Quality of Life
Safe Community
Obtain Safest City Designation
Due: December 2021
Principle: Possessing the “Gold Standard” in public safety by meeting and exceeding standards set forth through the Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies to assist with the designation of one of the safest communities in Colorado.
Description
Implemented to improve the overall quality of crime data collected by law enforcement, the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) captures details on each single-crime incident—as well as on separate offenses within the same incident—including information on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims, and offenders, arrestees, and property involved in crimes.
Unlike data reported through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS)—an aggregate monthly tally of crimes, NIBRS dives much deeper because of its ability to provide circumstances and context for crimes such as location, time of day, and whether the incident resulted in an arrest (cleared).
As recommended by professional law enforcement organizations, the FBI made nationwide implementation of NIBRS a top priority because NIBRS can provide more useful statistics to promote constructive discussion, measured planning, and informed policing. The Department began submitting incident (NIBRS) data to the FBI on 1/1/2006.
Significance
The vision for NIBRS is for it to become the law enforcement community’s standard for quantifying crime, which assists law enforcement and communities around the country use resources more strategically and effectively.
In 2018, approximately 44% of U.S. law enforcement agencies that participated in the UCR Program submitted data via NIBRS. Since then, the FBI has received thousands of commitments from law enforcement across the nation to be NIBRS-compliant by 2021. Ultimately, the national transition to NIBRS will further support the mission of the FBI’s UCR Program to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management.
Analysis
Arvada's violent crime rate is the second lowest compared to other Colorado cities reporting data with a population of 100,000 or more. In 2019, 2.174 people out of 1,000 reported being a victim of a violent crime, and 29.77 people out of 1,000 reported being a victim of a property crime. Overall in 2019, according to rates based on population; Arvada had approximately 32 crimes per 1000 people.
The chart displayed in this strategic result provides benchmark information with neighboring municipalities.
| Cities | Population | Safest |
| Arvada | 122,974 | 2 |
| Centennial | 111,183 | Did not provide data |
| Ft. Collins | 337,000 | 1 |
| Boulder | 105,003 | 3 |
| Thornton | 145,688 | 4 |
| Greeley | 110,997 | 5 |
| Lakewood | 160,441 | Did not provide data |
| Denver | 2,827,000 | 7 |
| Aurora | 338,723 | 6 |
Work System
Performance Measures
Crime Rate
Crime Rate - Description
This performance measure focuses on comparing crime rates in Arvada to other front range municipalities, a national average and ICMA data. Crime in the United States is an annual publication in which the FBI compiles the volume and rate of violent and property crime offenses for the nation by state. Crime data are submitted either through a state Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program or directly to the FBI’s UCR Program.
Maintaining a city safe from crime continues to be identified through the Community Survey as the most important function of City government.
Crime Rate - Significance
The City of Arvada is committed to providing a safe place for people to live, visit and conduct business.
It is important for community members to feel safe and to be safe.
Crime Rate - Analysis
There was a slight increase in the crime rate in 2019 compared to 2020. While we are not meeting the goal of 20%, we will continue to focus on obtaining this goal in the future.
Ft. Collins continues to have a lower crime rate than Arvada while Westminster, Denver and the U.S. have a significant higher crime rate. The City of Lakewood did not submit data to FBI-NIBRS in 2019.
Crime Rate - Data Source
Crime Rate - the ratio of crimes in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year.
Arvada and all other municipality benchmark data comes from Crime in the United States document published each fall by the FBI. Please note that results are always lagging because of the time needed for reporting by the FBI.
ICMA data is provided through the ClearPoint Library
Code Compliance
Code Compliance - Description
This performance measure analyzes data from the community customer relations management (CRM) system called Ask Arvada.
Community members use the CRM to inform the city of potential code violations. Code Enforcement Officers are required to City Ordinances with regard to enforcement and providing time for residents to bring their property into compliance. Cases that require legal action through the Arvada Municipal Court are bound by set timelines.
The CRM tracks all requests from submission to case closure. Cases fall into "compliance" or "summons" categories.
Code Compliance - Significance
The City's goal is to preserve our communities for a lifetime. To achieve this, a City must maintain and enhance existing commercial and residential areas. Code Enforcement responds to and resolves enforcement issues, provides customer service and pro-actively removes illegal signage from the City right-of-way.
Code Enforcement helps ensure a safe community and a high quality living environment for the residents of Arvada by implementing and enforcing nuisance codes and zoning ordinances.
Code Compliance - Analysis
Code Compliance - Data Source
Ask Arvada - Citywide CRM system