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Through the first three quarters of 2017, violent crime as a whole in Denver was up, with the most worrisome leap coming in the homicide category. And while a significant number of neighborhoods in the city have registered few violent offenses, five sport totals in excess of 100 combined episodes of homicide, robbery and aggravated assault.
Those are the main takeaways from statistics collected by the Denver Police Department.
Earlier this year, in a post headlined "Denver Neighborhoods With the Most Violent Crimes So Far in 2017," we looked at numbers from the DPD for the first five months of 2017 and also shared info from the Denver Crime Map during the period between January 1 and July 1.
At that time, the homicide totals for January through May were the same or higher than the corresponding month in 2016, and for the most part, this trend has continued. So far, September is the only month of 2017 in which the homicide sum is lower than it was in the same month in 2016 — two this year versus three last year. Overall, however, the gap has widened considerably. There were 48 homicides in Denver through September 2017, fourteen more than during the same period the previous year.
Here's a DPD graphic focusing on violent crimes in four categories: homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The Denver Crime Map groups violent crimes in three main areas: homicide, robbery and aggravated assault. This time around, we've ranked Denver's 78 official neighborhoods by the number of violent crimes, from the least to the most. But we've also included figures for another key metric: crime density.
Denver neighborhoods vary widely in size, and that means a huge variance in crimes per square mile. Montbello offers a perfect example. As we've reported, large grocery chains have refused to build a major supermarket in Montbello in part because of the perception that it's a high-crime area — and indeed, as you'll see, the neighborhood has experienced the second-most-violent crimes in Denver from January 1 to October 17, the period covered by the following data. But because Montbello is also huge, its crime-density figure is actually lower than 31 other neighborhoods with fewer crimes overall, lending credence to the claims of local advocates, who say the area's dangerous reputation is increasingly out of date.
Population differs from neighborhood to neighborhood, too, and that's equally important to keep in mind when perusing the following figures. As of now, fourteen neighborhoods have seen fewer than ten violent crimes in 2017, and nearly half are under twenty. But that means the majority of Denver's neighborhoods have seen more than twenty violent crimes so far this year, with one tipping the scales at well over 200.
Count them down below.
Number 1: Wellshire
Offense Count: 1
Crime Density: 1.08 per square mile
Number 2: Indian Creek
Offense Count: 1
Crime Density: 2.05 per square mile
Number 3: Country Club
Offense Count: 3
Crime Density: 4.62 per square mile
Number 4: Washington Park
Offense Count: 5
Crime Density: 3.31 per square mile
Number 5: Southmoor Park
Offense Count: 5
Crime Density: 5.37 per square mile
Number 6: Cherry Creek
Offense Count: 5
Crime Density: 5.97 per square mile
Number 7: Regis
Offense Count: 6
Crime Density: 5.89 per square mile
Number 8: Cory-Merrill
Offense Count: 6
Crime Density: 7.15 per square mile
Number 9: Rosedale
Offense Count: 6
Crime Density: 10.64 per square mile
Number 10: Fort Logan
Offense Count: 7
Crime Density: 2.64 per square mile
Number 11: Washington Park West
Offense Count: 8
Crime Density: 9.16 per square mile
Number 12: Platt Park
Offense Count: 8
Crime Density: 9.78 per square mile
Number 13: University
Offense Count: 9
Crime Density: 7.22 per square mile
Number 14: University Park
Offense Count: 9
Crime Density: 7.74 per square mile
Number 15: Marston
Offense Count: 10
Crime Density: 3.15 per square mile
Number 16: Hilltop
Offense Count: 10
Crime Density: 5.80 per square mile
Number 17: Belcaro
Offense Count: 10
Crime Density: 8.58 per square mile
Number 18: City Park
Offense Count: 10
Crime Density: 13.02 per square mile
Number 19: DIA
Offense Count: 12
Crime Density: 0.28 per square mile
Number 20: Skyland
Offense Count: 12
Crime Density: 15.73 per square mile
Number 21: Auraria
Offense Count: 12
Crime Density: 18.61 per square mile
Number 22: West Highland
Offense Count: 14
Crime Density: 12.47 per square mile
Number 23: Barnum West
Offense Count: 16
Crime Density: 22.10 per square mile
Number 24: Jefferson Park
Offense Count: 16
Crime Density: 32.52 per square mile
Number 25: Virginia Village
Offense Count: 17
Crime Density: 8.75 per square mile
Number 26: Chaffee Park
Offense Count: 17
Crime Density: 21.63 per square mile
Number 27: Kennedy
Offense Count: 17
Crime Density: 24.22 per square mile
Number 28: South Park Hill
Offense Count: 18
Crime Density: 12.07 per square mile
Number 29: Bear Valley
Offense Count: 18
Crime Density: 13.31 per square mile
Number 30: University Hills
Offense Count: 19
Crime Density: 13.09 per square mile
Number 31: Berkeley
Offense Count: 21
Crime Density: 14.02 per square mile
Number 32: Sloan's Lake
Offense Count: 21
Crime Density: 15.01 per square mile
Number 33: Congress Park
Offense Count: 22
Crime Density: 21.38 per square mile
Number 34: Speer
Offense Count: 22
Crime Density: 25.76 per square mile
Number 35: Lowry Field
Offense Count: 23
Crime Density: 8.92 per square mile
Number 36: North Park Hill
Offense Count: 23
Crime Density: 15.39 per square mile
Number 37: Goldsmith
Offense Count: 23
Crime Density: 29.75 per square mile
Number 38: Clayton
Offense Count: 24
Crime Density: 31.13 per square mile
Number 39: Overland
Offense Count: 25
Crime Density: 22.26 per square mile
Number 40: Hale
Offense Count: 26
Crime Density: 26.72 per square mile
Number 41: Harvey Park South
Offense Count: 27
Crime Density: 19.75 per square mile
Number 42: Globeville
Offense Count: 29
Crime Density: 14.08 per square mile
Number 43: Windsor
Offense Count: 29
Crime Density: 16.97 per square mile
Number 44: Ruby Hill
Offense Count: 29
Crime Density: 19.97 per square mile
Number 45: Montclair
Offense Count: 31
Crime Density: 30.63 per square mile
Number 46: Hampden South
Offense Count: 34
Crime Density: 11.68 per square mile
Number 47: Barnum
Offense Count: 36
Crime Density: 46.69 per square mile
Number 48: Sunnyside
Offense Count: 37
Crime Density: 25.98 per square mile
Number 49: Highland
Offense Count: 38
Crime Density: 32.96 per square mile
Number 50: City Park West
Offense Count: 38
Crime Density: 71.03 per square mile
Number 51: Cheesman Park
Offense Count: 38
Crime Density: 72.11 per square mile
Number 52: Baker
Offense Count: 39
Crime Density: 26.14 per square mile
Number 53: Valverde
Offense Count: 39
Crime Density: 40.63 per square mile
Number 54: Cole
Offense Count: 39
Crime Density: 76.17 per square mile
Number 55: College View-South Platte
Offense Count: 40
Crime Density: 27.42 per square mile
Number 56: Harvey Park
Offense Count: 41
Crime Density: 24.32 per square mile
Number 57: Whittier
Offense Count: 41
Crime Density: 72.82 per square mile
Number 58: Elyria Swansea
Offense Count: 42
Crime Density: 16.18 per square mile
Number 59: Athmar Park
Offense Count: 44
Crime Density: 28.46 per square mile
Number 60: Civic Center
Offense Count: 44
Crime Density: 144.74 per square mile
Number 61: Mar Lee
Offense Count: 46
Crime Density: 30.52 per square mile
Number 62: Villa Park
Offense Count: 47
Crime Density" 47.52 per square mile
Number 63: Hampden
Offense Count: 51
Crime Density: 18.06 per square mile
Number 64: Sun Valley
Offense Count: 52
Crime Density: 81.00 per square mile
Number 65: Northeast Park Hill
Offense Count: 53
Crime Density: 15.91 per square mile
Number 66: Washington Virginia Vale
Offense Count: 56
Crime Density: 30.62 per square mile
Number 67: Stapleton
Offense Count: 58
Crime Density: 6.46 per square mile
Number 68: Gateway-Green Valley Ranch
Offense Count: 66
Crime Density: 8.96 per square mile
Number 69: North Capitol Hill
Offense Count: 66
Crime Density: 186.97 per square mile
Number 70: Westwood
Offense Count: 77
Crime Density: 51.44 per square mile
Number 71: West Colfax
Offense Count: 77
Crime Density: 76.69 per square mile
Number 72: Lincoln Park
Offense Count: 81
Crime Density: 63.48 per square mile
Number 73: Central Business District
Offense Count: 89
Crime Density: 206.50 per square mile
Number 74: Capitol Hill
Offense Count: 112
Crime Density: 165.68 per square mile
Number 75: Union Station
Offense Count: 115
Crime Density: 261.96 per square mile
Number 76: East Colfax
Offense Count: 118
Crime Density: 110.38 per square mile
Number 77: Montbello
Offense Count: 121
Crime Density: 23.90 per square mile
Number 78: Five Points
Offense Count: 235
Crime Density: 133.68 per square mile
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