Archived snapshotMay 2026 · narrative + chart preserved as published · live data has moved on
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Denver · monthly briefing

Denver Crime Rate — May 2026

Mar Lee other larceny ran 198% above its multi-year baseline.

Other larceny rose across Denver in May 2026, with Mar Lee registering the sharpest single-neighborhood move of the month. The same category tops all five positions in the rankings — Mar Lee, Globeville, Lowry Field, Civic Center, and Hale all posted fresh spikes — making other larceny the structural story of this briefing, not a single-neighborhood event. This is the first month Mar Lee has topped the citywide rankings.

Citywide volume is down 9.3% against the prior 12 months, 39,902 incidents against 44,007 the year before. That decline is the backdrop for a month with an unusually broad signal count: 176 total across 78 neighborhoods. The mix skews downward — 80 below-trend signals and 60 sustained-shift signals — but 17 spikes cut against that trend, concentrated in other larceny.

The dominant pattern this month is a category-wide move rather than isolated neighborhood noise. Other larceny has not been the citywide lead category in prior briefings, so this is a new development against a longer arc of declining overall volume. Whether the category holds at these levels or retreats is the question to track in June.

FIG 1 · LEAD ANOMALYOTHER LARCENY · MAR LEE · 24-MO COUNT
01325μ 16.0 · σ 5.1 · trailing 12-mo2024-062026-05ARCHIVED
Mar Lee other larceny, monthly count over 24 months ending in May 2026. The dashed line is the trailing-12-month mean for context. The final bar (highlighted) is May. Frozen view as published.

Sustained drops worth naming

Motor Vehicle Theft ran below trend in the trailing 12 months — 35% down from the year before. Sustained shifts often precede a baseline reset; we surface them at the same prominence as spikes.

How last month's forecasts performed

Forecasts for May were issued from data through April 2026. 9 of 9 citywide bucket forecasts (100%) landed inside their 95% prediction intervals.

CategoryPredictedActualErrorIn CI
Aggravated Assault218[194241]2084.8%INSIDE
Arson12[521]775.4%INSIDE
Burglary346[266415]29218.4%INSIDE
Homicide2[06]439.6%INSIDE
Motor Vehicle Theft285[154410]37824.6%INSIDE
Other Larceny1014[9311097]10775.9%INSIDE
Robbery74[5293]713.5%INSIDE
Theft from Vehicle551[352769]5866.0%INSIDE
Vandalism649[568725]6057.3%INSIDE

Per-bucket coverage, MAPE, and bias across the full 12-month horizon live on the methodology page.

CITEPublic Analyst.ai, “May 2026Denver,” archived snapshot.Permanent URL: /denver/2026/may