DENVER — So far this year, 946 cars have been stolen from the Denver International Airport, but right now the numbers appear to be trending down, according to Denver Police.
"You work so hard for the things that you have, to have somebody just be able to take it," said Renee Stanton.
Her family is one of the 946 victims who came back from a trip to find their car missing. In mid-September they parked at DIA, flew to Nashville, and celebrated her daughter's birthday. When they returned, they had an experience only someone whose had their car stolen knows.
"We're clicking the alarm button button to see if maybe we were in the wrong place and nothing was working. And then we thought, the truck is gone. It's gone," she said.
In the last 180 days, police report 714 cars stolen from the airport, which comes out to about three cars stolen per day. That number is starting to trend down. In the last 28 days, police report 13 cars stolen, which comes out to about one car stolen every two days.
"We're never satisfied, we're always trying harder, we're looking at different things, but we're satisfied enough that the numbers are trending down," Division Chief Aaron Sanchez said.
He believed the thefts are slowing down for a few reasons. Over the summer, he said police met with DIA officials and Tower Road business owners.
"That symposium, I think, had a direct effect," said Sanchez.
DIA officials added 11 security cameras in the economy and Pikes Peak lots – they used to have only four cameras.
"They should have better security there," said Renee. Her family parked in one of the airport's garage lots.
In March, Denver police created a Denver-specific auto theft team, focused on people who steal multiple cars.
A grand jury recently indicted 13 people for stealing cars, and Sanchez believed that news helped deter crime, but it doesn't help Stanton.
"It was frustrating," she said.
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