Union Station crime (Denver: violent crime, new home, camps)

[MissTerri]

Originally Posted by Therblig

Sigh. Anecdotal data isn't worth the paper it's written on, or the phosphors it lights up.

1) Union official screams that the place is a war zone and workers deserve combat pay. (Nope, no self-serving action here.)
2) Two competing local TV stations report this as news. (My god, that must be Word Of God.)
3) Anonymous online poster quotes all this and editorializes "OMG, what's happened to our fair city!" (Panic in the streets! Or, more accurately, front parlors.)

and

4) Guy who has been down too many roads of two package thefts in a neighborhood being described as a citywide crime wave asks for something more than a string of anecdotal claims. From entities that don't have a stake in promoting the idea of Mad Max's Thunderdome Station.

Do you live in Denver? If so, when was the last time you were downtown?

[vunderbar]

Originally Posted by MissTerri

Do you live in Denver? If so, when was the last time you were downtown?

I'm downtown all the time, often at night, and have not had any experience with crime. That said, I have not spent any time at the bus station below Union Station. YMMV, as they say.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by MissTerri

Do you live in Denver? If so, when was the last time you were downtown?

What, you want my anecdotes now?

I heard it's unsafe to go into Civic Center Park because of the hordes of rabid squirrels. Some have reportedly sharpened their teeth, too. S'truth, a neighbor told me he saw it on a retweet from a St. Louis TV station. Shocking. Someone should Do Something.

[MissTerri]

Originally Posted by vunderbar

I'm downtown all the time, often at night, and have not had any experience with crime. That said, I have not spent any time at the bus station below Union Station. YMMV, as they say.

Glad to hear. I’ve noticed a major change over the last couple of years and no longer feel safe when I’m down there.

[modest]

Originally Posted by MissTerri

It’s really sad to see this. Be careful when traveling through Union Station. It used to feel safe not too long ago.

the RTD union is calling Union Station a “lawless hellhole” and consider going there to be an unsafe working condition. A security guard who works there also warns about crime and gives tips to stay safe for those who visit like avoiding the bathrooms and always being alert. The news crew covering this story was threatened with violence for filming.

My point in posting is just to alert people to be careful as a lot of people travel through on their way to and from the airport.

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/12/...-terminal-rtd/

https://kdvr.com/news/local/rtd-unio...less-hellhole/

That statement in particular seems a bit hyperbolic, especially given the source. It's not as if they could use a grievance like that as leverage in labor negotiations .

I've been downtown lately, and it's certainly not how I'd describe my experience in or around Union Station. As a matter of fact, it always seems to be thriving down there with the bars, restaurants, book stores, hotel, and coffee shops that call it home. McGregor Square is another vibrant spot, just a couple blocks towards Coors Field.

Rampant homeless encampments is a far greater issue for the Metro, IMO. You can't go a few miles around town without seeing clusters of tents, broken down RVs, and tarps set up as makeshift homes. The Platte River trail is one of the worst hit parts of the city from my observations.

[himain]

We quit going to 16th street mall due to the crazy homeless a couple of years ago. Haven't been near Union Station since Morton's closed a couple of years ago. Nothing to draw us there

[Spot]

Originally Posted by Therblig

Well... says who? Besides you and the (somewhat questionable) cites you give?

It's real man. I work downtown and it's gotten noticeably worse over the last three years. It's to the point now that many businesses are pulling out of downtown over it. It's not safe for employees, especially at night returning to their cars. Personally, I used to love downtown Denver, but I only go there for work now. It's too dirty; there's feces in the alleys and urine everywhere. You can smell it walking down the sidewalk. On top of that, the drug use and petty crime is ridiculous. The police are taking a mostly "hands-off" approach because they don't have the support of the city leadership to address the problem. The whole situation is a mess and Denver could really use better leadership. It's sad to see honestly.

[wong21fr]

To be clear, the issues are primarily in the bus concourse, not on the train platforms. But it spills over into the streets and has had a negative impact on the residents who live in the neighborhood. The situation has a whole host of contributing factors such as:

- Increased amount of fentanyl on the streets that has eclipsed heroine and opioid use. It's has wrecked a lot of people way more than other drug abuse.
- The pandemic induced spike to homeless populations coupled with the general increase over the last few years as the COL has increased in Denver.
- The shutdown of Civic Center Park shifted the drug dealing to the Union Station area.
- Lack of bus commuters going through the concourse. The lack of workers downtown, and the corresponding decrease in foot traffic emboldens the homeless and contributes to the perceived lack of safety.
- RTD Security is are being asshats and are conducting a work slow-down. The 2020 George Floyd protests and the massive slap down Allied Security got hit with (following the conviction of several of their officers for beating a man to near death in a Union Station restroom) have them taking a hands-off approach. RTD Management swung the pendulum to far to the left and needs to shift it back.
- Decriminalization of drug possession (shifting possession of certain hard drugs from felony to misdemeanors) and the over-use of personal recognizance bonds took a lot of tools out of DPD's bag for dealing with this issue (they can ticket, but can't/won't arrest individuals). The replacement tool are perceived to be the STAR teams that Denver is rolling out, but none of these teams work 24/7 and aren't there during the evenings when a lot of detrimental activity is taking place.

- All of the funding that Denver has directed towards fighting homelessness, and the underlying causes, just got rolling at the end of this year. Having ~$200M allocated towards the issue and actually spending it is a big difference.

[BarryK123]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

- Increased amount of fentanyl on the streets that has eclipsed heroine and opioid use.

Fentanyl is an opioid.

I rarely go downtown. About 2 months ago, I had a meeting downtown at about 9:30 AM. I took the W line to Union Station, then walked about 5 blocks. I didn't notice anything funky in Union Station, but walking down 16th and 17th Sts. was eerie. They were deserted, except for an assortments of dregs sleeping it off against buildings. Part of the problem is so many are working from home, But also, there was no police presence anywhere.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

6... also, there was no police presence anywhere.

My term for this is that we're in a YOYO world where YOYO = You're On Your Own.