Crime decreased across Colorado in 2014, but local law-enforcement agencies have observed crime remaining relatively flat.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which recently released statistics for 2014, Colorado recorded a 1.9 percent drop in violent crimes compared with 2013. This category includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
During the same time period, there was also a 3.2 percent decrease in property crimes, such as burglary, theft and motor-vehicle theft.
Homicides also declined statewide by 12 percent. Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office did not report any murders to the state in 2013 and 2014.
But Durango broke its perfect record this year, when Daniel M. Johnson, 50, was shot and killed at the Iron Horse Inn in a dispute over marijuana plants.
In general, the town falls in line with the average for crime rates in the state, said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman for DPD.
For local police, assaults and thefts are the most common crimes, but they did not follow the same short-term trend, according to CBI reports.
Assaults declined 20.4 percent from 142 in 2013 to 113 in 2014. While thefts increased 6.6 percent from 396 to 422.
DPD does not set a monetary limit that it will accept as a theft report, and that policy inflates the numbers, Shupe said.
However, during the last five years, the frequency of assaults and thefts has declined. In 2010, DPD reported 657 thefts and 176 assaults.
In some cases, a feeling of security in Durango leads to thefts and property crimes, Shupe said.
“It’s such a small community, and it feels like you should be able to leave your doors unlocked,” he said.
But in many cases when a theft is reported, a property owner left a garage door open or car unlocked.
The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, as expected, has observed crime rising steadily over time as the population has increased.
In 2014, compared with 2013, the instances of assault and theft were almost flat. The sheriff’s office reported dealing with about 100 assaults in both years. There were 111 thefts in 2013 and 109 in 2014.
The sheriff’s office said fraud has been a steadily growing problem. Frauds have included phone scams, Internet scams and identity theft.
“We get calls on those almost daily,” said Dan Bender, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
While the report shows some trends, it does not break out all crimes, including domestic violence and crimes against the elderly. These are crimes that frequently go under-reported, Bender said.
Sexual assaults are also known to be under-reported, and both agencies have seen low numbers for this crime. Both agencies reported 32 cases of sex assault in 2014 and 26 cases in 2013.
The CBI does not interpret data, and it could not comment on declines statewide in crime or local numbers, said Susan Medina, spokeswoman for the agency.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
