As abundant data makes clear, Colorado’s terribly misguided “decarceration” policies — i.e., letting dangerous criminals freely walk the streets — have been accompanied by soaring crime. In a landmark report last year, the Common Sense Institute found that from 2010 to 2022, the state’s crime rate increased by 32% while the number of inmates in prison declined by 28.4%.
Go figure. Only our Legislature — at least, those members hypnotized by the criminal-coddling mantra of “justice reform” — would regard that as a coincidence.
Of course, the rest of Colorado has paid the price. More Coloradans of every race, ethnicity and income level, in wide-ranging communities, have become victims. Of burglary; of auto theft; of violence — you name it.
Two proposals on this fall’s statewide ballot — Amendment I and Proposition 128 — will see to it our state’s justice system keeps more dangerous criminal suspects as well as convicts behind bars longer. Both have earned The Gazette editorial board’s endorsement — and both warrant voters’ support when mail ballots are due Nov. 5.