Union Station Area Logs More Crimes Than Any Other Denver Neighborhood

Despite — or perhaps because of — increased police presence prompted by safety complaints from RTD employees, the Union Station area registered more crime than any other neighborhood in Denver during the past week. In fact, there were more crimes at the station itself than in over half of the city’s other 77 neighborhoods, as calculated by the Denver Police Department.

The DPD includes the area behind Union Station to the South Platte River, over to Cherry Creek and up to 20th Street in its definition of the Union Station neighborhood; it includes all of LoDo.

Crime in and near Union Station has been a concern for months, and while the most violent actions have declined since the summer, other offenses have continued to accrue, many of them in the bus terminal that connects to Union Station. That’s troubling for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, whose December 1 bulletin announced: “We have the legal right to refuse to work in the UNSAFE WORKING CONDITIONS at Denver Union Station…. THIS IS NOT A GAME OR A PLOY. If we don’t take action to secure our safety, we may die waiting for RTD to do it for us.”

Two days later, Mayor Michael Hancock issued this statement: “Passengers at and residents around Union Station have contacted my office over the last several weeks with concerns about public safety at Union Station. In response to these concerns, I have directed our Public Safety Director and my Chief of Staff to meet with RTD management and the ATU today, and have sent senior level city staff down to the area to assess conditions and report back to me. Illegal drug use, public urination and unsafe loitering must not be allowed to continue. Union Station is an important public transit and commercial space and we will redouble our efforts to ensure it is clean and safe for all those who use and enjoy it. To commence immediately, Police Chief [Paul] Pazen will increase police presence around Union Station to augment RTD in its effort to address illegal and unsafe behavior within the terminal.”

These efforts don’t seem to have put much of a dent in crime around Union Station, however. From December 4 to 11, the most recent week for which data is available, the Denver Crime Map maintained by the Denver Police Department recorded 55 offenses in the Union Station area, for a crime density of 125.28 per square mile, for the highest numbers in the city. Coming in second for number of crimes was Central Park, with 42 reported offenses — but given the size of that neighborhood, that translated to a crime density of just 4.67 per square mile. The second-highest crime density was 67.28 per square mile in the Central Business District, or CBD, where 29 crimes were recorded.

Of the 55 crimes in the Union Station area, eleven of them were tied to 1701 Wynkoop Street, the official address for Union Station and the connected bus terminal. Here they are, listed in reverse chronological order.

Drug & Alcohol
Selling a synthetic narcotic drug
Date: 12/8/2021 6:04 PM

Drug & Alcohol
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Date: 12/8/2021 6:00 PM

Drug & Alcohol
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Date: 12/8/2021 5:50 PM

All Other Crimes
Criminal trespassing
Date: 12/7/2021 12:18 PM

Drug & Alcohol
Other dangerous drugs — PCS
Date: 12/7/2021 10:50 AM

Burglary
Burglary of a business without forced entry
Date: 12/7/2021 6:57 AM

All Other Crimes
Criminal trespassing
Date: 12/6/2021 1:45 PM

White Collar Crime
Police impersonation
Date: 12/5/2021 11:30 PM

White Collar Crime
Unauthorized use of a financial transaction device
Date: 12/5/2021 11:30 PM

All Other Crimes
Buy, sell or receive stolen property
Date: 12/5/2021 11:30 PM

All Other Crimes
Criminal trespassing
Incident Number: 202168586
Date: 12/5/2021 8:39 PM

At least forty Denver neighborhoods registered ten or fewer crimes from December 4 to 11 than did Union Station itself. But there is a potential bright spot: The high current crime stats for the Union Station neighborhood could be the result of increased enforcement and could wane over time.