CSPD foot patrols increasing downtown due to safety complaints

Colorado Springs police have added more officers to the downtown beat to address complaints about safety.

It’s part of a nationally-recognized public safety program called D-DACTS. It stands for Data Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety.

CSPD said it now has four day shift and four night shift officers walking the streets downtown. Other officers will make daily visits as well to be a visual deterrent to minor crimes that have been consistently reportedly to police.

“We’re fortunate that we haven’t seen a lot of violent crime, but we have seen some property crime downtown with car break-ins and commercial burglaries,” said Cmdr. Pat Rigdon of CSPD.

Rigdon said complaints are also routinely filed on public drinking and public urination downtown. Rigdon said having more officers and not relying solely on surveillance cameras installed in December, 2012 should cut down on those activities.

“The cameras are just a tool for us,” said Rigdon. “We’ve done great things with the cameras but if we don’t have resources to respond to things seen on the cameras then we really can’t have the impact we want.”

One thing police would like to see happen is citizens returning downtown without hesitation.

“Once people feel safe and start shopping downtown, that’s a success for us,” said Rigdon.