On the Road to $1 Billion in Vehicles Stolen: The Data Trends Behind Colorado’s Motor Vehicle Theft Crisis |
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Despite the complexity of the issues surrounding motor vehicle theft, there is a crystal-clear trend in the Centennial state. Theft rates continue to rise, and Colorado maintains its unenviable distinction as the number one state in America for car theft. CSI Criminal Justice Fellows Mitch Morrissey and George Brauchler explore the data and trends through the first six months of 2022.
CSI’s March 2022 report and analysis of 2021 crime data revealed that Colorado’s motor vehicle theft rate had climbed 32%, ranking it the highest in America. In the first six months of 2022, the number of motor vehicle thefts, and the overall motor vehicle theft rate have each continued to increase.
In their 2020 report on motor vehicle theft, the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority stated that, “…motor vehicle suspects operated with virtual impunity”. Based on the findings in this report, it appears that Colorado has failed to implement effective policies to change that reality.
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Key Findings
- Colorado continues to lead the nation in motor vehicle theft. Ranked #1 in America in 2021, in the first 6 months of 2022 (January – June), the motor vehicle theft rate increased another 17.2%.
- At the current rate of 4,007 thefts per month, motor vehicle thefts are on pace to exceed 48,000 for the year—an all-time high. The estimated total value of these stolen vehicles is between $468.1M and $848.3M, on the road to nearly $1B.
- Arrests are not keeping pace with theft. The arrest rate per motor vehicle theft is 9.4%, down from 15.5% in 2019.
- So far in 2022, four Colorado cities rank in the top ten in the United States for motor vehicle thefts, including Denver (2), Aurora (3), Westminster (8), and Pueblo (9). These four cities combined, account for 53.3% of the vehicles stolen statewide in the first quarter of 2022.
- According to Commander Mike Greenwell with MATT, “97 percent of the people who have been arrested in the last three years for auto theft have multiple arrests for auto theft.”
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Dollars and Data: A Look at PK-12 Funding and Performance in Colorado |
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As the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, leaving in its wake declining public school student enrollment and achievement, local, state, and federal dollars continue to flow to the Colorado public education system in ever-larger amounts.
While some of this expansion in the most recent years can be attributed to the massive infusion of COVID-19 relief dollars, which will begin to dry up a year from now, the expanding budgets continues a trend that has been evident over a longer period of time.
Each year, the Colorado Department of Education releases a new set of data capturing the finances of Colorado’s PK-12 public education system. This report summarizes several different dimensions of the financial data, and shows key trends of how the system of education funding and spending has changed over time.
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Key Findings
- K-12 Enrollment has not recovered from the pandemic dip. K-12 student enrollment in in the 2021–2022 school year dipped by 1,174 students. This was relatively flat after a plunge of almost 22,000 students the year before. Prior to 2021, K-12 enrollment grew every year since 2012, albeit at a declining rate.
- Funding for PK-12 education in Colorado did not suffer major cuts due to drops in local and state funding, but federal relief funds will soon be gone. Because of a temporary increase in federal funding, budgets for PK-12 education across every region avoided major cuts, even as education continues to be crowded out of the state budget by spending on other areas. State inflation adjusted per-pupil revenue from all local, state, and federal sources has remained flat at between $14,000 and $15,000 since 2011.
- A greater proportion of school district spending is taking place away from classrooms.
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Congratulations to CSI's Chris Brown on being with CSI for 5 years! |
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Congratulations to CSI's Terry J. Stevinson Fellow Jennifer Gimbel, for being the 2022 recipient of the Aspinall "Water Leader of the Year" award! |
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Stay tuned for our Terry J. Stevinson Fellow's report on water coming later this year! |
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