A project of LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute

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 April 15, 2025

We identified over $1.3M in federal grant funding, FY 2015-2025

Grant funding over time

Grant funding by federal department

Recent grants

USA spending grants for: Boulder
Amount Start and end dates Recipient and description Awarding agency CFDA program Type
$103,371.00 10/1/2023
9/30/2025		 CITY OF BOULDER BOULDER POLICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO PURCHASE THE VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) SYSTEMS INTO THE EXISTING POLICE DE-ESCALATION TRAINING REGIMEN. OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VR SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE HANDLED BY THE COMMANDER WHO OVERSEES THE TRAINING DIVISION. TRAINERS WILL BE TRAINED WHEN EQUIPMENT… Department of Justice Offices, Boards and Divisions 16.710 Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants Prime
$70,369.00 10/1/2022
9/30/2026		 CITY OF BOULDER ALTHOUGH THE CITY OF BOULDER, CITY OF LONGMONT, AND BOULDER COUNTY ARE DISPARATE JURISDICTIONS, ONLY THE CITY OF BOULDER AND CITY OF LONGMONT WILL BE ALLOCATED 2023 JAG FUNDING FOR OFFICER SAFETY, TRAINING, AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAMMING. THE CITY OF BOULDER WILL USE JAG FUNDS TO PROVIDE SAFETY … Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Prime
$63,075.00 10/1/2021
9/30/2025		 CITY OF BOULDER THE EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG) PROGRAM ALLOWS UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING TRIBES, TO SUPPORT A BROAD RANGE OF ACTIVITIES TO PREVENT AND CONTROL CRIME BASED ON THEIR OWN STATE AND LOCAL NEEDS AND CONDITIONS. GRANT FUNDS CAN BE USED FOR STATE AND LOCAL INITIATIVES, … Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Prime
$500,000.00 10/1/2021
9/30/2025		 CITY OF BOULDER THE CHRONICALLY UNSHELTERED HOMELESS, WHILE NOT THE MOST PREVALENT OF INDIVIDUALS EXISTING ON THE HOMELESS CONTINUUM, TEND TO BE THE “FACE” OF PERSONS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS PARTICULARLY IN URBAN SETTINGS (LEE & FARRELL, 2005). WHILE HOMELESSNESS IS NOT A CRIME, IT HAS INCREASINGLY BECOME A PUBL… Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Prime

View all 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

Military 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 January 25, 2022

Settlements

We identified 1 publicly reported settlement that resulted in $125,000.00 in monetary compensation to victims.

Settlements
Year Description Outcome
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.

Source

Sam Lounsberry, "Boulder settlement with Zayd Atkinson to include $125K payment from city", Daily Camera, March 13, 2020

Compensation
$125,000.00