Castle Rock Town Council members are divided over a proposed ordinance that would require businesses to report thefts to law enforcement within 96 hours, with some retailers in town currently operating under internal policies that prohibit employees from even reporting shoplifting incidents. Police Chief Jack Cauley told council members that many of the problems tied to retail theft stem not from officers failing to respond, but from corporate policies that keep thefts from ever reaching police in the first place.
A Corporate Policy Problem, Not a Police Response Problem
According to the Denver Gazette, the draft ordinance would require corporate entities to report thefts and would prohibit internal policies that prevent store employees from notifying police. Cauley said he supports the ordinance's underlying intent, but he was careful to clarify that Castle Rock police have not failed to respond to thefts in a timely or meaningful way — pushing back on any suggestion that the department itself is the bottleneck. He also called retail theft a national issue, not one unique to the town.
The proposal, formally introduced as Ordinance No. 2026-033, would add Section 9.09.050 to the town's municipal code, establishing “reasonable grounds” standards for corporate entities and defining a report as notification to police through official crime-reporting channels within 96 hours, according to Town of Castle Rock records. The measure would also penalize businesses that fail to preserve evidence such as video footage and photographs — a provision with local precedent, since store surveillance footage helped Castle Rock police identify suspects following a two-day retail crime spree near South Wilcox Street and West Plum Creek Parkway in March 2025, according to the Liberty Law Center.
Council Members Split on the Details
Town council members appeared divided on the proposal as written, per the Gazette's reporting. Kevin Bracken questioned why the council was considering an ordinance that police had not requested. Laura Cavey raised concerns that the rule could damage community trust, arguing that requiring retailers to report within 96 hours could put businesses at odds with the very police department meant to protect them. Cauley echoed a version of that concern himself, warning that threatening retailers with criminal charges for failing to meet the requirements could erode trust between police and the business community.
Max Brooks expressed general support for the ordinance but asked for changes before any adoption vote. He wants clarity on exactly which businesses would be subject to the reporting requirements, noting the proposal is meant to target large corporate retailers rather than small businesses. Brooks also requested that the ordinance include a threshold value for stolen property before the reporting mandate would even kick in. The council ultimately continued the item to a future meeting rather than voting on it.
Castle Rock Follows Douglas County's Lead — With a Catch
The Castle Rock proposal follows a similar measure Douglas County proposed in December 2025, but the two aren't identical, and the distinction matters because Castle Rock is an incorporated municipality that isn't automatically bound by county rules. Under the county's ordinance, unincorporated-area businesses face fines of $50 for every 24 hours a theft goes unreported after the 96-hour mark, capped at $1,000, according to Colorado Politics. Because Castle Rock sits within Douglas County but governs itself separately, town leaders have had to debate their own threshold amounts and carve-outs rather than simply importing the county's framework.
That debate has also played out at the county level. Douglas County's proposed ordinance includes potential fines for unreported thefts, according to the 9News.
The Numbers Behind the Crackdown
Retail theft cost Colorado businesses an estimated $1.3 billion in lost product value in 2022 and cost the state roughly $78 million in forfeited sales tax revenue, according to a November 2025 report from the Common Sense Institute. Industry research cited by Douglas County officials indicates roughly 89% of retail theft incidents nationally go unreported, according to the Castle Pines Connection — a gap officials say masks the true scope of property crime and prevents departments from directing patrols to high-theft commercial areas. The same outlet reports that roughly 75% of crimes in Douglas County involved people who did not live there.
Those regional theft rings have already produced serious criminal cases tied to Castle Rock. In March 2025, a member of a Venezuelan organized retail theft ring operating across the Denver metro area was sentenced in Douglas County District Court to 17 years in prison for stealing more than $238,000 in goods from retailers, including stores in Castle Rock, according to the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office. The defendant pleaded guilty to theft and to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act following investigations by Castle Rock police and regional partners.
Part of the tension driving these local ordinances traces back to state law itself. Under Colorado's theft statute, C.R.S. § 18-4-401, theft of merchandise valued at $2,000 or more constitutes a felony, while lower-value theft falls into lesser classifications, including petty offenses under $300, according to Bacharach Law. The Common Sense Institute has recommended considering a lower threshold. For now, that broader statutory fight continues in parallel with Castle Rock's narrower, and still unresolved, debate over how to make local retailers pick up the phone.
