Gang activity in Denver? (Colorado Springs, Aurora: how much, live in, most dangerous)

[OneMoreMove]

You seem hell-bent on making the case that Denver has more crime then it does. You are citing stats all over the place and 'getting the list' from the Denver cops but it just doesn't seem credible. I live in Whittier and my kid goes to school in Sunnyside and I haven't run into the dreaded Pocos Pero Locos but if I see that written on a dumpster I'll be sure to be scared.

I'm gonna stick with actual statistics with properly made conclusion and my own observation than some made up facts and twisted conclusions. I'm sorry that you can't find any glory or excitement in the fact that Denver is relatively low on the crime/gang scale compared to other cities, but a lot of us like that.

[mquest123]

Many people want to be what is known as "politically correct", but ignoring the problems will never provide a solution.

There is a great crime problem in latino and black populations than any other racial population in the U.S.

I distance myself from latinos and blacks, not because I'm racist, but because I want to decrease my chances of being a victim of crime as much as I can.

I live in a town that has a white majority, but a disproportionate of the criminals and even suspects are either latino or black. Don't give me the excuse that it is from police racial profiling.

When you have visual ids of people who did a crime and fled and the majority of those people are latino or black.


There has to be a culture change. The schools can not do it, it starts with the parents. Read the book "The Outliers", the vast majority of non-criminal people grew up in a stable household.

[inskeep303]

Originally Posted by OneMoreMove

You seem hell-bent on making the case that Denver has more crime then it does. You are citing stats all over the place and 'getting the list' from the Denver cops but it just doesn't seem credible. I live in Whittier and my kid goes to school in Sunnyside and I haven't run into the dreaded Pocos Pero Locos but if I see that written on a dumpster I'll be sure to be scared.

I'm gonna stick with actual statistics with properly made conclusion and my own observation than some made up facts and twisted conclusions. I'm sorry that you can't find any glory or excitement in the fact that Denver is relatively low on the crime/gang scale compared to other cities, but a lot of us like that.

i said denver has the amount of crime that it does. i got the gang list from the denver metro gang task force page. MAGTF Crew and Gang Index Page (http://www.magtfdenver.org/crew%20and%20gang%20index.htm - broken link)

also, i got the 35-40% gang related murders from the CBI data base. why do you send your kids to sunnyside schools in north denver if you live in whittier?

also, denver has a higher crime rate according to citydata.com than san diego, bakersfield, san jose, etc. also, it has the same crime rate as san francisco, albuquerque, san antonio, fort worth, etc. it also generally from year to year has a higher murder rate than tacoma, seattle, portland, reno, salt lake city, austin, etc.


so are all those cities safe and nice completely as well? again, im not saing denver is the worst city in america or even close, but its certainly not the nicest. its in the middle as far as big cities go. its very similar to albuquerque, only the metro area is a lot bigger than albuquerque's.

you send your kids to sunnyside schools, which is 72% latino. so, are you saying theres no gangs in that neighborhood or other north denver neighborhoods? again, i said that north denver is gentrifying a lot of neighborhoods in it. sloan lake, west highland, berkeley have all chased out a lot of the gang members, but there is still a large mexican american presence in those areas still. also, highland, jefferson park, and sunnyside are trying to gentrify as well, but north denver is still predominately mexican american, and denver does have a large population of illegal immigrants but thats in a lot of states such as texas, arizona, new mexico, california, nevada, utah, and colorado the most. and you live in whittier which is 44% black and 33% latino, so are you saying that theres no gangs in that neighborhood too? but i do say that a lot of upper east denver neighborhoods are starting to try the gentrifying, including five points, whittier, city park west, uptown, capitol hill, etc. those stats are from the piton foundation in denver. The Piton Foundation

again, im not saying that denver is even close to the worst cities, but its not the nicest, and it does have gangs and gang violence like all big cities in america. denver lies in the middle as far as big cities go. it does have super nice parts though, like all big cities, with some exceptions. also, the crime rates in LA per 100,000 people has been 515, 555, 574, 569, 537, 479, 408, 384, 357, and 349. in denver it has been 445, 420, 447, 460, 496, 547, 574, 491, 410, and a drop to 351 in 2008. pretty similar. again, denver is nowhere near the worst cities, but its got more than a lot too. its in the middle, a normal american city.

[OneMoreMove]

Blah blah.. My wife is a professor at a local university, a sociologist who teaches classes on crime. I'll stick with my in house professional on this one. good luck!

[inskeep303]

Originally Posted by OneMoreMove

Blah blah.. My wife is a professor at a local university, a sociologist who teaches classes on crime. I'll stick with my in house professional on this one. good luck!

okay thats good for you. i'll stick with the census records, gang police units, and piton foundation records that show solid proof. but still, i never said denver is a terrible city or anything. its not even close to the worst cities in america. but it does have higher crime than a lot and equal crime to a lot as well. i will also point out that denver has a higher crime rate than long beach CA which has a large reputation nationwide. but denver is in the middle as far as big cities go. a normal big city.

[life caoch]

i have lived in denver, oakland and la i knew of crips and blood before they were popular. if you raise your kids correctly (that is talk to them any place should be okay) if not no place is safe, if your kids decide to be thugs or join gangs they will do it no matter what you say or do. gangs are everywhrere, there are even crips in bloods in russia and africa. as you know most(not shown in media) gang hoods in la are nice(homewise) move where your heart tells you, denver is 8% aa the best in my opion is parkhill or the five pionts/ but green valley is where the blacks move to prove that they are something and to move out of the hood, but the old hood five and park are where the the white folks are taking over and moving back to....ahhhh to be back close to downtown...the peter princlpe in full affect. sorry for the grammer hope this helps.

[lil'teach]

I'm sorry to hear that you've had experience with friends dying in your arms. I can't imagine the experiences you must have had that were simply part of your everyday life.

I also have to say that this thread that originally started for the person considering moving to Denver as related to gangs, schools, neighborhoods, racism and stereotyping has been both educational and saddening to me. I guess I'm naive. I know so little about the things people are talking about in this thread. I guess I see a different city.

I work in a school that by many people's standards is considered dangerous, rough or undesirable. Some of the respondents to this thread have named the HS where most of "my kids" will end-up. Its funny, but I had no idea that where I work, its common to hear gunshots in the neighborhood, (Yes- once again a little naive), and that I'm close to the "official" dividing line for the Bloods and Crips here in Denver. Haha! I feel dumb, but I didn't know until I read some things today that I should be scared--- I just show up for the kids every day, and try to do my best for their spirits and for the parents who let them attend the school. All I know is that if I can smile, try to stay positive, reward good behavior, listen and just be there for those kids then I am making some small difference. I'm not scared of any of them. I have broken up girl and boy fights, but that's okay. I just hope they learn from their choices as children and make better ones as adults when the consequences are so much greater.

To the person who is worried about his/her children in California and is considering moving (possibly to Denver): I guess we all find whatever it is we're consciously looking for whether we realize it or not. :-) Sometimes we see the good and sometimes we see bad. I think that's just part of the human experience. If someone wants to move to Denver, there's plenty of good here just like there's plenty of bad here. That's anywhere. I would recommend a visit out here to check out the city and its different areas, schools, cost of living comparisons, etc. Brokers are free (until to you buy something, and then the fee comes outta the contract). Even if you get an apartment, you'll get to take advantage of a broker showing you around the neighborhoods and giving you some city general info. :-) Best wishes to your kids, too. Its hard to be a kid, going through growing up and trying to fit in. You'll do what you think in your gut is best for your family. :-)

[OneMoreMove]

If you are in such a gang infested area but you didn't even know it, it's probably not that bad. I've slept in areas where there really were gunshots every night (my station when I was a paramedic for Adams ambulance in LA, station was in Huntington Park). You don't miss that even if you aren't looking for it.

And to the poster named 'gangexpert', I'm not buying it. Posting about friends 'dying in their arms' on a forum like this, using the name gangexpert just doesn't have the ring of truth, sorry. It sounds like someones been watching too much TV that glorifies living in the hood and gangbanging.

[sallysall]

I live in in littleton colorado and its beautiful and there are hardly gangs they have great schools and its a great community. I grew up in denver and raised my two oldest kids in denver. My daughters told me that they would like to see my two youngest daughters in a better enviorment and a school district. I didnt think i would like it out in littleton but i love it and i will never move. The houses are great were like 25 mins away from downtown denver and about 10 mins from parkmedows. The schools have great sports

[awarren09]

Curtis park or fivepoints. Both are very diverse and rich in African American culture. Gang activity is not as bad there as compared to north aurora or park hill which are known for the bloods as well as local gangs. Most gang activity is related to crack and meth here.