DENVER — It's been a hot spot for car thefts, but Denver International Airport is actually seeing a decrease in stolen cars this year -- and the city wants to keep it that way. Monday night, city councilmembers approved nearly $3 million to help with investigations.
The funding will help store video footage captured by new security cameras. The airport will be adding 213 cameras to its parking lots, which will allow DIA to cover almost every square foot of its lots. The footage from these high-quality cameras can be stored for 30 days.
DIA saw more travelers in 2023 than ever before in its history - more than 70 million passengers. The airport has been a target-rich environment for car thieves. According to data from the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority, 704 cars were stolen there in 2023, compared to 396 cars in 2022.
"There are more incidents there, but that is one of the largest concentrations of cars in probably the whole state," Cale Gould with CATPA said.
While DIA saw an increase in car thefts in 2023, Gould said the numbers went down statewide - a more than 20% drop in reported stolen vehicles.
"For a long time people were reporting about some of the dramatic thefts at DIA, and thieves heard that," Gould said.
Through a collaborative effort with agencies including the Denver Police Department and Colorado Department of Public Safety, the airport has increased security patrols, added cameras and placed additional barriers to prevent criminals from leaving parking exit lanes and damaging gate arms.
DIA saw a dramatic drop in auto thefts in late 2023. This occurred around the time a grand jury indicted 13 people on suspicion of stealing 55 cars in the Denver area. The number of car thefts at Denver's airport went down after those arrests.
The numbers for 2024 seem to be improving as well. According to CATPA, there were 101 car thefts at DIA between January and April of this year. There were 169 car thefts during the same time period in 2023.
"One auto theft from our 51,000 parking spaces, that is one too many," said Mark Nagel, Senior Vice President of Parking and Commercial Transportation at DIA.
Nagel said efforts like adding more security cameras and increasing security are a big reason DIA is recording fewer thefts this year than this point last year.
"It's putting all of those pieces together to help deter the auto thieves," he said.
The airport hopes to launch the new cameras by next summer.
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