Aspen police present 2025 annual report, outline ALPR policy and 2026 bicycle‑safety priorities

At a City of Aspen work session, Police Chief Kim Ferber presented the Aspen Police Department’s 2025 annual report, reviewed programs and metrics, and updated the council on the city’s automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) rollout. Police and Parks staff also described coordinated bicycle‑safety priorities for 2026.

Kim Ferber, Aspen police chief, said the department’s 2025 priorities centered on trust and transparency, improved efficiencies and operational readiness. She reported more than 1,572 foot‑patrol hours and 199 hours of bicycle patrol in 2025 (a 67% increase over 2024), expanded digital‑forensics capacity (66 forensic examinations and about 20 terabytes of digital data processed), and approximately $40,000 in grant funding for officer and family wellness and counseling resources.

On mental‑health response, Ferber highlighted the PACT co‑responder program, which handled 116 referrals and responded to 777 behavioral‑health calls in 2025. She said thefts and total crashes decreased overall while total arrests rose, and she acknowledged and said staff were correcting a minor data reporting error.

Ferber described the ALPR program and its limits: the system captures rear license‑plate images only, "the data is locally owned," and "it will only be retained for 30 days unless there becomes evidence that one of the pictures is related to a crime." She cited local investigative successes using plate‑reader data (including identification in a hit‑and‑run, support in a fatal‑crash timeline, and assistance recovering an abducted child) and said the department plans audits, access controls and training to limit misuse. Councilors pressed on privacy and whether federal agencies could access the data; Ferber said the policy and technical settings can restrict searches and that misuse would be both a policy violation and potentially a criminal matter.

Ritchie Zahn, acting division chief of operations, presented bicycle‑safety priorities for 2026 developed with police, parks and engineering. Zahn outlined three focus areas: data‑driven deployment (allocating resources to locations with the most collisions and complaints), roadway‑focused enforcement (prioritizing roadways and intersections where bicycle crashes are most severe) and visible, risk‑based accountability (education and corrective engagement first; formal enforcement reserved for higher‑risk behavior). He and staff previewed interest in alternative enforcement platforms and technology to match tools to environments where bicycle speeds and e‑bike use make traditional patrol responses less effective.

Parks staff (Matt ****, Simon Longacre and Brian Long) described Aspen’s trail system and code framework: the city manages roughly 11 miles of paved multi‑use trail, enforces posted trail speed limits (most trails 15 mph; congested spots 10 mph), requires announcing when passing, and follows a 750‑watt threshold for e‑bikes (devices above that threshold are treated as motor vehicles). Brian Long warned that higher‑powered e‑motos can exceed 750 watts and behave like small motorcycles; parks staff plan targeted enforcement of those devices and continued outreach to rental shops and schools.

Council members urged better measurement of injuries and collisions (discussing ambulance and hospital reporting as potential data sources), asked about repeat offenders and tracking contacts, and supported continued education while reserving enforcement for high‑risk or repeat behavior. Staff said they have compliance tracking systems for code violators, plan to refine datasets and seek partnerships to improve the quality of injury and collision data.

The presentations generated questions but no formal votes; staff said they will continue refining ALPR policy and bicycle‑safety tactics, return with further recommendations and pursue public outreach.