Annual crime statistics reveal crime decreased for Durango during 2022

DURANGO, C.O. – Crime in Durango dropped in 2022, but it wasn’t just by happenstance. Police chief for the City of Durango, Bob Brammer explained.

“We looked at problem areas and identified several locations and there were basically four areas within town which we saw significant upticks of criminal activity,” said Brammer. 

Crimes like theft or shoplifting.

“But those themselves had some other negative connotations that went along with it, associated with drinking, open containers, open consumption which then created disturbances and even some fights,” Brammer said. 

Brammer added after the department pinpointed the areas, and sources for crime, they then got to work. 

“Officers frequented those areas throughout their shifts, 24/7, across all shifts, and all hours, and they really focused in on those partnerships with those business associated with those problem areas,” said he said. 

Brammer said those community partnerships helped raise awareness.

“Maybe there was a particular item of interest from people, so we got those things under lock and key. Just made things harder, just made their staff a little bit aware,” he said. 

Brammer noted it was that proactive police work led to a double-digit drop in part one offenses.

“Which is going to be the major crimes which are classified by the FBI, we’re down about 11% to 12% from last year,” Brammer said. 

And that’s a victory for the department, especially when headlines across the country and even the state, are usually the opposite.

“One of the major categories that Colorado is really challenged with right now is auto theft, and I believe Colorado is the number one state of auto theft in this country, and we’ve actually seen a 15% reduction in auto theft through our strategies last year,” said Brammer. 

Brammer says the department did see an increase of about 5,000 service calls in 2022 when compared to 2021, which is attributed to a growing community.