Denver council questions mayor's Trust Patrols, Hot Streets programs

Denver is beginning "Trust Patrols" with local businesses.Photo byTim MossholderonUnsplash

Denver City Council members during the mayor-council meeting Tuesday had plenty of questions and comments about the Trust Patrols and Hot Streets programs unveiled in the State of the City address.

Council member Serena Gonzales-Guttierez called the plans “a band-aid.” The Hot Streets program focuses on increased patrols at about 60 to 100 intersections in the city that are hot spots for crime. Mayor Mike Johnston said data shows that a police presence of 10 minutes in an area correlate to a drop in crime for the next two hours. He wants Denver police to get to these intersections at least five or six times per day.

Gonzales-Guttierez said the problem is that the drop in crime does not last. She said the city needs to get to the root causes of crime. She said she has seen data that shows programs like Hot Streets simply move the crime around, it does not eliminate it.

As for the Trust Patrols, Gonzales-Guttierez wants to make sure trust is forged with all groups, not just businesses. “What about the people who are interacting with law enforcement on the street who do not have good interactions with them. Where is the trust for them?”

Johnston explained they started the Trust Patrols with so-called “legacy businesses,” or small businesses in Denver that have been around for at least 20 years. He said it was an easy dataset to access and ask officers to visit those addresses.

A time to chat with officers

Trust patrols will be about 10 to 15 minutes long, Johnston said. It is an opportunity to talk to police about concerns when there is not a crisis. He said Trust Patrols will occur with many different populations.

Gonzales-Guttierez told the mayor she wants to see the data that says these programs work. He said he would be happy to provide it as well as literature reviews on the project. “I know you love to read this stuff.”

Patrol power questioned

Council member Amanda Sawyer said a similar program to Hot Streets worked to reduce crime near East Colfax and Yosemite in her district for as long as they had the staff. She wondered how police will have time for extra patrols and visits when they are going from call to call now. “It’s not like we have a bunch of spare officers hanging out to do the Hot Streets program.”

Sawyer said programs that council members have not found effective, such as the Street Enforcement Team, could be redirected to Trust Patrols. Johnston said all programs will be evaluated at budget time.

Lewis wants to know how data collected

Council member Shontel Lewis wanted to know how we will know whether Trust Patrols are making a difference. Johnston said if officers ask them what their concerns are and they respond, that’s success. But Lewis wanted to know what mechanism would be used to collect the data. Would they go back and tell their commander? Report to the mayor directly? Johnston said the information will be entered into a database and he will get back to Lewis with more specifics.

Council member Chris Hinds suggested the mayor’s office pursue grant funding for the programs. He said his district received a grant that paid for added enforcement at Colfax and Ogden. Council President Amanda Sandoval suggested police pass something out during Trust Patrols, such as light bulbs. She said light has been proven to deter crime.