Kathy Klein became concerned after she began receiving e-mails from the Southmoor Park neighborhood association. They warned residents of break-ins and asked for everyone to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior.
“Some people got alarms,” Klein said. “I know we did.”
Numbers released Tuesday by Denver officials confirmed Southmoor’s concerns, noting a 29 percent increase in total crime in the southeast Denver neighborhood – one of the biggest percentage jumps in the city.
Across town, the Bear Valley neighborhood had the city’s largest percentage decrease in total crime with 33 percent, police figures showed.
Located in southwest Denver, residents of Bear Valley say they have seen an increased police presence.
“I have noticed the police stop by a lot,” said Jane Alley, a retired administrative assistant with Lockheed Martin and an area resident for 20 years. “(An officer) stopped by on this lot and I thought, ‘What’s he doing here?’ Then I realized he was just checking things out.”
Police Chief Gerry Whitman attributed falling crime numbers in places like Bear Valley to such steps as an increase in citations as well as problem-solving projects with communities.
Despite the big changes in total crime numbers in Southmoor Park and Bear Valley, both neighborhoods’ crime rates – the number of crimes divided by the number of residents – remain lower than average. Bear Valley ranks 66th in crime rate and Southmoor Park 57th out of 72 Denver neighborhoods in the 2006 police report.
In Bear Valley, Michelle Stanley owns and operates the Tanglz and Co. salon. She said that a few years ago, vagrants loitering around her shop bothered her customers.
“We used to have bums sleeping at the back door and we don’t anymore, so I think they’re patrolling better,” Stanley said.
At times, the enthusiasm of police in Bear Valley has caught residents off guard.
“The other day I started my car and ran inside and they tried to give me a ticket,” Stanley said.
Police say the tactics that worked in Bear Valley could take effect in other neighborhoods when different precincts meet to discuss the results of their efforts.
For Klein, the awareness of her community has already made a difference in the number of break-ins.
“It seems a lot of it was going on last summer,” she said. “I haven’t heard about recent ones in the last few months.”
