What Residents Can Do To Keep Their Vehicles From Being Stolen
“We live in a time when if you make it easy for someone to steal from you, someone will.” — Frank Abagnale
by Luke Schmaltz
Denver car owners’ vehicles are driving away without them at an alarming rate.
suburbs coupled with the ideals of convenience and self-reliance stamped into most American DNA means that just about everyone with a driver’s license also has access to a car. Of the many thousands of vehicles in use across the Front Range, a rising percentage will be targeted, broken into and driven away with haste.
A Banner Year
2020 has been a boon for car thieves, with numbers climbing like a curve on a Covid-19 cases chart. According to a September 21 report published by The Denver Post, 5149 vehicles have been stolen in Denver thus far — an average of around 530 per month or about 20 per day.
Disconnecting the battery after parking your car can prevent theft.
These numbers are apparently being driven up by idle hands, as some folks who are out of work turn to crime while others turn to a stationary life — leaving their vehicles parked in the same location for many days or weeks at a time. According to the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority (CATPA) Metro Auto Theft Team (CMATT) these vehicles are primarily larger trucks and SUVs — specifically the Ford F-series trucks (F-150, F-250 and F-350), Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras.
The reason these models are targeted is that they typically contain valuable tools for construction and other in-demand trades. Thieves then turn around and quick sell the tools and disassemble the car via chop shops for used parts. Or they will simply abandon the vehicle in a sparsely populated stretch of road somewhere on the outskirts of town. This dynamic explains why nearly 85% of stolen vehicles are recovered and of course, devoid of any of the owners’ personal items.
Beware Distractions
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), many car thefts take place during major distractions. The primary of these, obviously, is when vehicle owners are asleep in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, however, major holidays such as Halloween and New Year’s Day are also popular times. 2020 is unique in that social unrest in the form of protests and riots tend to attract large gatherings of police officers, leaving a vacuum of sorts in outlying areas. While the majority of officers in District 3 and 6 are downtown skirmishing with protesters and arresting bystanders, professional car thieves are fanning out through the neighborhoods — helping themselves while terrified residents remain glued to their television sets to watch the chaos unfurl.
2020 was a banner year for car thieves in Denver and surrounding areas.
The Basics
It goes without saying that you should lock your car and take the keys to the vehicle with you when you get out. Yet, a large percentage of cars being stolen are done so with ease because the FOB (frequency operated button) “key” was left inside the car, in plain sight, no less. Parking in a garage if you are so lucky is a great idea and if not, in a well-lit area with the windows rolled all the way up can also be a deterrent.
Ramp It Up
Theft deterrent devices like steering wheel locks, steering column collars and car alarms (with warning decals on the windows) can make an enterprising criminal decide to move along to the next car. You can also thwart criminals with a device locked onto one of the four wheels, otherwise known as a wheel lock. After all, the Mile High City is the originator of “the boot” so why not show a bit of Denver pride?
Leaving keys and FOBs in your car means you won’t have it for much longer.
Protect The Transmitter
If you drive a car that unlocks with a FOB, hacker-savvy thieves can access your car even if you take the “key” with you. They do this by “jamming” your FOB’s radio frequency remotely. You can prevent this by taking a few pointers from the tin foil hat crowd and, yes, wrapping your FOB in tin foil overnight or while you are at work. This approach also works by dropping them in a cocktail shaker and slapping the lid on tight. Or, if those methods are a bit too pedestrian you can go out and buy radio frequency identification (RFID) blocker wallets and purses. Perhaps those conspiracy theorists are not so crazy after all.
When cops gather en masse or citizens are distracted by holidays, criminals strike.
Get Technical
Gearheads are privy to a number of hands-on mechanical methods that will keep a car from starting should a thief gain access. You can disconnect one of the battery cables from one of the battery posts which will cut off all power, rendering the car immobile. A similar approach can be applied by switching one of the spark plug wires with the coil wire, which will cause the car to make lots of loud backfiring noises while never actually starting. You can also install a fuel line cutoff valve, a battery disconnect switch or a “dizzy switch” which turns off the electrical signal from the distributor to the coil.
Go Big
In addition to the models mentioned above, the NICB reports that the most frequently stolen cars also include the Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla and Jeep Grand Cherokee. If you are in a position to upgrade, you can trade in your current vehicle for a vehicle that has proven to be virtually theft proof. According to a recent article by Forbes, the Subaru Outback, Legacy and Forester are safe bets along with GMC Acadia, Volkswagen Beetle, Buick Encore, Chevy Equinox, BMW 3-Series and just about anything made by Tesla.
Most Tesla models, especially this one, can’t be stolen.
Your other option for avoiding having your car stolen is to simply continue as usual without a plan and hope the bad guys don’t randomly choose you. Otherwise, you can sleep in your vehicle with a charged phone and a taser or you can give up driving, go green and get a bike. If you choose the latter, however, be sure to invest in a really, really good lock.
Budget Squeeze Nurtures Shabby Lawns, Fewer Flowers Plus Whiffs Of Funky-Foul Odor As City Cuts Garbage Pickups
by Glen Richardson
Lovely, clean running paths. Beautiful landscaped parks that are unrivaled in the Mountain West. As the pandemic has surged, Valley residents have become increasingly worried about the rippling effect the epidemic and ensuing economic tsunami will have on Denver’s park system.
Parkways In Peril: Parks & Recreation is also responsible for care and maintaining of the city’s treasured complex of parkways such as this stretch of 6th Ave. Parkway. Neighborhoods and residents fear budgets now put them in danger of becoming dry, dusty prairie again.
As the virus and subsequent stay-at-home order wore on during the summer, residents of all ages embraced city parks and neighborhood streets as a way to reduce stress-anxiety and as an antidote to cabin fever. Life literally and factually became “like a walk in the park.”
The big question now: What will Denver city parks look like this winter and into next spring?
Double-Barreled Jolt
With more than 200 parks totaling over five-thousand-acres within the city and county of Denver, the twin crises of the pandemic and an economy in free fall are putting Denver parks under punishing pressure. The crunch is principally due to the sharp drop in all forms of city tax revenue.
Color Palette Paralyzed: The finale of colors common in city parks during the summer are likely to remain closer to winter brown in 2021. The pandemic plus an economy in free fall are putting parks under punishing pressure.
Steps under consideration or already being implemented include hiring freezes, furloughing or laying off employees, putting projects on hold and foregoing planned purchases (including new park space). The city is trimming another 6% from the department’s budget this year (2021), the Parks Department’s second consecutive austerity year.
Although cuts to the department’s previously rosy budgets are hard-hitting, the impact of the cutback will most likely be felt due to the dramatic drop in the number of experienced employees. At the end of summer two dozen of Park & Recreation’s most experienced employees were offered retirement packages. Combined those retirees had 535 years of service-experience, averaging 25 years with the department. Look for their loss to erode the places where Denver’s outdoor-loving residents work and play, hike and bike more than all other factors combined. Another 19-20 full-time employees are likely to take the incentive retirement program if it is offered this year.
Fading Facade
The initial reaction to the changing appearance of nearby parks for many residents will simply be, “They cut cost but not the grass.”
Flower Funds Fizzle: Denver lacks funds to feed the Greenhouse for Denver Parks & Recreation in the year ahead. Site normally propagates 250,000 annuals, perennials, shrubs and stock plants for the city park districts.
What’s realistic?: Expect a reduction in mowing, fertilization and irrigation to impact the appearance of lawns and gardens in parks around the city. More: Also anticipate a major increase in litter and trash accumulation.
The bottom line: Longtime park employees still remaining say that park spaces around the city will become scrappy, patchy and disorderly. But, “without deteriorating significantly,” they add hopefully.
Fewer Flowers
The cutback will be most noticeable from a distance or when riding in a car as residents notice longer grass, more weeds, fewer flowers and more snow.
Park lawns and turf fields — grass to play sports on — that were aesthetically pleasing in previous years will be considerably less eye-catching. The reason is the department is now weeding weekly and trimming every three weeks. In addition, the department will plant fewer flower beds come flower bed season. Without shoveling, residents will also observe that the snow is sticking around longer.
The city also watered park lawns less last year, but say they don’t plan to reduce irrigation in 2021. The department also won’t let up on planting trees as they fear many are doomed once the emerald ash borer hits Denver. Already confirmed in Arvada, the invasive beetle preys on ash, the second-most prevalent tree in the city.
Garbage Buildup
Those walking near parks, even when wearing a mask, are likely to notice a funky, foul odor coming from within.
Small Worries: Small retreats such as Alamo Placita Park north of Speer Blvd. are also under pressure. City-county has more than 200 parks totaling over 5,000 acres.
Reason for the whiffs of rank, putrid scents within and along the parameter of parks is due to a dramatic cut in garbage pickups, including dog-poop trash cans.
The department slashed trash removal by 1,800 hours per month last year, and is foregoing scheduled garbage pickups again this year. In addition to garbage within parks, Parks & Rec has scaled back maintenance of all city parkways and removed all dog poop trash cans.
Rec Center Hours
For families with youngsters at home, however, shorter hours and fewer programs at some of the city’s 30 rec centers will be felt the most since many homes rely on them after school. Community spaces for kids are, of course, currently shuttered. Closure, however is not due to budget cuts but because of COVID-19 public health orders.
Current plans call for reopening of city rec centers on April 15, 2021. If and when they do open, eight will have shorter hours. They are what the Parks & Rec Department consider Denver’s bigger, regional centers that can absorb more cuts with fewer negative effects than most “neighborhood” rec centers.
The eight major rec centers that will have shorter hours when they do reopen are: Scheitler, Washington Park, Rude, Montclair, Montbello, Central Park, Carla Madison, and Athmar Park. Officials say that centers serving lower-income areas will not have their hours cut upon reopening.
Bathrooms, Vehicles
Bathrooms in city parks are normally closed during the winter since most don’t have heat. This year, of course, they were shuttered due to the pandemic. The Park & Rec Department’s original plan was to keep them closed to save money even if public health gave the go ahead to reopen. Councilwoman Robin Kniech, however, secured money from the Hancock administration to open restrooms and portajohns with handwashing stations this spring.
Currently Denver has seven parks closed to vehicles: Cheesman Park, City Park, Congress Park, Inspiration Point, Ruby Hill, Sloan’s Lake and Washington Park. Expect them to remain closed to cars during the pandemic, but a final decision won’t be made until after a public process this summer.
During the current crisis, Denver’s parks have provided a relatively safe respite from our stressful, often isolating lives during the pandemic. They’ve provided recreation when the city’s usual venues — museums, theaters, schools, stores, movies, bars, and just about everything else — have been closed. As the New Year begins it is unclear whether the city’s budget woes will wallop Denver parks beyond functional use.
