How safe is Denver’s 16th Street Mall?
Police and downtown leaders have committed to improving public safety on Denver's famed 'crown jewel,' but recent stabbing attacks have rattled the city.
Denver’s 16th Street Mall has long been the crown jewel of Denver — a hub for retail shops, restaurants and entertainment.
But in recent years, the city’s $172.5 million renovation project, and, more notably, crime and homelessness have tarnished its image.
Still, hope of improvement was rising ahead of the tourist destination’s full reopening set for this year.
Then on Jan. 11 and 12, the mall was struck by a brazen crime that shocked the city.
Over those two days, 24-year-old Elijah Caudill allegedly stabbed four people at four different locations along the mall, killing two and injuring two more. Investigators can’t find a link between the suspect and the victims, and the crime appears to be random, according to Denver police.
After Caudill’s arrest on Sunday evening, both Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas and Mayor Mike Johnston promised to boost security in the busy corridor.
“I think we have not seen random acts of violence like this in our city center for as long as we can remember,” Johnston said during a news conference on the mall on Monday. “We will commit to increasing the number of police patrols and police presence here in downtown in the weeks and months ahead.”
Thomas said more officers would be added to the department’s District 6. They’ll be on foot, on bicycles and in police vehicles, the chief said.
“We also have additional uncommitted resources that will be detailed down here to provide that extra layer of safety,” he said.
Who, exactly, provides security for the 16th Street Mall? What kind of security is provided by the police — or others — to ensure the safety of the sprawling district that is home to businesses, hotels and offices? How will the security improve following the fatal attacks?
Crime Trends on Denver’s 16th Street Mall: What the Data Says
The intersections of 16th Street Mall with Champa Street and California Street, where one of the four victims was stabbed last weekend, were once labeled “hotspots” because of assaults and public use of drugs based on Downtown Denver Partnership’s security team database from 2023.
The Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) works with Denver police and other agencies to analyze trends and deploy resources accordingly.
Against the backdrop of stabbings, which once more sparked the debate over the safety of downtown, city officials insist, citing numbers provided by the Denver Police Department, the area is seeing slightly declining crime.
Consider the following crime landscape:
Between 2015 and the end of 2019 — before the government-mandated COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions altered the mall’s character — the area saw more crime reports and calls for service, but less assaults and drug-related offenses.
Between 2015 and 2019, the department received 37,654 calls for service in the area.
Between 2020 and 2024, years that coincided with the pandemic, that number dropped to 27,551.
The 16th Street Mall area — defined by Wynkoop Street to the north, Broadway to the south, 15th Street to the east, and 17th Street to the west — saw 324 reports of aggravated assault, seven murders and 237 reports of robbery during the earlier five-year period.
In the next five-year period, between 2020 and 2024, the same area saw 464 aggravated assaults, five murders and 203 reports of robbery.
Over the shorter term, total crimes against persons in 2024 were at their lowest since 2018 and were lower than other pre-pandemic years, including 2015, 2016 and 2019.
The year with the lowest number of property crimes in the last 10 years? 2024.
Along with assaults, reports of open-air drug use increased after the government-imposed COVID shutdown of retail, businesses and offices.
The department saw 408 reports of drug and narcotic violations in 2023. By comparison, the totals between 2019 and 2021 did not even breaking 100.
Interestingly, the area did not receive an increase in calls for service regarding drugs in 2023, with calls for service overall (4,450) being significantly less than the year before (5,804).
According to a spokesperson from the department, that increase in drug-related offenses was not due to more calls reporting drug use, but the result of an increase in targeted enforcement focusing on the issue in the area.
How Denver police and private security collaborate to keep the 16th Street Mall safe
Following the stabbings on Jan. 11, more than a dozen Denver officers were added to the area on top of the already stationed patrols, according to the police department.
Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen lauded the move.
“I do want to give Chief Thomas credit for increasing those patrols. That’s how the individual was apprehended,” Pazen told The Denver Gazette about the arrest of Caudill on Sunday. “That redeployment strategy worked. That’s a positive out of this whole situation.”
While the police department would not give specific numbers on how many officers will be added to the area to bolster security, the agency said it will add extra patrols, with officers walking the area of the 16th Street Mall on foot, on bicycles, on motorcycles and in patrol vehicles.
“Foot and bicycle patrols were specifically increased as an adjustment to the construction in the area. Essentially, extra patrols include deployments in addition to officers normally assigned to the area or responding to a call for service,” the department told The Denver Gazette.
Despite an increase in deployment of officers in the neighborhood following the first set of stabbings, Pazen said it’s still not enough overall.
The department’s resources, like many police agencies, are limited.
According to a Jan. 2 follow-up report from Denver Auditor Timothy O’Brien, the police department only had 1,364 active officers in 2022 — 7% short of its approved budget.
The department also lost more officers than usual. The agency typically loses about 70 to 80 officers per year. It lost 145 in 2021.
As of Sept. 29, 2023, there were 1,517 officers in the department, which, at that time, had an authorized strength of 1,596, putting the staffing level at around 95%.
But, with officers spanning the 78 neighborhoods in the city and also responding to 911 calls, those numbers — 5% fewer — are important, Pazen said.
Even when the stabbing spree appeared random and hard to interfere without any noticeable prior altercation, that visual police presence may have deterred such attacks, according to the former police official.
“The best crime is the crime that was prevented,” he said. “You want to keep everyone safe and have that visual deterrence. It doesn’t have to be hardcore enforcement. A lot of times it’s just a friendly police officer saying hi to people.”
These increase in patrols are especially important when the area becomes a hub for visitors, he added, pointing to the Colorado Convention Center and National Western Stock Show, which brings in an estimated 700,000 people during its 16-day run every year.
The police department said security was mapped out with those events in mind.
“Stock Show attendance is spread out over a two-week period, and throughout the duration of the event, off-duty officers provide a safety and security presence at the venue,” the department said. “On-duty resources patrol areas around the venue (to include parking lots), as well as hotels where many out of state visitors stay. Areas like the 16th Street Mall have officers regularly assigned to address crime issues and provide a visible presence.”
Pazen said increased patrols help.
“We typically don’t speed when we’re in and around a state patrol car on the highway. Visible presence of a law enforcement officer typically reduces crime,” Pazen said.
What visitors need to know about safety at the 16th Street Mall
Dr. Glynell Horn Jr., the deputy chief of the Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) Transit Police, agreed with the importance of deterrence.
“Just having a police officer or a police car, it deters a lot of crime and at least makes people think twice about committing certain behaviors,” he said. “One thing that’s critically important is it gives the customers and community a sense of safety.”
Situated at the end of the 16th Street Mall sits Union Station, a massive hub for the city’s transportation district.
While the Denver Police Department and corresponding security teams secure the mall, RTD’s Transit Police force controls the Union Station area at the end of it.
RTD employs its own sworn police officers, often off-duty officers with local departments, providing protection and services to both riders and drivers in the 40-plus municipalities where the transit agency offers transportation services — including Denver, Boulder and Aurora.
Union Station is one of RTD’s biggest concentrations of officers.
The department has jurisdiction over the station and Wynkoop Plaza at 17th and Wynkoop Street.
Once people step off into the street, it becomes jurisdiction of the Denver Police Department.
The station remains the focal point of the police team, regardless of how many officers they have, according to officials.
“No matter what numbers we have, we staff (Union Station) first. That gets our priority,” said Commander Broderick Fowler, who oversees the specific area fort RTD.
Just outside of the plaza, the jurisdiction turns to the Denver police, with communication between off-duty Denver officers working for the RTD police department being crucial for teamwork, officials said.
“We would certainly intervene if there was an emergency circumstance,” Fowler said. “But we would still have to call on Denver PD to come out and make the arrest.” That, he said, applies to any type of citations or a situation needing a full-fledge enforcement.
Horn, the deputy chief of the RTD Transit Police, said the allied security component of the mall is also an important part of keeping the area safe outside of the station’s walls.
Pazen said Downtown Denver Partnership provides a key layer of security.
“You have the Downtown Denver Partnership and their security team, and that’s part of the layering. They’re the first line of defense and that physical presence,” Pazen said.
Extra Eyes and Ears: Private security’s role at the 16th Street Mall
A team of at least five private security officers patrol the 120 blocks of Downtown Denver between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m. daily.
They’re often clad in distinctive polo shirts, blue from the chest up and black from the chest down, paired with black pants, shoes and walkie talkies.
And they’re unarmed.
The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, which taxes commercial properties in the area, hires this private security team to monitor the neighborhood.
The organization contracted private security firm Allied Universal to manage its 20-person security team, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership. And the efforts are concentrated along 16th Street Mall due to its heavy foot traffic.
Private security officers are specifically trained for preventative measures, including giving resources to homeless people. They reach out and educate people on housing and mental health services.
They are also responsible for spotting crimes and reporting incidents to the police; the private security officers are not allowed to enforce laws themselves.
“Our security team is trained in an outreach-first model,” Downtown Denver Partnership CEO Kourtny Garrett said in an interview. “They are not law enforcement.”
The security team has a direct radio line to the Denver police, where security directors at most downtown office buildings and hotels can tune in to hear about incidents happening around the area.
Downtown Denver Partnership also offers an email and text notification service to notify building managers and property owners of emergency situations.
After the first initial stabbings, Garrett said the text system sent out an alert with a photo of the suspect provided by Denver Police Department to get more people on the lookout.
Broadly speaking, a large part of Denver’s strategy to revitalize downtown is to have more eyes on the ground, in addition to police officers, to keep crime from happening, officials said.
But as office buildings have become increasingly more empty since the pandemic, there are not as many workers that once populated the area acting as eyes and ears to deter would-be criminals or to provide eyewitness accounts to the police.
And the years-long construction on 16th Street Mall has driven out many businesses. Nearly a third of street-front retail sits vacant, adding to the sense of area’s emptiness.
“It’s human psychology that as people are around, as an environment looks vibrant, looks colorful, and has more density around it, that it will naturally feel — and in reality — be more safe,” Garrett said.
She said the situation is improving — 16th Street Mall saw more leasing action in 2024, as construction wraps up on blocks and new businesses are vying to move in ahead of the full reopening set later this year.
“The safest city is an activated city,” Johnston said at his news conference last Monday, when he insisted the stabbings were an outlier, only to be interrupted by a heckler criticizing him and Democrats for crime in the city.
The episode, captured on video, hints of the challenge Johnston faces in his quest to create a “vibrant” Denver, specifically downtown.
Indeed, downtown business leaders and Denver officials have, on many occasions, insisted the city’s core is improving. But the violent attacks over the last few years — random or not — mean a perennial black eye, something the mayor himself acknowledged.
“We know we’ll face challenges and we’ll face setbacks,” Johnston said, “but we will never stop in our commitment to make the city safer.”
Garrett, the CEO of Denver Downtown Partnership, said the attack is a reminder of the attention downtown has gotten in addressing crime over the years, adding the resources helped with the rapid response to catch the suspect.
“These random attacks over the weekend emphasize the importance of what we’re doing,” Garrett said. “I wouldn’t say that we are wholeheartedly changing course or doing anything different, other than really reinforcing a lot of the resources that we have.”
As 16th Street Mall reopens and a flood of investment money is about to pour into downtown, Garrett reiterated that improving the reality and perception of public safety is still the top priority.
“We also know that statistics don’t tell the story of feeling,” Garrett said. “If anyone does not feel safe, then that is our truth.”
How safe is Denver’s 16th Street Mall?
Denver’s 16th Street Mall has long been the crown jewel of Denver — a hub for retail shops, restaurants and entertainment.
But in recent years, the city’s $172.5 million renovation project, and, more notably, crime and homelessness, have tarnished its image.
Still, hope of improvement was rising ahead of the tourist destination’s full reopening set for this year.
Then on Jan. 11 and 12, the mall was struck by a brazen crime that shocked the city.
Over those two days, 24-year-old Elijah Caudill allegedly stabbed four people at four different locations along the mall, killing two and injuring two more. Investigators can’t find a link between the suspect and the victims, and the crime appears to be random, according to Denver police.
After Caudill’s arrest Sunday evening, both Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas and Mayor Mike Johnston promised to boost security in the busy corridor.
“I think we have not seen random acts of violence like this in our city center for as long as we can remember,” Johnston said during a news conference on the mall on Monday. “We will commit to increasing the number of police patrols and police presence here in downtown in the weeks and months ahead.”
Thomas said more officers would be added to the department’s District 6. They’ll be on foot, on bicycles and in police vehicles, the chief said.
“We also have additional uncommitted resources that will be detailed down here to provide that extra layer of safety,” he said.
Who, exactly, provides security for the 16th Street Mall? What kind of security is provided by the police — or others — to ensure the safety of the sprawling district that is home to businesses, hotels and offices? How will the security improve following the fatal attacks?
The crime trends at the mall
The intersections of 16th Street Mall with Champa Street and California Street, where one of the four victims was stabbed last weekend, were once labeled “hot spots” because of assaults and public use of drugs based on Downtown Denver Partnership’s security team database from 2023.
The Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) works with Denver police and other agencies to analyze trends and deploy resources accordingly.
Against the backdrop of stabbings, which once more sparked the debate over the safety of downtown, city officials insist, citing numbers provided by the Denver Police Department, the area is seeing slightly declining crime.
Consider the following crime landscape:
Between 2015 and the end of 2019 — before the government-mandated COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions altered the mall’s character — the area saw more crime reports and calls for service, but less assaults and drug-related offenses.
Between 2015 and 2019, the department received 37,654 calls for service in the area.
Between 2020 and 2024, years that coincided with the pandemic, that number dropped to 27,551.
The 16th Street Mall area — defined by Wynkoop Street to the north, Broadway to the south, 15th Street to the east, and 17th Street to the west — saw 324 reports of aggravated assault, seven murders and 237 reports of robbery during the earlier five-year period.
In the next five-year period, between 2020 and 2024, the same area saw 464 aggravated assaults, five murders and 203 reports of robbery.
Over the shorter term, total crimes against persons in 2024 were at their lowest since 2018 and were lower than other pre-pandemic years, including 2015, 2016 and 2019.
The year with the lowest number of property crimes in the last 10 years? 2024.
Along with assaults, reports of open-air drug use increased after the government-imposed COVID shutdown of retail, businesses and offices.
The department saw 408 reports of drug and narcotic violations in 2023. By comparison, the totals between 2019 and 2021 did not even breaking 100.
Interestingly, the area did not receive an increase in calls for service regarding drugs in 2023, with calls for service overall (4,450) being significantly less than the year before (5,804).
According to a spokesperson from the department, that increase in drug-related offenses was not due to more calls reporting drug use, but the result of an increase in targeted enforcement focusing on the issue in the area.
Former police chief: ‘Visible presence’ reduces crime
Following the stabbings on Jan. 11, more than a dozen Denver officers were added to the area on top of the already stationed patrols, according to the police department.
Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen lauded the move.
“I do want to give Chief Thomas credit for increasing those patrols. That’s how the individual was apprehended,” Pazen told The Denver Gazette about the arrest of Caudill on Sunday. “That redeployment strategy worked. That’s a positive out of this whole situation.”
While the police department would not give specific numbers on how many officers will be added to the area to bolster security, the agency said it will add extra patrols, with officers walking the area of the 16th Street Mall on foot, on bicycles, on motorcycles and in patrol vehicles.
“Foot and bicycle patrols were specifically increased as an adjustment to the construction in the area. Essentially, extra patrols include deployments in addition to officers normally assigned to the area or responding to a call for service,” the department told The Denver Gazette.
Despite an increase in deployment of officers in the neighborhood following the first set of stabbings, Pazen said it’s still not enough overall.
The department’s resources, like many police agencies, are limited.
According to a Jan. 2 follow-up report from Denver Auditor Timothy O’Brien, the police department only had 1,364 active officers in 2022 — 7% short of its approved budget.
The department also lost more officers than usual. The agency typically loses about 70 to 80 officers per year. It lost 145 in 2021.
As of Sept. 29, 2023, there were 1,517 officers in the department, which, at that time, had an authorized strength of 1,596, putting the staffing level at around 95%.
But, with officers spanning the 78 neighborhoods in the city and also responding to 911 calls, those numbers — 5% fewer — are important, Pazen said.
Even when the stabbing spree appeared random and hard to interfere without any noticeable prior altercation, that visual police presence may have deterred such attacks, according to the former police official.
“The best crime is the crime that was prevented,” he said. “You want to keep everyone safe and have that visual deterrence. It doesn’t have to be hardcore enforcement. A lot of times it’s just a friendly police officer saying hi to people.”
These increase in patrols are especially important when the area becomes a hub for visitors, he added, pointing to the Colorado Convention Center and National Western Stock Show, which brings in an estimated 700,000 people during its 16-day run every year.
The police department said security was mapped out with those events in mind.
“Stock Show attendance is spread out over a two-week period, and throughout the duration of the event, off-duty officers provide a safety and security presence at the venue,” the department said. “On-duty resources patrol areas around the venue (to include parking lots), as well as hotels where many out of state visitors stay. Areas like the 16th Street Mall have officers regularly assigned to address crime issues and provide a visible presence.”
Pazen said increased patrols help.
“We typically don’t speed when we’re in and around a state patrol car on the highway. Visible presence of a law enforcement officer typically reduces crime,” Pazen said.
‘A sense of safety’
Dr. Glynell Horn Jr., the deputy chief of the Regional Transportation District’s Transit Police, agreed with the importance of deterrence.
“Just having a police officer or a police car, it deters a lot of crime and at least makes people think twice about committing certain behaviors,” he said. “One thing that’s critically important is it gives the customers and community a sense of safety.”
Situated at the end of the 16th Street Mall sits Union Station, a massive hub for the city’s transportation district.
While the Denver Police Department and corresponding security teams secure the mall, RTD’s Transit Police force controls the Union Station area at the end of it.
RTD employs its own sworn police officers, often off-duty officers with local departments, providing protection and services to both riders and drivers in the 40-plus municipalities where the transit agency offers transportation services — including Denver, Boulder and Aurora.
Union Station is one of RTD’s biggest concentrations of officers.
The department has jurisdiction over the station and Wynkoop Plaza at 17th and Wynkoop Street.
Once people step off into the street, it becomes jurisdiction of the Denver Police Department.
The station remains the focal point of the police team, regardless of how many officers they have, according to officials.
“No matter what numbers we have, we staff (Union Station) first. That gets our priority,” said Commander Broderick Fowler, who oversees the specific area fort RTD.
Just outside of the plaza, the jurisdiction turns to the Denver police, with communication between off-duty Denver officers working for the RTD police department being crucial for teamwork, officials said.
“We would certainly intervene if there was an emergency circumstance,” Fowler said. “But we would still have to call on Denver PD to come out and make the arrest.” That, he said, applies to any type of citations or a situation needing a full-fledge enforcement.
Horn, the deputy chief of the RTD Transit Police, said the allied security component of the mall is also an important part of keeping the area safe outside of the station’s walls.
Pazen said Downtown Denver Partnership provides a key layer of security.
“You have the Downtown Denver Partnership and their security team, and that’s part of the layering. They’re the first line of defense and that physical presence,” Pazen said.
Extra eyes and ears
A team of at least five private security officers patrol the 120 blocks of Downtown Denver between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m. daily.
They’re often clad in distinctive polo shirts, blue from the chest up and black from the chest down, paired with black pants, shoes and walkie talkies.
And they’re unarmed.
The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, which taxes commercial properties in the area, hires this private security team to monitor the neighborhood.
The organization contracted private security firm Allied Universal to manage its 20-person security team, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership. And the efforts are concentrated along 16th Street Mall due to its heavy foot traffic. Private security officers are specifically trained for preventative measures, including giving resources to homeless people. They reach out and educate people on housing and mental health services.
They are also responsible for spotting crimes and reporting incidents to the police; the private security officers are not allowed to enforce laws themselves.
“Our security team is trained in an outreach-first model,” Downtown Denver Partnership CEO Kourtny Garrett said in an interview. “They are not law enforcement.”
The security team has a direct radio line to the Denver police, where security directors at most downtown office buildings and hotels can tune in to hear about incidents happening around the area.
Downtown Denver Partnership also offers an email and text notification service to notify building managers and property owners of emergency situations.
After the first initial stabbings, Garrett said the text system sent out an alert with a photo of the suspect provided by Denver Police Department to get more people on the lookout.
Broadly speaking, a large part of Denver’s strategy to revitalize downtown is to have more eyes on the ground, in addition to police officers, to keep crime from happening, officials said.
But as office buildings have become increasingly more empty since the pandemic, there are not as many workers that once populated the area acting as eyes and ears to deter would-be criminals or to provide eyewitness accounts to the police.
And the yearslong construction on 16th Street Mall has driven out many businesses. Nearly a third of street-front retail sits vacant, adding to the sense of area’s emptiness.
“It’s human psychology that as people are around, as an environment looks vibrant, looks colorful, and has more density around it, that it will naturally feel — and in reality — be more safe,” Garrett said.
She said the situation is improving — 16th Street Mall saw more leasing action in 2024, as construction wraps up on blocks and new businesses are vying to move in ahead of the full reopening set later this year.
“The safest city is an activated city,” Johnston said at his news conference last Monday, when he insisted the stabbings were an outlier, only to be interrupted by a heckler criticizing him and Democrats for crime in the city.
The episode, captured on video, hints of the challenge Johnston faces in his quest to create a “vibrant” Denver, specifically downtown.
Indeed, downtown business leaders and Denver officials have, on many occasions, insisted the city’s core is improving. But the violent attacks over the last few years — random or not — mean a perennial black eye, something the mayor himself acknowledged.
“We know we’ll face challenges and we’ll face setbacks,” Johnston said, “but we will never stop in our commitment to make the city safer.”
Garrett, the CEO of Denver Downtown Partnership, said the attack is a reminder of the attention downtown has gotten in addressing crime over the years, adding the resources helped with the rapid response to catch the suspect.
“These random attacks over the weekend emphasize the importance of what we’re doing,” Garrett said. “I wouldn’t say that we are wholeheartedly changing course or doing anything different, other than really reinforcing a lot of the resources that we have.”
As 16th Street Mall reopens and a flood of investment money is about to pour into downtown, Garrett reiterated that improving the reality and perception of public safety is still the top priority.
“We also know that statistics don’t tell the story of feeling,” Garrett said. “If anyone does not feel safe, then that is our truth.”
