Broomfield Police report 17% drop in property crime, outline hiring and safety goals for 2025

Broomfield Police Chief Anaya Hempelman reported to the City Council on March 11 that overall property crime in 2024 fell about 17% compared with 2023, while the department will move in 2025 to expand targeted enforcement, mental-health co‑response and officer wellness programs.

Hempelman said larceny, burglary and motor vehicle theft trended down in 2024 and that the department’s bait‑bike theft problem — 102 stolen bait bikes in 2024 — inflated larceny counts even though bicycles were later recovered and suspects apprehended. “Overall, I’m happy to report that property crime in 2024 decreased about 17% compared to the previous year,” she said.

The department highlighted an especially large fall in reported motor vehicle thefts — 98 in 2024 versus 282 in 2023 — which Chief Hempelman and staff attributed to targeted enforcement, camera trailers and the special enforcement team (SET). “We took all those and we really focused on where should we hit so that we could prevent this crime,” Hempelman said.

Nut graf: The police presentation combined year‑end crime statistics with a multi‑pronged plan for 2025 that emphasizes intelligence‑led policing, traffic and DUI enforcement, a growing co‑responder mental‑health program (B‑CORE), recruitment and an officer wellness program. Council members asked for more detail on how those initiatives will be measured and how they will affect staffing and budgets.

Deputy Chief Mike Clement, who oversees Field Operations, listed 2025 priorities including continued intelligence‑led crime reduction, expansion of the department’s drone program and use of license‑plate‑reading technology. Clement said about 58% of patrol officers have less than three years’ experience and described extra training and supervision as priorities.

Deputy Chief Mark Adel (Special Operations Bureau) described B‑CORE, the in‑house co‑response program launched in July 2024 that pairs clinicians with police responses after officers secure scenes. Adel said clinicians now provide follow‑up and hospital coordination and that calls handled in real time increased through late 2024.

Deputy Chief Roger Plunkett (Support Services) described detention upgrades including biometric sensors in inmate housing, expanded medication‑assisted treatment and a tablet pilot program for detainee communications. Plunkett also said SWAT callouts have increased as the team’s role has broadened beyond traditional hostage or armed‑suspect responses.

Council members praised the department’s community outreach and asked for specifics on enforcement tactics for street‑racing and on how the department will manage a planned new police building and future staffing growth. Hempelman said the department is part of regional street‑racing enforcement partnerships and advised residents to call the non‑emergency line for suspicious gatherings and 911 for active dangerous behavior.

Ending: The department plans quarterly updates to council on 2025 implementation; council members asked for data on B‑CORE follow‑up rates, recruitment timelines and the effect of enforcement campaigns on crash and theft trends.