, the Steamboat Springs Police Department has seen the opposite. Shoplifting cases in 2020 were almost half of what they were in 2019.
Steamboat Police Chief Cory Christensen said the department received 40 shoplifting reports in 2019 and only 26 in 2020. as an explanation for increased shoplifting, law enforcement officials in Routt County said the county’s higher overall affluence, as well as fewer people being in public during COVID-19, could explain Steamboat’s lower rates.
“Shoplifting is a poverty-driven crime, and we don’t have a ton of poverty in Routt County, so we don’t see a ton of it,” said Matt Karzen, district attorney for Colorado’s 14th District, which includes Routt County. “Overall, shoplifting has never been a big problem in Routt County since I’ve been here, because it’s a pretty affluent community.”