DENVER -- Crime in Denver is down.

"I think the police department can take a lot of credit for the reduction in crime over the past five years," said Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman

But certain community groups believe the result of those statistics is an increase in racial profiling.

"Both African Americans and Latinos were searched more than white people," said Art Way, of Colorado Progressive Coalition.

Community policing has taken place in Denver for years. However, a few years ago, in a program tagged "broken windows policing," officers went into certain neighborhoods to target minor offenses to reduce crime.

"What we got instead was aggressive policing where everyone was deemed a suspect if they were young, black, Latino, Latina," said Lisa Calderon, of Denver Insight Women of Color Against Violence.

"We have an obligation to be proactive in those neighborhoods because we get a lot of complaints, a lot of serious crime going on," said Whitman.

Whitman defends his officers.

"The vast majority of officers are out there doing the right thing all the time," said Whitman.

The department’s division chief said the department admits they are working on racial training and identifying problematic officers, but the department said this issue must be addressed by other city agencies.

"There are societal problems that drive crime," said Whitman. "I think there are a lot of comprehensive things that need to be done in these communities that are stressed by those things to halt the crime problem."

Whitman said fixing items such as street lights, securing abandoned buildings and getting mental health and homeless agencies involved can make a big difference.

Such city agencies will be invited to the next safety committee hearing to see if the issues can be addressed.

For now, community advocates want Denver City Council to make a proclamation that racial profiling will not be tolerated by the Denver Police Department.