Hotel, Lodging Safety Rules Passed In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, CO - From the City of Colorado: Lakewood has taken steps to ensure that guests and visitors to the city’s hotels and motels will experience as safe an environment as possible by adopting a licensing program for lodging facilities.

The City Council approved the new licensing program last week to address an inordinate number of calls for service concerning crime and disorder at lodging facilities throughout the city. There are 44 hotels and motels in Lakewood, and they generated more than 2,900 calls in 2017. About half the homicides in the city since 2015 have also occurred at a lodging facility.

The goal of the program is to develop a beneficial relationship between the city and lodging facilities that will foster the best business practices at hotels and motels, provide direct contact with the Police Department and create improved safety and security in the community.

“This will ensure the safety of customers, law abiding operators, surrounding residents and Lakewood Police agents and others responding to these businesses,” said Mayor Adam Paul. “This program is addressing concerns we’ve heard from our residents and other businesses.”

The licensing program includes the following provisions:

• Facilities will have to obtain a one-year renewable city license.
• A facility can be placed on probation or have its license suspended or revoked based on a variety of factors including health violations or criminal activity.
• The Lakewood Police Department’s Community Action Team will conduct inspections and provide education to lodging operators about best business and other practices.

The licensing program comes after years of the Police Department working with lodging facilities through voluntary programs to address the number of police calls the facilities generated, and it is modeled after similar programs in other cities including Denver.