Aurora police to bolster enforcement in Havana, Colfax area

The Aurora Police Department is implementing a new initiative in an effort to mitigate crime and bolster public safety along the Colfax Avenue and Havana Street corridor, which has seen increased criminal activity according to police.

The initiative to "take back" the area — which extends a quarter mile in every direction from the intersection of Havana and Colfax — from criminals, as vocalized by Aurora police and city councilmembers in a late June study session, includes 90 days of increased police presence and business education, according to APD Division Chief Kevin Barnes.

"There have been some significant crime issues that have taken place over the last year in particular, resulting in a number of issues that are not only systemic in nature, but exceeds the resources we have as an agency," Barnes told the City Council in a presentation about the initiative.

The increased crime includes robberies, burglaries, open-air drug use, and prostitution, Barnes said, all "compromising the quality of life" in the area.

In recent months, a Walmart store at 10400 E. Colfax Ave., in the heart of the corridor, shut its doors, attributing the closure to financial shortfalls.

"This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a careful and thoughtful review process," Walmart said in a news release. "We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations. While our underlying business is strong, this specific store hasn’t performed as well as we hoped."

Aurora police attributed the closure to "insurmountable losses due to retail theft," Barnes said.

Crime is also affecting the 7-Eleven and Walgreens in the area due to trespassing and drug loitering, Barnes said. Neither of the two businesses responded to The Denver Gazette inquiries as of press time.

According to the Aurora Police Department's crime statistics, 92 crimes have been reported within a block on each side of the intersection since the beginning of the year. In 2023, 219 crimes were reported in the same area.

Among goals for the new public safety initiative in the area are decreasing trespassing and drug use, reducing the homeless population through providing resources and sweeping encampments, educating businesses on preventing retail theft, and increasing patrol foot traffic to make police presence known.

A major contributing factor is the high volume of homeless people in the area, Barnes said, pointing to issues of "aggressive panhandling" and "inebriates."

Another goal of the initiative is to improve partnerships between stakeholders, he said, including business owners, community members, police officers and other city departments.

Part of this effort will include public events, tentatively scheduled for July 13 and Aug. 24, in the parking lot of the former Walmart, 10400 E. Colfax Ave., to draw in community members and engage them in the efforts. The events will include area cleanups and education.

To staff the initiative, Barnes said the department is looking into revitalizing its summer task force, which he said was "highly successful" in the area in past years.

As they patrol, they will collect data, get community feedback and hold frequent meetings to assess how well the initiative is working, he said.

Mayor Mike Coffman called the area "out of control" during the initiative presentation.

"This area's been a problem for a long time, and it's been an open air drug market for a long time," Coffman said. "I like what you said about having officers on the ground there, that certainly matters ... this place has been out of control for a long time."

Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky agreed, but said she was concerned that focusing their resources on the one particular area would cause more issues in other areas.

"There are other parts of the city where business owners are struggling," she said. "While I agree with this, I think that focusing all of our efforts into taking back this area we've never really had while the rest of the city is starting to crumble ... I support this but it can't stop here."

Barnes said Jurinsky raised a "valid point" and that they will keep an eye on other areas as well.

Councilmember Steve Sundberg called the area an "urban hellscape," saying it's "almost too little, too late" to do anything about the crime in the area.

"It's anything goes, it's lawlessness," he said.