Season 3, Episode 40: Why Community Safety Matters: Learning from Denver’s Five Points Neighborhood

Do you ever wonder how safe your community really is? The Five Points Neighborhood is one of the oldest and most diverse neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado. It’s also experiencing what residents are calling a “cold case crisis”. What made the fast-growing community slide from being a vibrant neighborhood to being one where the majority of murders don’t get solved?

We are going to take a look at a community that needs our help. A community that could be yours, or mine. The police can only work with the information that crime scenes and community members give them. So after you listen to this episode, be sure to share with everyone you know in the Denver area. Let’s dive in so we can make a difference.

Philippians 2:4

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

To a society that tells us to look out for #1 - ourselves - this teaching probably sounds foolish.

But think back over your life and see if self-centeredness ever took you anywhere good.

I think Paul purposely used a broad term like “interests”. He wants us to expand what we do for others into any area they might need our help. If he’d been too specific, we’d probably have limited ourselves to doing only what he listed.

Remember the lawyer in the parable of the Good Samaritan? He was trying to limit the scope of who his neighbor was. We’re all like that at least a little in some area of our lives. This teaching fits very well with Jesus’ teaching to love others as we would love ourselves. Community is important not only among other believers, but among the people we find where we live, work, and play as well. So what kind of practical steps can we take to look to someone else’s interest in OUR neighborhoods?

According to the Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C. nonprofit public policy organization, gun violence in cities is concentrated in a small set of neighborhoods. Within these neighborhoods, it’s even more concentrated on particular streets. This is a well-established trend that holds in every city or non-urban setting in which it has been studied.

When it comes to solutions, a growing body of evidence also demonstrates the promise of micro-level place-based interventions (such as rehabilitating vacant lots or increasing the number of community organizations) in significantly decreasing violence within these neighborhoods.

If your neighborhood or maybe one around your church has abandoned or overgrown properties, see if volunteers can work with your city or town leaders to keep them cleared. What a great opportunity that could be to meet your neighbors, especially elderly or physically challenged neighbors that just need a little bit of help to make the community as safe as possible.

And who knows - if you build some relationships by SHOWING the love of Christ through service, you might get the opportunity to share the gospel.

Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.

Read an Office of Justice Programs article

Learn more about grief in the 5 Points community

Denver.org article

Denverpost.com article

Give Crimestoppers an anonymous tip here

Listen to other cold cases here or here