Denver city officials hope new lighting guidelines for city parking lots will curb hundreds of downtown auto thefts and vehicle break-ins. The Denver Municipal Code requires that city parking lots have “proper illumination.” However, before today, there was no guidance on what exactly that meant. “If we wanted to go out and identify a parking lot that didn’t meet regulations without these guidelines and standards, we wouldn’t have anything to hold the parking lot companies accountable to,” said Molly Duplechian, executive director of Denver’s Excise and Licenses Office. Duplechian said the Denver Police Department first raised the issue of poorly lit parking lots roughly six months ago, citing higher crime rates in areas with darker lots, especially in downtown Denver.