Boulder at a glance
Population by race and Hispanic origin
Cities in this database with the most similarly-sized populations
Full-time law enforcement staff, Boulder Police Department
- 173 Officers
- 85 Civilian staff
Full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents
- 2.48 Boulder
- 1.6 National average, cities with 100,000 to 249,999 population
- 2.2 National average
These figures reflect the Boulder Police Department only, and do not include state or other police agencies that may be present in this location.
Federal grant funding for Boulder
Data was last updated October 15, 2023
We identified over $1.2M in federal grant funding, FY 2015-2025
Grant funding over time
Grant funding by federal department
Recent grants
Military equipment transfers
Data last updated July 11, 2025
$77K value of military equipment has been transferred to the Boulder Police Department
The highest-value stock number reported is UNMANNED VEHICLE,GROUND with 1 item valued at $77,060.00 each
Recent equipment transfers
| Ship date | Item and National Stock Number (NSN) | Quantity | Acquisition value, each | Acquisition value, total | DEMIL code | DEMIL IC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/15/2021 | UNMANNED VEHICLE,GROUND 2360-01-663-1082 |
1 | 1 @ $77,060.00 | $77,060.00 | Q | 3 |
Local police misconduct data, consent decrees, and settlements
Data last updated December 9, 2025
Settlements
We identified 3 publicly reported settlements that resulted in policy changes and $1,200,000.00 in monetary compensation to victims.
| Year | Description | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 |
In May 2024, the City Council of Boulder, Colorado, approved a $1 million settlement with Benjamin Cronin. Cronin was accused of a sexual assault that occurred in 2019, when he was a minor. He alleged that he was arrested in 2022 and charged with sexual assault based on an incomplete and mishandled police investigation. In 2023, a judge dismissed the City’s charges against Cronin due to a lack of probable cause. Cronin’s attorneys then claimed that police failed to secure exculpatory social media messages and that the detective (who was later suspended and subsequently resigned) never completed the investigation. The same officer failed to complete investigations into at least forty-five other cases between 2019 and 2022. The City later reformed its case management system and internal policies. Half the settlement would be paid by the City’s insurance carrier, and the other half would come from the City’s Property and Casualty Fund. |
Compensation
$1,000,000.00 |
| 2024 |
In April 2024, the City Council of Boulder, Colorado, approved a $75,000 settlement with Joslynn Montoya, a deaf woman who was separated from her children for two months due to a miscommunication with police. The lawsuit alleged that the Boulder Police Department lacked policies to ensure accessible communication with people with disabilities. In May 2022, officers allegedly ignored Montoya’s requests for an American Sign Language interpreter, and they removed Montoya’s children after incorrectly determining that she lacked the resources to care for them. The officers took the children to Montoya’s sister-in-law, and the children were kept from Montoya for two months. As part of the settlement, Boulder committed to implementing new policies to ensure effective, accessible communication with people with disabilities. |
Policy changes
Compensation $75,000.00 |
| 2020 |
Zayd Atkinson is a Black university student who was asked for identification by police to prove that he lived at his home while taking out his own trash. The City of Boulder approved a $125,000 payment to Atkinson in 2020. The officer who confronted Atkinson resigned from the Boulder Police Department, and the Department enhanced oversight in response to national media coverage of the incident. |
Compensation
$125,000.00 |