Your Guide to Community, Politics, Ar ts and Culture in Nor th Denver DenverNor thStar.com
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Volume 2, Issue 7
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April 15, 2021 - May 14, 2021
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ALWAYS FREE!
It’s Not Your Ears. Gunshots in North Denver Have Increased DPD ShotSpotter Alerts Rose in More Than 470% in 2020 Compared to 2017
COMMUNITY Salsa and Murals PAGE 6
COMMUNITY Commissary Kitchens PAGE 7
PHOTO BY ERIC HEINZ
A car passes by a Denver Police Department road sign near 50th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. The full message on the sign stated “Help Prevent Crime. Do Not Leave Firearms In Your Vehicle.” By Eric Heinz
T ARTS & CULTURE Smiley Library Renovations PAGE 12
POLITICS Legislative Updates PAGE 14
POLITICS City Mulls Ethics Changes PAGE 15
POLITICS Elected Official Update PAGE 17
POLITICS Zoning Overlays PAGE 18
o the untrained ear, hearing the difference between the sounds of a car backfiring, fireworks going off, and gunshots can be nearly impossible. Tracking the number of gunshots in a neighborhood can be difficult, even for the most sophisticated technology police departments currently use. But since at least 2017, North Denver residents’ ears have not been deceiving them. Gunshots in this part of the city have been on the uptick. The Denver Police Department uses a technology called ShotSpotter that tracks where and when a gunshot goes off. It covers about 2 square miles in North Denver, designated as District 1, and about 14 square miles of the entire city is covered by the technology. SpotShotter alerts officers within the coverage area to respond within 90 seconds. “I’m assuming all over the city, but really in District 1, we have people leaving firearms in their vehicles and a lot of them are leaving their cars unlocked,” DPD District 1 Commander Layla DeStaffany said. “This is residents or people who stay in hotels and motels. They come from somewhere that they don’t have to lock their car doors, and we’ve seen a lot of guns stolen.” DPD will not release the locations of the ShotSpotter technology because it could compromise the system. According to SpotShotter data in District 1, there were 74 gunshot alerts in 2017 and 356 in 2020—a 470% increase. SpotShotter was installed in 2016, and that year 47 shots were tallied while the technology came online. Although ShotSpotter has helped DPD make more arrests and take more guns off the streets, DeStaffany acknowledged it is not always completely accurate. Sometimes echoes from shots fired in adjacent Lakewood can get picked up by the ShotSpotter, she said. “It’s not a perfect system. It’s a great system, but it’s not perfect,” DeStaffany said.
The coverage area of the ShotSpotter technology has not changed since it was installed in 2016. From April to August of that year, ShotSpotter’s coverage increased as it was finalized. Homicides in District 1, from West Colfax to Globeville and west of I-25, however, have been relatively flat for the last few years. The data provided by DPD did not disclose which homicides were from gunshots, but in the 10 neighborhoods that comprise The Denver North Stars coverage area, 21 murders were reported between the start of 2015 and 2020, with an average of four per year. There has been one homicide recorded this year in District 1. ‘THERE ARE JUST MORE GUNS OUT THERE’ According to DPD, from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2020, there were 327 guns that were reported stolen in the city, and the department stated these were primarily during burglaries and thefts from vehicles. That represented a 26.7% increase in gun thefts compared to the three-year average, DPD officials stated. The Colorado Bureau of Investigations InstaCheck report showed statewide there were about 487,000 requests for firearm background checks in 2020 that were approved compared to about 335,000 in 2019.
See GUNSHOTS, Page 17
Spring: Set Out
to Enjoy the Birds
By Kathryn White
“
I
t’s a good time of year to go outside. Sit in your yard, listen. You’ll start to learn their songs and calls,” says Megan Miller, master birder and volunteer with Denver Field Ornithologists. She’s happy to ease newcomers into a world of birds that has held her attention since she was ten years old. Perhaps you’ve been enjoying birds for the first time at the new feeder you put out during recent stay-at-home orders. Backcapped or Mountain Chickadees, a Northern Flicker or two, finches, sparrows, and bushtits. “Winter brings seed eaters,” Miller reports, “Now you’ll start to see insect eaters and migrating birds.” You might spot the bright gold, orange, and black Western Tanager, or the blue head- and tail-feathered male Lazuli Bunting, or a Yellow Warbler. Be on the lookout for peak migration, which Miller says typically falls around the second week of May in Denver. Adding native plant species and a water source (a simple shallow plate will do fine) to your garden will increase your odds of attracting birds. Robert Dean, president of the Colorado Urban Wildlife Photo Club, appreciates the spectacular breeding plumage that comes with this time of year. And he points out that birds are active with nest building, which is fun to catch glimpses of and comes with a host of considerations for city dwellers. Dean urges fellow urban bird lovers to keep feeders away from shrubs where cats can hide. “An estimated 1 to 4 billion birds are killed by outdoor cats in the U.S. every year. It’s better to keep cats indoors, but you can find a brightly colored birdsafe collar through the National Audubon Society. Bells don’t really work.” If you’re new to the bird world, you’re in good company. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports significant increases in new birders and their observations, as recorded by its popular eBird app. According to Cornell Lab, more people are eBirding than ever before. By February 2021, an all-time record for the greatest number of eBirders in a single month was set at 140,000. Using eBird, you can “start a checklist” and enter the species and numbers of birds you see in the location you’re recording from. When you
See BIRDING, Page 14
American Robin
PHOTO BY ROBERT DEAN