The latest year-over-year numbers show Colorado has done an admirable job beating back auto theft — a crime for which our state was ranked worst in the nation as recently as 2022 and 2023. Annual data released last week by the Colorado State Patrol business unit’s Auto Theft Intelligence Coordination Center detailed how Colorado is in its third straight year of motor-vehicle theft reductions, including a 34% decline in auto theft for the calendar year 2025 compared with 2024, and a 56% drop in car theft since 2021.

Colorado’s positive trend outpaces even the national mark of a 23% reduction in motor-vehicle theft and has been exceeding the goals set by Gov. Jared Polis, as well.  

The downside is the Centennial State remains one of the worst in the nation. That’s clear from our state’s per-capita car-theft rate of 271 per 100,000 residents — ranking it sixth worst. Of course, it’s still a dramatic improvement.

The bigger question is what has enabled these strides — and what will lead to continued reductions in auto theft in the coming years?

One critical weapon in the fight has been the use of license-plate recognition technology. As early as 2024, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who was confronted at the start of his tenure with the city’s car-theft epidemic, was touting the city’s use of license-plate readers as part of its crackdown. In 2024, he said the readers are part of a “comprehensive strategy to increase public safety and reduce auto theft throughout the city.”

Automated License Plate Readers, in fact, routinely help cops catch criminals. 

Denver Police Commander Jacob Herrera, head of the department’s auto theft program, credited the city’s 12-month pilot program with license plate readers for cutting auto thefts from more than 12,000 in 2023 to 8,550 a year later, with 289 arrests made and 170 vehicles recovered. Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly described license plate readers as “force multipliers” in crime fighting. The same holds true for Colorado Springs and other cities along the Front Range.

Another fundamental factor in declining auto theft was the passage a few years ago of SB 23-097, which was enacted in time to play a role in 2023’s 21% drop in auto thefts. Before the bill, charges were tied to the value of the stolen vehicle. Stealing a car worth less than $2,000 was only a misdemeanor. The new law made auto theft in the first degree a Class 3 felony, auto theft in the second degree a Class 4 felony and auto theft in the third degree a Class 5 felony.

You can blame the very same legislature for watering down the law in the first place as part of its reckless and radical “justice reform” agenda. In 2021, lawmakers reduced a range of criminal penalties to misdemeanors, including for stealing vehicles valued under $2,000. It was practically an invitation to auto theft — and was an insult to motorists of modest means. They need their cars as much as anyone else on the roads.

Putting teeth back into the state law — which the legislature did only under duress, amid a public outcry — seemed to work. No surprise there.

Let’s give credit where it’s due: high tech and tougher laws. It’s a winning combination in the crime fight.