Community In No Man’s Land: People Don’t Feel Safe

The community on the Westside of Colorado Spring is speaking out about concerns with crime in an area known as no man’s land.

The stretch of land starts at about Colorado Avenue and 21st Street, and goes all the way down into Manitou Springs.

The problem for neighbors and business owners in the area is that the land sits over multiple jurisdictions along this one-mile stretch of road, and that means that several agencies are responsible for the land.

Colorado Springs owns the area near 31st Street, then El Paso County is responsible for the next small chunk of land, and the last bit belongs to Manitou Springs. Complicating matters, the road itself is owned by C-DOT.

So, the question is who is responsible for the up keep and patrolling of this small stretch of land. Westsiders say they want jurisdictional issues to be over, so they can feel safer.

However, law enforcement officers say crime in the area has actually gone down.

?Reported crime may be down but guess we are going to be telling everybody to make sure you call it in,? say Welling Clark, President of the Organization of Westside Neighbors.

Clark says that police and sheriff’s deputies have been helpful, but that unreported crimes, like aggressive panhandling, are on the rise.

?People lean up against the doors and say ‘give me some money or I?m not going to let you in your car,’ and that is not a good thing,? said Clark.

Community leaders say the area is not well taken care of and can be an eye sore full of bad roads and no sidewalks.

Another problem is multiple jurisdictions because some times people don’t know what agency to call to report a crime.

?The multi-jurisdictional issue, that needs to be solved because it will be easier to manage when you are not communicating with 2 or 3 different groups,? says business owner Michael Crepeau.

Again, representatives with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office say that reported crime has gone down in the area, but if you do ever believe you have been the victim of a crime, do call authorities.