Denver police have identified a suspect in the shooting incident that occurred in LoDo Sunday night — Anthony Chavez. If you have any information about the shooter or the incident, contact police at (720) 913-7867.
After a second, nonfatal shooting took place in LoDo on Monday night, Judy fielded a few calls from concerned neighbors and curious members of the media. By all indications, these shootings were not related and they do not constitute any sort of trend; there’s no reason for crowds to start avoiding Lower Downtown out of safety concerns. If you look at the big picture, LoDo is becoming more safe, not less. Through the first 9 months of 2007, crime was significantly down in LoDo — 3.4 percent fewer crimes overall, and 8 percent fewer crimes against persons (as opposed to property). Within Police District 6 as a whole (the district encompasses LoDo and the Ballpark area), overall crime was down 15 percent in the first 9 months of 2007, and crime against persons was down more than 14 percent.
The Sunday-night shooting was awful, and Judy’s taking it very seriously. She has been in ongoing contact with District 6 Commander Deborah Dilley, and the police are working their butts off on it. Judy also has been listening to LoDo residents and making sure they’re in the conversation with police. A crime this violent is nothing to take lightly. But fortunately it was only one isolated incident, and not a spike in the crime rate. Hopefully Mr. Chavez will be in police custody sooner rather than later.
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Denver Wins: It looks as if the voters have approved all the funding measures on yesterday’s ballot. With most of the votes counted, eight of the nine measures are comfortably ahead; question 1H (to fund new investment in cultural facilities) has a slim lead. Thanks to everyone who voted. Later in the week I’ll try to have a list of all the District 9 projects that will be funded thanks to the passage of this funding package.
