The Denver Police Department has a new program intended to tackle the problem of stubbornly high motor vehicle thefts. It’s intended to help find stolen cars faster by authorizing police to use data from any tracking devices already installed once people report the theft.
Lt. Ryan Harris, who works in the department’s patrol District Three, said Denver police took inspiration for DenverTrack from a vehicle tracking partnership to fight carjackings in Cook County, Illinois. He said jailhouse interviews in the county found that putting a sticker on cars announcing the owner’s participation in the tracking program could reduce willingness to steal a car by up to 50%.
“When I came out to District Three, my dad actually contacted me … and tells me about his car getting stolen in 1981, and what am I doing about auto theft? So obviously auto theft was an issue in the ‘80s. It was an issue in the ‘90s, in the 2000s.”
He didn’t directly answer whether he believes having the tracking program might have prevented the incident in early February that turned deadly when a car owner used an app on his phone to track down his stolen car. He exchanged gunfire with the group he found and killed 12-year-old Elias Armstrong. The District Attorney declined to file any charges.
But Harris implored people to not take matters into their own hands.
“What this program does is provides us a safe alternative to finding your own car. And if people take one thing out of this press conference, what we need to get across is do not go find your own stolen car. Work with the police department and we will help you safely recover your vehicle.”
To participate, people need to have a tracking device installed in their vehicle, such as those put in at the point of manufacturing, after-market devices or others that use GPS or Bluetooth technology. People can sign up for the program online at denvergov.org/denvertrack by filling out a registration form. Information needed includes the car’s make, model, vehicle identification number, license plate and issuing state.
They will receive two stickers for their vehicle’s door and windshield that announce they participate in tracking.
Next week, from Monday to March 10, people can visit any Denver PD district station — excluding the department headquarters at 1331 Cherokee St. — between 4 and 7 p.m. for help filling out the registration form. They can also get a catalytic converter etching kit, which allows people to mark that part with a unique number and also register it online.
If someone’s vehicle is stolen, they should make a report and the officer will confirm the person is part of the tracking program. If the person has not already signed up, they can give consent when they report the car stolen for the police department to use their vehicle’s tracking data.
Harris said the purpose of the program is to get the person’s consent to use their car tracking data ahead of time to reduce the time it takes to find it. He said the police department will not use the information collected for purposes outside the program, such as if someone has an active warrant for their arrest.
The program’s launch comes as more and more people in Colorado have their own stories of stolen cars. The state legislature is advancing a bill that would make all motor vehicle thefts felonies and eliminate the portion of Colorado law that ties the penalties to the car’s value. Aurora’s interim police Chief Art Acevedo voiced his support for the policy change in a news conference this week.
The Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority recorded 40,360 motor vehicle thefts in 2022, about double the number five years before. However, it’s important to note that this data works more as a proxy for measuring car thefts, rather than a completely accurate number, as victims may not always report their stolen cars to law enforcement.
“When I was appointed chief, I identified pretty quickly a top priority of preventing crime, lowering our crime rate and working in collaboration with the community,” said Chief Ron Thomas. “It's also no secret that one of our greatest crime challenges is auto theft.”
