Commerce City in the News

Given how much the violent crime rate has increased in Commerce City, coupled with projected population growth and the fact that Commerce City has fewer police substations than other municipalities of our size, you would think that approval of a fully functional police substation in the northern part of the city would be an urgent priority for City Council, right?

Well, for a slim majority of Council, yes, it may be. That slim, 5-4 majority does not, for some reason, include Mayor Steve Douglas, Mayor pro tem Susan Noble, and Councilmembers Renee Chacon and Kristi Douglas.

Those four voted against a motion brought forward at the August 18 Council meeting by Councilman Sean Ford to approve $16 million of unencumbered funds to go towards a new substation, after four years of discussion and back and forth.

Renee Chacon, ostensibly a Commerce City Council Member, made the news again recently. Not for anything having to do with what some might consider the important job of serving as an elected official of Commerce City’s government, but for yet another of her many civil-justice-warrior antics.

And this time, she is being joined by fellow-traveler and wanna-be city council member Lucy Molina.

Colorado Public Radio ran a story about how Chacon and Molina have banded together to help thwart federal law enforcement. This adds to a long list of examples, in which Chacon eagerly bandies about her “city council member” title, while engaged in far-left activist pursuits that have nothing whatsoever to do with governing Commerce City.

While some on Commerce City’s City Council are obsessed with things like gas stations, grocery carts, Suncor and residential development, residents of our beleaguered city are facing the daily reality that it is becoming increasingly more dangerous to live here.

Commerce City’s well-known crime problem is not just anecdotal. The numbers display very clearly what everyone – save a few on City Council – already knows; that crime is a growing problem with a severity that is unique to our community.

The figures, taken from the official data compiled by the state, are stark and don’t lie. The rate of violent crime in Commerce City has been on an upward trend since at least 2020. Last year, Commerce City recorded 620 violent crimes, comprising murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault, and robbery.

But the reality is clearly revealed when those raw numbers are compared to neighboring jurisdictions. Let’s consider the cities of Westminster, Thornton, Northglenn, and Brighton.