One Denver neighborhood saw a 75 percent reduction in youth arrests for violent crime in five years, compared to an eighteen percent reduction citywide, according to a new study.
Northeast Park Hill had an annual arrest rate of 1,086 per 100,000 people in 2016 for suspects aged ten to 24 accused of committing murder, assault, robbery and other violent offenses. By 2021, it plummeted to 276 per 100,000 people, researchers with the University of Colorado Boulder announced on Tuesday, August 12.
That change brought Northeast Park Hill’s youth arrest rate from more than double the city average in 2016 (513 per 100,000), to significantly below the city average in 2021 (421 per 100,000). Researchers believe the primary reason for the neighborhood’s success is community programming led by the Youth Violence Prevention Center…