Food truck bans are coming to LoDo again in order to curb crime on weekend nights, Denver police says (2024)

DENVER — Late-night weekend bar hoppers in Denver's Lower Downtown won't be able to satiate their hunger outside their favorite bars starting Thursday in the latest attempt by Denver police to curb crime in the area.

Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. from Thursday through Sunday, there will be no food trucks allowed in what a spokesperson for the department called "Food Truck Exclusion Zones". Those "zones" cover a highly-trafficked three-block area :

In a statement about why those "exclusion zones" were needed, the department spokesperson said the agency finds "violent incidents often stem from areas in which crowds congregate after leaving nightclubs and entertainment establishments."

"DPD has also observed that people congregate around food trucks. The restricted area of operation is intended to help reduce the number of 'bump into' fights and incidents that escalate to gun violence occurring among crowds during these nights and hours, and to encourage people to leave the LoDo area soon after the bars and nightclubs shut down," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Food truck operators told Denver7 Monday that those specific days and times are when they do the bulk of their business. Many food truck owners said they suffered financially the last time DPD banned them in the area in 2022 in response to a shooting in which 6 bystanders were injured after Denver police officers fired their weapons at a suspect who they claimed pointed his gun at officers following an altercation near 20th and Larimer streets.

"LoDo gets busy, it gets packed. There's a lot of people for sure," said Dillon North, with "Chile con Quesadilla," a Brighton-based food truck. He said he's done business in downtown Denver several times over the years.

He and other food truck operators Denver7 has spoken with believe the businesses are being unfairly targeted.

"You're costing us money because of other people's behavior. That's not fair, for sure. I really hope they can go into depth on that stuff and figure out a better way," North said.

Denver police officers said they plan to create 2-3 designated zones for food trucks, but those plans are expected to be released later this week. North points out that changing location for a long-standing food truck can be a huge blow to business.

"That's going to affect those people who have built that spot to be their spot. A lot of regulars are not going to see, 'Oh that's my sandwich truck that I go to every Thursday night.' They're probably just not going to see that," he said.

The last time the ban was put in place, a public interest law firm called Institute for Justice warned Denver city officials that lawsuits could be on the way as a response.

They released the following statement to Denver7 in response to this latest ban:

"The new ban is outrageous and will make LoDo less safe. All of the relevant research shows that food trucks make areas safer. In other words, if the Denver Police Department wants to make the area safer, then they should want more food trucks, not fewer. Moreover, by allowing bars to stay open while removing options to sober up, the LoDo ban will likely increase drunk driving," the statement read. "The Denver Police Department needs to start doing its homework instead of scapegoating food trucks for the Police Department’s own mistakes."

Denver police said this is part of a pilot program that will allow them to reassess their strategy, however, there is no word on how long this ban will last.

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