Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposal in the news this week to spend $8 million in the next city budget on 167 police recruits – expanding police ranks – can’t come soon enough. Especially for beleaguered downtown Denver.

Colorado’s No. 1 city has been reeling from a years-long crime wave, and probably no neighborhood has been hit harder by random violence than downtown. News reports in recent days, weeks and months attest to it:

• A shooting at a bar in LoDo late last Saturday night left five bystanders hurt; the suspect remains at large.
• Two people were killed in an Aug. 19 shooting at 28th and Welton streets in Five Points, just north of downtown.
• On Aug. 17, Denver police responded to a shooting at 22nd and Welton streets, where one man had been shot and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
• In a shooting last June 13, 10 people were injured at 20th and Market streets amid downtown celebrations after the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Championship.

As reported by The Gazette Wednesday, police responded to 57 shootings from last Jan. 1 through Sept. 16 in an area that includes the River North Art District, Five Points, Lower Downtown and Union Station. 

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Understandably, business owners and residents in the area are fed up. As also reported by The Gazette this week, an ad hoc group of concerned downtown citizens has come together to advocate for action in hopes of taking their city back. The group of businesses, a neighborhood association and others has been meeting with police and politicians.

“Clearly changes need to be made because we can’t go on like this,” a representative of the bar in Saturday night’s shooting told The Gazette.

“Between the gun violence and gangs and the homeless, we can’t even walk our dogs after the sun has set,” said a nearby resident who attended a recent meeting of the group.

The Downtown Denver Partnership released a statement to The Gazette decrying the situation and welcoming engagement with law enforcement:

“A safe downtown – no matter the hour of the day – is critical and working with our partners at the Denver Police Department and the city to address crime in our center city continues to be one of our top priorities … There is no tolerance for gun violence in downtown Denver or anywhere in our community and we support swift action by the Denver Police Department, as well as Mayor Johnston’s proposed investments in safety across our city.”

Denver police are indeed on the job. A spokesman said the force has added resources on weekends and is monitoring the situation.

What police really need now is to be able to count on the backup necessary to muster those additional resources on an ongoing basis. Ultimately, police must be able to maintain an enhanced profile, permanently, downtown.

The earmark in the mayor’s budget for police recruits is an important down payment toward that goal.

Denver’s downtown is supposed to be an epicenter of commerce and leisure as well as a place to call home. In the past few years, it has become a go-to for the criminal element. A crackdown is overdue.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board