Council Approves Critical Crime-Solving Tool

Council Approves Critical Crime-Solving Tool

Published on March 31, 2026

Mayor Mike Johnston today released the following statement on City Council's approval of a contract with Axon to provide the city license plate reader technology.

This decision follows several months of engagement with Council and ensures Denver continues to have access to technology that helps police solve crimes ranging from homicides to deadly hit-and-runs.

"Keeping Denver safe means giving our officers effective tools to combat crime while ensuring our rights are protected. This contract does both,"said Mayor Mike Johnston."We're proud to have Council's support to move forward with this common-sense technology that has helped drive historic reductions in crime while protecting residents' privacy. And with these strengthened privacy and data protections, we are ensuring that no federal agency or federal agent can access this data-now or ever."

Axon is a longstanding partner of the city with a proven track record of protecting critical information. The company boasts the highest level of data security, on par with the protections afforded to medical records.

Denver's contract with Axon includes stringent protections and ensures Denver's data cannot be accessed by federal authorities or used for any purposes other than those set forth by the city. Any request for data from outside agencies will go through the City Attorney's Office where they can be challenged in court.

License plate readers are used in hundreds of cases each year, including the recovery of more than 400 stolen cars and removal of more than 60 firearms from the streets. LPRs have also been used to catch hit and run suspects, and in 2025, were utilized in 16 homicide investigations - more than 40 percent of all such cases that year - as well as 32 non-fatal shooting investigations.

Denver has achieved historic reductions in crime without sacrificing civil liberties. Homicides fell by 48 percent in 2025, the largest decline of any major U.S. city, while Denver Police recorded an 81 percent clearance rate on homicides, far higher than the national average. Denver has also aggressively pushed back against the Trump Administration and just today won a lawsuit challenging a threat to the city's immigration policies.

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