At a crime forum held by Lakewood City Councilor Mary Janssen, September, 2022, residents asked whether or not Lakewood had an adequate police force to handle the high levels of crime. Lakewood PD reports nearly 400 employees and over 100 volunteers. They are reportedly fully staffed to within a few positions. Recruiting is always ongoing. In fact, Lakewood is currently recruiting a new police chief. Full staffing but increasing visible crime suggests a disparity. There are multiple methods to determine optimum staffing levels, including per capita and workload. Per capita appears to be the easiest and most common. Workload staffing is time intensive and costly. According to an International City/County Management Association (ICMA) analysis, staffing by crime level is different than workload analysis. They also find that tying staff numbers to crime “essentially provides incentives for poor performance and disincentives for good performance” and is rarely used anymore. Examining police staffing per capita with data provided to the FBI The data show that Lakewood is within average for officer staffing levels. However, anecdotal evidence from the crime forum and nextdoor.com tells of officers being overwhelmed and slow to respond due to high number of calls. Visible evidence is seen by the increasing number of Lakewood stores that must employ private security. Crime statistics for Lakewood are published in an annual report. Per the report, Lakewood saw a significant increase in identity theft (143%), wire fraud (68%), and theft of motor vehicle parts (61%). Lakewood saw a decrease in shoplifting (-27%)...
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
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On October 1 there was a Lakewood townhall meeting on affordable housing. Ward 5 Councilors Janssen and Strom hosted the meeting but representatives of all wards were present. Speakers at the meeting were representatives from Metro West Housing Solutions (MWHS). MWHS is a developer active in Lakewood since 2008, before that they were active in the market by a different name since 1974. They work to develop and manage properties for households with income that is 30-60% of the median household income level (ie <30% of the population). The question was asked, what about affordable housing for residents that don’t meet the income requirements. The answer was that it’s a question for Lakewood City Council and they are looking into options. Options for what any government can do to intercede in market pricing has many precedents, but few working solutions. Rent control and price fixing are failed examples of government intervention. Metro West Housing Solutions provide modern-day examples of problems with trying to be affordable. Example 1: MWHS only rents property. By their own admission, they could not sell properties they develop because even at cost the price would not be affordable. If they do sell the property to one entity, that entity can (and does) sell the property at a higher price because that’s what the market will bear. Example 2: One of the target demographics for MWHS is seniors on Social Security income, income which is often not enough to afford to move out of their large houses...
At one time, our schools were so full that many had “temporary” buildings to house all the students. At one time, we the taxpayers voted for money to remodel buildings through 2022, assuming the schools would be used. At one time, school land was permanently lost after being sold to developers. Jefferson County is still living with the effects of these decisions, but Jeffco School Board seems intent on not learning from mistakes. Jefferson County School Board is voting to close 16 schools throughout Jeffco by consolidation. The school consolidation plan is based solely on student enrollment. They are not considering the economic impact on the school district, the staffing budget and least of all – impact to the family. Was it studied? There is also no mention of the effect on public trust by spending money on remodeling buildings they propose to close. For example, Green Mountain Elementary School was remodeled through the summer of 2022, and if approved by the Board, will be closed less than two years after the remodel. Can the economic benefits be fully understood without a 10- to 20-year plan, including future demographic changes and defined economic plans for the real estate? Abandoned buildings can cost millions to refit. Acquiring lost assets can cost even more, if even possible at all. Apparently, future plans for the land and buildings will be considered in January, so have not been factored in at this point. In an age where parents beg for smaller class sizes, Jeffco...
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