Denver is the most heavily populated city in Colorado State of the United States, being ranked the 26th most populous U.S. city by the 2009 census.
The city is surrounded by several neighborhoods including; Uptown, North Capitol Hill (commonly referred to as Uptown by a majority of people), Highlands and LoDo among others. Capitol Hill neighborhood which constitutes 3.44% of the total population of Denver has expanded over the years due to its affordability of houses, architectural designs and the metropolitan disposition, attracting people of all races especially the young people (Zimmer, 2009). With this increase in population, the rate of crime in Capitol Hill has also escalated. The most common crimes in this neighborhood are violent crimes, property crimes, drug abuse and prostitution.
The crime rate in this neighborhoods is far beyond the average crime rate in Denver as well as nationally, with 212 crime incidents in every 1000 people being reported. Below is a table comparing crime rate in Capitol Hill and Denver in 2007. The increased rate of criminal activities in Denver’s neighborhoods has prompted the Denver Police Department to act to control this menaace. As a result, they have arrested several culprits who are mainly illegal drug dealers as well as gangs terrorizing Denver residents. According to Dinar (2002), this crackdown has significantly lowered crime rate in Denver.
In addition, the police have also given warning to the public against walking at night on streets unaccompanied; law enforcement against criminal activities has also been enforced.Besides, citizens of Capitol Hill have also been involved in the neighborhoods consolidated plan, which is concerned with the community’s input on the issue of crime. In this plan, citizens are availed of the opportunity to express and share their judgments with regard to the handling of crime matters in the neighborhood. They are also involved in coming up with methods of attaining community development. Some of the methods which have been employed include: investigating low-income citizens so as to familiarize with the problems that they are facing, provision of communication channels and formation of organizations which assist in rehabilitation of the crime affected individuals among others.
