Four years after there was a national reckoning on policing in America and many calls for defunding or reducing money to law enforcement agencies, Colorado voters have decisively changed direction.
Proposition 130 will require state lawmakers to funnel $350 million to law enforcement agencies in a one-time burst that is supposed to be dedicated specifically to recruiting and retention for police officers and sheriff’s deputies.
Coloradans decisively supported the measure with 53 percent approving it last week.
Some law enforcement chiefs view the vote as a referendum on how the state currently views and feels about them.
“This isn’t just a bill about supporting funding law enforcement but also taking the temperature of support for law enforcement right now,” said Wheat Ridge Police Chief Chris Murtha. “Where does the community view us right now? As a necessary evil or a good partner? I think people support us … I think it says a lot about the fact that almost every generation needs to understand that we are part of what makes us a democracy.”
George Floyd was living in Minnesota during the 2020 pandemic when he was murdered by a police officer in the daytime while multiple people filmed the encounter. Four officers, including the lead officer, Derek Chauvin who knelt on Floyd’s neck in the street, were convicted in his death. Chauvin is now in prison.
The brutality of Floyd’s death sparked an international outcry against police violence across America. In Colorado, most of the big protests against the police took place in Denver and Aurora, where demonstrators evoked Floyd’s name, along with names of other Black citizens killed by police, including Elijah McClain, who died in 2019 in Aurora at the hands of police and paramedics.
Beyond the protests, state lawmakers across the country, including Colorado, tightened laws on police departments, removing qualified immunity, which means people can sue individual officers, and adding scrutiny through body cameras and use of force laws.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteElisabeth Epps leads a crowd on the Capitol steps on the sixth day of protests in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. June 2, 2020.
The Lone Tree Police Department is about a thousand miles from Minneapolis and in the conservative suburb of Douglas County.
As much as it seems this small agency wouldn’t have been affected by the 2020 upheaval in law enforcement, Chief Kirk Wilson said they are still feeling ripple effects from it all.
Wilson’s officers were getting flipped off more. The new laws passed by the legislature meant there was more liability and more scrutiny of their work. The onslaught of fentanyl during the pandemic meant there were more violent, drug-addled arrests of suspects, who were usually carrying guns.
In 2020, there were 131 cases of assaults on officers, eluding arrests and obstruction — just in Lone Tree. In 2021, that number rose to 159. In 2022, it jumped to 218, and in 2023, there were 288 of these incidents.
“It’s an extremely difficult job now, and it’s way more difficult than it was 30 years ago,” Wilson said. “We could use all of the help we could get.”
Wilson said it’s been increasingly hard to staff up and to keep the existing staff for longer than three to five years because the job has become more difficult. And he says that applications are at an all-time low.
How the newly passed money will be spent is still a little murky, but the Department of Public Safety will be allocated this money and police departments and sheriff’s offices will be allowed to apply for it.
This isn’t the first time public money has gone directly to law enforcement agencies to help them with recruitment.
The Division of Criminal Justice awarded 87 grants to 68 law enforcement agencies from 2022 to 2024 for recruitment, retention and tuition reimbursement. They’ve given away $11.3 million so far — including some money to Lone Tree, Wilson said, where they’ve hired a full-time recruiter.
State officials say there is $3.7 million left of that pot of money.
This is where Kyle Giddings at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition sees some fault in the new law.
“It’s only for police. It can’t be used for firefighter or EMTs or paramedics or even community-based partners of the police, like mental health resources or drug treatment programs. None of the other community partners that we’ve seen be helpful can get help,” he said. “It is a fiscally irresponsible for Colorado … It’s the equivalent of 6,000 teacher salaries and it’s the whole budget for affordable housing program. It is a dramatic cut to the state budget.”
Omar Montgomery, who runs the NAACP in Aurora, said he can’t remember whether he voted for Prop. 130 because the ballot was so lengthy.
He said he supports law enforcement generally and said that there is a very strong need for high-quality officers in every community. But he hopes that some of this substantial sum can go to unarmed officials, even those working for the police, to help cool down hot situations.
“Mental health specialists, people who are social workers, all people who work for the law enforcement agencies,” Montgomery said. “We need to have a person who understands that although it is in the law for me to use this tactic, is it something I need to do? Is there another way to address this?”
Montgomery is also sanguine that it could help agencies attract more applicants – which could lead to higher-quality officers.
“You do need public safety officers, and you need public safety officers to understand the community they’re in,” Montgomery said. “Are we recruiting the best people for diverse communities? Is this an opportunity to re-evaluate how we look at public safety? Can we hire people who aren’t armed to help address some of these issues where force isn’t needed?”
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Publish date : 2024-11-10 22:11:00
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