Colorado Springs Mayor sounds alarm on ‘wave of crime’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told KRDO Tuesday night that the city is seeing the largest crime wave since the late 1980's.

This far into the year, Colorado Springs already has 16 homicides, according to Colorado Springs Police.

When compared with data from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, catalog from the exact time frame last year, Colorado Springs only had five homicides.

“It is very much so a matter of concern and violent crime is rising," Mayor Suthers said.

In an interview with KRDO, Suthers said he has been in close communication with District Attorney Michael Allen to work on stricter penalties. Allen believes a majority of violent crime offenders, are often repeat offenders let out of jail too soon.

“Homicide is one of the most difficult crimes to deal with from a prevention stand point because so much of it is relational," he said. "My experience is homicide is largely a result of the type of individual is on the streets and not in prison.”

According to the LexusNexus Crime Map Data -- compiled by the Colorado Springs Police Department -- and Mayor Suthers, a majority of those violent crimes occurred in District 4.

“A disproportionate amount of violent crime calls are committed in the Southeast," he said. "But the police are organized and man-powered to deal with that.”

The latest staffing numbers from Colorado Springs Police Department show that out of the 803 available positions, 760 of them are filled.

So while enforcement may not be the issue - CSPD admits they, too, are seeing the rise of violent crime.

 Unfortunately, the Colorado Springs area is not immune to the trends occurring nationwide. We have seen an increase in violence and homicides that are reflective of the increases happening across the nation. There is not a simple causative answer to why the violence is occurring and is a subject that will be studied and debated by academics and social science researchers for many years. CSPD remains committed to balancing its resources as effectively as possible to address the different criminal activities that impact our community.

Colorado Springs Police Department