James Allbee and Denver mayor addresses alleged Venezuelan gang crime

to that story that's grabbing the entire nation's attention Fox 31 the first to obtain these videos of alleged gang activity at Aurora apartment complexes Mayor Mike Koffman telling Fox News gangs have pushed out Property Management through intimidation and are collecting rent and police in Denver also on high alert we spoke to Mayor Mike Johnson about how the Mal high city is tackling these issues fox1 Aaliyah Sims getting some answers for us tonight Aaliyah yeah Erica Mayor Mike Johnston said Denver Police have already been working with federal state as well as other local agencies because they were made aware of the problem early on now he says while there's no evidence of Denver Apartments being taken over by vuelan gangs he says they are providing a heavier police presence in areas that are a risk yeah I saw and it's infuriating it should never happen in this state it should never happen in Denver that's Mayor Mike Johnston's reaction to the many videos that continue to make headlines about Venezuelan gang violence in the Denver metro area obviously that video was not taking place in Denver and we are going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't ever in a statement Denver Police appear to indicate the same saying they take the presence of the TDA gang seriously while dpd says they believe there are reasons members of the gang are tied to crimes in the area the department says they are not aware of any Apartments being taken over by the group within the metro area we're not tolerating that in Denver we don't see any evidence of that in Denver I find it very hard to believe that that that has not gone into the city limits of Denver uh maybe they don't have enough Intel yet to specifically say that they can tie that to um the TDA gang James Alby law enforcement procedural expert says he believes city leaders are downplaying the seriousness of the problem I think they're trying to mitigate some of the fear and concerns that the community may end up having over this gang that I think is growing more and more every day he says the problem has already been identified specifically in Aurora and there should be more focus on how to address it there is a growing criminal element in Aurora that the they can't deny and I think again that's why they've got the task force involved in this to try to gather Intel and to kind of put the piece of the puzzle together to figure out exactly what they're doing and try to get ahead of it so mayor Johnston goes on to say he wants to make it clear especially to the Venezuelan population if you feel threatened or unsafe to call 911 or 311 now he says it's important to note that they will never ask you about your citizenship as well as your status he says that there is no risk RIS if you reach out to police reporting live in Denver Aaliyah Sims Fox 31