> Downtown Denver Safety
**Dressed in easily recognizable bright yellow shirts, Downtown Ambassadors are a uniformed, welcoming presence and serve as "roving concierges" for Downtown tourists, conventioneers, workers and residents. They patrol the 16th Street Mall and key surrounding areas on foot seven days a week. Although unarmed and without enforcement authority, they support the Denver Police Department by acting as additional "eyes and ears" and focusing on quality of life issues such as aggressive panhandling and graffiti. They also lend a hand to struggling citizens by connecting them with appropriate social services.**
The Downtown Ambassador Program is an exciting endeavor inspired by similar programs in other prominent cities, including Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The program is funded by the BID with support from the City and County of Denver, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, and a federal Drug Control and System Improvement Program (DCSIP) grant. It joins other efforts to enhance the safety and vibrancy of Downtown Denver.
The Downtown Ambassador program features a team of individuals who serve as monitors of the 16th Street Mall and its key surrounding areas, including Skyline Park, which will be completed this summer, and the Colorado Convention Center, which will unveil its expansion at the end of the year. Although unarmed, the Ambassadors provide additional support to the Denver Police Department by focusing on quality of life crimes such as aggressive panhandling and graffiti, while also serving as liaisons between struggling citizens and social service agencies. In addition, the Ambassadors act as a welcoming presence and a helpful information resource for Downtown tourists, conventioneers, workers and residents.
For people on the Mall who have questions or concerns, the Ambassadors are identifiable by their signature yellow jackets and shirts, accompanied by straw gambler hats in the summer and purple stocking caps in the winter. The BID logo, as well as other identifying information, is also visible on their garments. The Ambassadors are employed and managed by Service Group, Incorporated (SGI), the BID's maintenance contractor, and can be found on the Mall every day, especially during peak periods of pedestrian activity. The training process for the Ambassadors included topics such as radio communications, police codes, Denver history, local tourist information, conflict resolution, social service outreach, public relations, data collection, and first aid/CPR.
The Ambassadors are an addition to the BID's two Downtown Service Representatives (DSRs). The functions of the DSRs include ensuring contractor compliance for firms doing work on or around the Mall, in addition to assisting the City and County of Denver by reporting problem issues such as graffiti, broken traffic lights and illegal vending.
If you need to contact an Ambassador, you can call the SGI Deployment Center at 303-296-3075. For more information about the program, please contact John Desmond at 303-571-8204 or jdesmond@downtowndenver.com.
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