motor vehicle theft rate only increased by 1% in Mesa County, it grew by more than 30% in six counties, including 46% in Pueblo, and 51% in Denver. Information obtained from the Common Sense Institute (commonsenseinstituteco.org)
ng they have more serious crimes to attend to.
Moreover, Captain Gross notes that Glendale, like almost every jurisdiction in metro Denver, has a “non-pursuit” policy where the police will not engage in a car chase for auto theft, so car thieves simply leave in the stolen car at top speed.
The Denver Post while acknowledging the complaints of law enforcement, gives strong support to the claims of so-called “reformers” such as Director of Advocacy for the ACLU Taylor Pendergrass, and State Representative Leslie Herod under the heading “Problem runs deeper.”
They blame the world-wide pandemic and problems that run deep in society. Herod stated that, “These things need to be addressed at their root cause.”
Mayor Dunafon laughed saying, “If we wait to address the car theft crisis in Denver and Colorado until we have solved all of the societal problems in the world as suggested by the Post we might just as well hand our cars over to the thieves. It would be so much easier and efficient.”