Tracking what's destroying Colorado
A curated collection of bills, news, and resources about Colorado politics and policy
A curated collection of bills, news, and resources about Colorado politics and policy
The Common Sense Institute’s October 2025 analysis of Colorado Bureau of Investigation data shows that violent and property crime rates in the state’s ten largest cities peaked in the early 2020s and have since declined in nearly every jurisdiction through the first half of 2025. Denver leads with the highest violent crime rate (235 per 100,000) and property crime rate (1,122 per 100,000), while Aurora has recorded the steepest drops—36% in violent crime since 2022 and 44% in property crime since 2021. Only Colorado Springs saw violent crime rise (up 12% since 2022). The report notes $27 billion in statewide economic losses from crime in 2022 and urges leaders to identify which local policies correlate with the sharpest reductions.
Denver’s stubborn position as Colorado’s crime capital exposes the hollow promises of progressive governance that prioritized defunding rhetoric and lax prosecution over public safety. While Aurora and Lakewood slashed violent crime by over a third through decisive leadership and a return to accountability, Denver’s modest 14% dip suggests its leadership remains wedded to failed experiments that treat criminals as victims and victims as statistics. The data screams a simple truth: when cities enforce the law instead of apologizing for it, residents win.