Aurora, Colorado, is a Denver suburb with big-city problems. The migrant gang Tren de Aragua has moved in and is taking over apartment units and enaging in shootouts. Business owners are complaining that retail theft has surged, forcing them to shell out for private security.
Now the city of 390,000 is having to pay up — increasing the budget for the Aurora Police Department by $10 million next year to hire more cops as it deals with crime spilling over from the sanctuary city next door in Denver.
Aurora has allocated 30% of next year’s budget to law enforcement, over $165 million in total, according to city officials.
“Right now, we are not at our full complement of officers,” Chief Todd Chamberlain of the Aurora Police Department told CBS New York. “Our patrol is impacted by understaffing issues.”
Tren de Aragua was spawned in Venezuelan prisons and has sunk its claws into cities across the US, bringing murder, guns, drugs, and human trafficking. It has been subject to at least 100 criminal investigations in recent months.
But it’s not just Tren de Argua. One business owner said he’s had to hire private guards to fight shoplifting because the police seldom come when called.
Doug McMurrain, owner of the La Plaza retail outlet, said he deals with crime on a daily basis.
“I carry a weapon, multiple weapons and I’ve never had to carry a weapon in my life,” he told CBS Denver.
He said the money will be well spent if it means cops will be more responsive when he calls.
Fed-up city officials are also weighing possible lawsuits against Denver, the state of Colorado, and Democrat Gov. Jared Polis for laws policies that have allowed migrants to flow in unchecked and block local governments from helping federal officials fight migrant crimes.
Six Colorado counties have already filed such a lawsuit against Polis and the state.
