DENVER In May, the Denver Police Department shifted away from conducting low-level traffic stops in order to prioritize offenses that pose bigger threats to public safety, according to the department. New department data shows that traffic stops have plummeted 47% since that policy change.Those low-level traffic offenses include a broken tail light, a crack in a windshield, and expired tags on vehicles. Instead of conducting stops for a single infraction, officers must have a second reason to pull someone over, such as probable cause that a more serious crime is happening. According to a Denver PD training bulletin, those more serious crimes include: Driving under the influence Reckless driving Street racing Hit-and-run accidents Guns and gun violence Burglary Dangerous drugs Any other similarly serious crimeData obtained by Denver7 shows there were an average of 4,317 traffic stops per month for low-level offenses prior to the policy change. In the months since the policy took effect, there's been an average of 2,295 stops. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said he chose to shift away from conducting low-level traffic stops after learning other states and cities had made similar changes. The police chief said at the time that the shift was also done to regain community trust.Denver7's Claire Lavezzorio sat down with Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas to talk about that significant drop in traffic stops and asked what's working with the policy and what he'd like to improve on in 2025. Watch their full conversation or read the transcript below. Denver PD Chief Ron Thomas discusses policy change after traffic stops plummet since May: Full interviewClaire Lavezzorio: What does success look like for you in terms of this policy? Chief Thomas: I think it looks two different ways. So one, that we start to see less disparate impact on those communities that I think we did see disparate impact on, as it related to low-level traffic stops. The second is that we are able to be much more responsive to emergency situations and better focus on emergencies, whether it's emergency traffic issues or other emergency police responses in a more timely manner. Claire Lavezzorio: Have we been able to do that in the first six, seven months?Chief Thomas: I mean, some of them, I think. Might be difficult to kind of parse out. I mean, certainly, we have made fewer traffic stops, which tells me that we are in service much more often to be responsive to those 911 calls. I do believe that we continue to focus more intently on those safety violations outside of those periods of time where we modify the policy to allow for those low-level stops. But I do have the sense that we are starting to focus on the right things and make sure that we're in service for those emergencies. Claire Lavezzorio: I believe you brought up the racial disparities in stops that we're seeing. Has that improved at all? Chief Thomas: I think that there has been some limited improvement, you know. I mean, certainly, we're, you know, engaging in fewer stops. And so, overall, I think that there is less disparate impact. Obviously, I think that there's still some disparities that don't necessarily indicate bias, certainly, but I think that there still may be some disparities just because of the locations where these stops are occurring and some of the justifications that officers are using for making stops, the crimes that they believe that they're investigating when they engage in these stops. Claire Lavezzorio: With stops nearly 50% down, what are your officers focusing on?Chief Thomas: Speeding, disobedience to traffic signals, reckless driving, careless driving, those kinds of driving behaviors that are likely to cause accidents and cause injuries. You know, those are the things that I think that are better to focus on. You know, way back when we started the policy, you know, I wanted it to be clear that I recognized that there is no impact on traffic safety by making low-level traffic stops, no impact on community safety by making low-level traffic stops. And so what I was hoping to do is create more time for officers to focus again, much more intently on those safety violations, or be available to respond to emergency calls for service.Claire Lavezzorio: For the critics who claim that you're letting enforcement or other crime slip through the cracks, how would you respond to that?Chief Thomas: I would say there's not a single data point out there that would connect the enforcement of low-level traffic offenses with community safety. So, you know, in fact, crime has gone down significantly in Denver, even since May when we instituted this policy. And so there's very clearly, from a data perspective, no connection between community safety and low-level traffic stops, and again, not a connection between traffic safety and low-level traffic stops. And so I think that the data bears that out. And so I would, again, just go back to the data to show that this is the right thing to do.Claire Lavezzorio: What type of crime are we seeing going down this year? Chief Thomas: Homicides are down this year. Non-fatal shootings are down this year. Homicides using a firearm are down. Auto thefts are down significantly, about 35% this year. Theft from motor vehicles are down. So just about every significant crime category is down this year from last.Claire Lavezzorio: What do you feel has worked in terms of this policy? And what would you still like to improve on in the new year?Chief Thomas: What I think has worked is that we are no longer creating an unintentional disparate impact on the community. So I think that's one thing that has worked. What I would like to see us continue to do is better focus on those things that are most important. You know, obviously, traffic safety is important. Obviously, community safety is important, making sure that we continue to drive down those crime rates, particularly violent crime. And so, those are where I think our focus should be. I also think it's important that when people call the police, that we get there in a reasonable amount of time, and so if we are in service, I think that gives us a greater opportunity to respond quickly rather than, you know, being out of service enforcing some low-level traffic offense.Claire Lavezzorio: We've had a lot of folks say to us that they feel less safe on the roads, that they don't feel safe driving here in Denver. What would your response be to them?Chief Thomas: I can appreciate that certainly, and I think some of the things that lead to the appearance of it being less safe is that you see vehicles on the road that don't have license plates at all, vehicles on the road that have, you know, expired plates that have been expired for a long period of time. And I just want to make it clear that that's not a low-level situation in the first place. You know, I would expect my officers to stop a vehicle that doesn't have any license plate at all, or that has a registration that's been expired six months or a year because I think there's reason to suspect that maybe the vehicle is stolen or doesn't belong to the person that's operating that vehicle. And so that is a situation that I'd expect officers to focus on. And I think that, you know, we see a lot of speeding, we see a lot of road rage. And so those are the kinds of things that I want my officers to focus on instead of, you know, 30-day expired license plates.Claire Lavezzorio: Anything else you'd like to add that you think is important for the public to know? Chief Thomas: I just want to reiterate that, you know, some of the things that drive a lot of frustration those extremely old, expired license plates and those vehicles that don't have license plates at all those are not things that I and officers on the street considered to be low level. You know, those are things that are significantly suspicious enough to prompt a stop.