Aurora, Colorado, a city within the Denver metropolitan area, is home to approximately 380,000 residents.
Renowned for its diverse population, cultural attractions, and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities, Aurora showcases a vibrant and multifaceted community.
Nevertheless, the city grapples with a pressing issue of elevated crime rates, particularly in the realm of violent offenses.
Based on the latest statistics derived from the Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR), Aurora recorded a total of 16,270 major crimes during the year 2020.
These include criminal acts such as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.
In terms of figures, this equates to a crime rate of 4,291.2 incidents per 100,000 individuals.
Notably, Aurora’s crime rate surpasses the national average by 82.91% and exceeds the average for the state of Colorado by 31.76%.
In 2020, the reported incidents of violent crime in Aurora were alarmingly high, reaching a total of 3,789.
This resulted in a violent crime rate of 997.88 per 100,000 people, which is 2.5 times above the national average.
Aurora’s violent crime rate is comparable to major cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. The city’s rate of violent crime was 34.21 per 1,000 residents, indicating that approximately one in every 29 residents had a chance of falling victim to a violent crime.
Among the types of violent crime, aggravated assault was the most prevalent in Aurora, with 2,331 cases reported in 2020.
The city also experienced a significant number of robbery cases (872), followed by rape (508) and murder (78).
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Aurora’s murder rate stood at 20.56 per 100,000 people, surpassing the national average by more than four times and ranking as the highest among Colorado’s cities.
In 2020, the city experienced a high property crime rate, with a total of 12,481 reported incidents.
This resulted in a property crime rate of 3,293.32 per 100,000 individuals, surpassing the national average by 72.17% and the Colorado average by 30.66%.
Furthermore, the rate of property crime in Aurora translated to 32.87 incidents per 1,000 residents, indicating that approximately one in every 30 residents faced the risk of becoming a property crime victim.
Among the property crimes in Aurora, larceny was the most prevalent type, accounting for 8,326 reported cases in 2020.
Following larceny, motor vehicle theft constituted 2,867 cases, burglary accounted for 1,288 cases, and arson comprised 38 cases.
Notably, the motor vehicle theft rate in Aurora stood at 755.36 per 100,000 people, exceeding the national average by over threefold and ranking as the highest among all cities in Colorado.
The high crime rates in Aurora have raised concerns among residents and officials.
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Several factors contribute to this issue, including poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, gang activity, and inadequate social services.
Efforts have been made to tackle these problems, including increased police presence and funding, community policing and outreach programs, enhanced crime prevention and intervention strategies, and collaborations with other agencies and organizations.
However, despite these proactive measures, the crime rates in Aurora have shown limited improvement over the years.
Between 2019 and 2020, the total major crime rate witnessed a 6.7% increase, with the violent crime rate rising by 14.9% and the property crime rate by 4.6%.
Notably, a recent study by MoneyGeek ranked Aurora as the third most dangerous city in Colorado and the 25th most dangerous city in the United States.
