Aurora's midyear crime figures showed declines in homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault compared with the first half of 2025. Homicides fell from 17 in January through June 2025 to 7 over the same months in 2026.
Aurora's Midyear Crime Figures Show Declines
The figures come from a midyear comparison released by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which compared crime statistics from January through June 2025 with the same six months of 2026. Aurora reported declines across homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in that review.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain framed the achievement as the product of sustained, deliberate work rather than a one-off swing in the numbers. He said the city's crime reduction reflected strategic, focused police work, and that a department-wide effort made the achievement possible.
A Two-Year Trend Line That Keeps Bending Downward
The MCCA snapshot lines up with a broader trend Chamberlain has been touting for months. He told KDVR that major crime in the city dropped 38.8% over the two years from September 2024 to September 2026. Within that span, the station reported, homicides decreased 63.6%, motor vehicle thefts dropped 38.9%, and non-deadly shootings declined 29.7%, even as arrests climbed 27.5%. Chamberlain pointed to the department's use of drones, automated license plate readers, and a real-time information center as tools that contributed to the shift, the outlet reported.
KDVR's reporting also put the more recent, single-year comparison at an approximately 10% decrease in overall crime from September 2025 to September 2026. A separate first-half breakdown reported by Sentinel Colorado found the city's overall crime rate, covering both property and violent offenses, dropped 10.5% in the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period of 2025. That outlet reported violent crime down 9% and property crime down 11% over those months, amounting to 665 fewer victims than the year before. Sentinel Colorado also reported steeper swings within specific categories for that half-year window: homicide down 59%, motor vehicle theft down 38%, burglary and sex assault each down 24%, aggravated assault down 7.5%, and robbery down 2.5%.
The Numbers Behind the Headlines
The Major Cities Chiefs Association's own midyear report, covering January through June 2026, lists Aurora with 7 homicides, 105 rapes, 155 robberies, and 850 aggravated assaults, compared with 17, 139, 160, and 920 respectively over the same months of 2025. That same midyear survey, dated August 1, 2026, describes its figures as preliminary — not a final Uniform Crime Report or National Incident-Based Reporting System tally. An earlier first-quarter MCCA comparison, covering January through March, showed Aurora with fewer homicides, rapes, and aggravated assaults than the same period of 2025, though robberies increased during that stretch.
Aurora's drop fits inside a wider pattern researchers have flagged nationally. The Major Cities Chiefs Association reported that homicides across 66 responding U.S. agencies fell 17.2%, from 2,611 in the first half of 2025 to 2,162 in the first half of 2026. The Council on Criminal Justice, a separate research group, reported declines in several offenses and an 18% decline in homicide across its 30 study cities.
