COLORADO SPRINGS — 2021 has the largest number of homicides on record in Colorado Springs, just recently bypassing 40.
Those at the CSPD say with modern social media, and the growing population, the news on these crimes has a greater reach on the community. Those at CSPD tell me that although there has been an uptick in homicides in Colorado Springs, they have seen a decrease in misdemeanors.
“We don’t see a giant, necessary uptick across the board in those crimes, obviously I think people are aware with violent assaults, with homicides, we have seen that uptick. But even then, when looked at over time, and based on population, it’s not as significant.”
According to the Colorado Crime Stats website, the number of homicides hasn’t shown much of an increase in the past two years, but it has doubled since 2019 and recorded the same number in 2010 as 2019. The numbers are broken down below:
Homicides in Colorado Springs
2021- over 40
2020- 38
2019- 20
2010- 20
Now, the data for this website is current through the last full month, plus a 30-day data-entry lag, this is why we don’t have the full number of recorded homicides for 2021 just yet.
They also believe the rapidly growing population directly impacts the Colorado Springs crime statistics.
“That becomes a very difficult concept in order for people to understand and gather because we’re still talking about this giant 500,000 people versus what we had ten years ago. But everyone is paying attention to the news, we have a lot more social media. We have a lot more ways people can be informed of those individual criminal activities. So sometimes, that can give a false perception that we have a tremendous amount of crime occurring.”
According to World Population Review, and the U.S. Census, Colorado Springs is the
“...the 39thlargest city in the United States. Colorado Springs is currently growing at a rate of 1.17% annually and its population has increased by 17.55% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 416,427 in 2010.”
Those at CSPD say that Colorado Springs may have a small-town feel, but it’s a decent size city, and still, overall, a safe place to live.
Crime statistics are given to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Colorado law enforcement agencies. This is made possible through the national Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
