Aspen Police Report Shows Traffic Stops Drop Amid LPR Rollout

3,588 traffic stops. That’s the number Aspen Police logged in 2025, a drop of nearly 900 from the previous year. It’s a statistic that sounds like a victory for efficiency, but it’s just one slice of a much larger, more expensive puzzle the Aspen City Council is currently trying to solve.

The department released its 2025 Annual Report on Monday, and while the headlines might focus on the shiny new license plate reader program, the real story is in the grind. Officers clocked 1,572 hours of foot patrol and 199 hours of bicycle patrol. Police Chief Kim Ferber noted that bike patrol hours jumped 67% compared to 2024, with contacts up 54%. It’s proactive engagement, sure. But it’s also a resource drain that locals need to understand when they look at their property tax bills.

Council Member John Doyle didn’t mince words about the effort. “I’m really grateful for the bike patrol and the foot patrolling that goes on,” Doyle said. He’s right to be grateful. Visibility matters. Ferber pointed out that officers attended over 30 community events, turning officers from faceless badges into neighbors. People get to know us as people, she said. That’s the soft power of policing. The hard power is in the data.

Total calls for service dipped slightly to 15,199. Traffic stops fell. Reported car crashes plummeted to 257 from 331 in 2024. Theft is down significantly, hitting 137 compared to 180 the year prior. On paper, Aspen is getting safer. Arrests actually went up to 329, but Ferber argued that reflects officers being more active and engaged, not necessarily a spike in criminal behavior.

Then there’s the West End traffic pilot. From late August to late October, the department focused on speeding and volume in that specific neighborhood. They ran 357 stops and issued 168 citations. It was a targeted strike on congestion. It worked for the three months it ran. But pilots have a habit of ending, and infrastructure doesn’t fix itself.

Now, the department is rolling out license plate readers (LPRs). This isn’t just about catching speeders. It’s about tracking vehicles in and out of Aspen, building a digital history of movement across the city. Ferber provided council with insight into the implementation, but the cost and the privacy implications are where the rubber meets the road.

Let’s do the math on the broader context. Domestic violence cases rose to 33 from 28 in 2024. Burglary is down to 10. Disorderly conduct is up slightly to 36. These aren’t just numbers; they’re calls for service that require overtime, which requires budget. The LPR program is an investment in surveillance, yes, but it’s also a tool to manage the volume of traffic that causes the congestion the West End pilot tried to tame.

The question isn’t whether the technology works. It’s whether the city can afford the data storage, the personnel to review the feeds, and the legal framework to handle the influx of information. Ferber says visibility matters. I say transparency matters more. When the council votes on the full rollout, they need to tell us exactly what we’re buying. Are we buying safety, or are we buying a database of every car that drives down Main Street?

For the folks living in the West End, the pilot proved that enforcement can curb bad driving. For everyone else, the LPR program means the city is watching. The annual report shows a department that is busy, active, and increasingly digital. The budget will show what that busyness costs.