The Office of the District Attorney, 5th Judicial District (DA5), prosecutes crimes in the counties of Clear Creek, Summit, Eagle, and Lake in Colorado, west of the Denver-Metro area, serving a largely rural population. Eagle County is ranked in the 26th percentile among US counties for violent crime, exceeding both the Colorado state average and the national average. Most of the violent crimes are assault, including intimate partner violence and sexual assault, but these crimes are frequently underreported. Eagle County agencies are working collaboratively to implement the Mountain Safe Program, a violence reduction initiative incorporating mental health, behavioral health, school, and criminal justice agencies to reduce crime and improve reporting to law enforcement.

DA5 is using Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative funding to design and administer a survey on crime and victimization in Eagle County, enhancing its ability to adopt evidence-based policies and practices to support victims of violent crime. The initial survey will provide baseline data, and subsequent surveys after program implementation will help DA5 determine the interventions’ effects on victimization rates. Partners in the program include the Vail Police Department, Eagle County Law Enforcement Immigrant Advisory Alliance, the Collaborative Action Team for the Mountain Safe Response Program, and independent academic scholars from the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs, who will design, administer, and analyze the survey.