ARVADA, Colo. — The Arvada Police Department urges people to take the simplest of steps – closing garage doors, latching fences, and locking cars – to try to prevent theft.
The department shared its message on social media by posting a homeowner’s security video that captured a man ride a bike past a house twice before returning, walking through an open gate, grabbing another bike, and riding off.
Only about 30 seconds passed between the time the man started walking toward the home and the time he rode off with a bicycle.
“A majority of our property crimes have kind of dropped a little bit,” Detective David Snelling, a department spokesman, said. “But the burglaries, in particular the garage burglaries, are still kind of creeping back up.”
Snelling said department data points to several worrisome trends:
- In 2023, almost exactly half of the 389 burglaries reported in the city happened in homes. So far this year, homes account for about 56% of all burglaries.
- The most recent numbers show Arvada has already had 150 burglaries reported – putting it ahead of last year’s pace.
- So far this year, there has been no forced entry in 57% of burglaries reported this year, meaning the thieves entered through things like an unlocked door or window.
“It’s one of those things – it’s so easy to prevent,” Snelling said.
Snelling called the video that the department posted “just a prime example” of what can happen when valuables are left in places where they’re easy to get to.
“We know that this isn't the first garage,” Snelling said. “We know that there's probably been several that he's broken into. And we'd like to put them all together.”
Though it’s difficult to know how many burglaries are prevented when people do lock doors and latch gates, Snelling said that can have an important deterrent effect.
“If somebody comes through a neighborhood and they're not successful breaking into something, or they're not successful stealing something, maybe that prevents them from coming back in the future,” he said.
On top of closing doors and locking up, Snelling urged people to report thefts to police.
“We need to know so we can keep track of them,” he said. “And maybe, just maybe, we can link them together and have somebody end up spending some time in jail – or at least out of that pattern.”
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