McCann: We need data to drive Colorado’s crime prevention efforts

Individuals and communities tin lone thrive erstwhile they consciousness harmless from violence. In 2020, our state experienced a astir 30% emergence successful murder. Denver and Colorado are not immune to this caller nationwide spike successful convulsive transgression though the astir caller statistic from the Denver Police Department amusement a flimsy alteration successful convulsive transgression successful the past month.

I judge determination are galore factors astatine play: the accent of the once-in-a-lifetime pandemic; nonaccomplishment of jobs and economical security; poverty; intelligence wellness issues; substance abuse; diminution successful accountability; simplification successful constabulary arrests; societal media; isolation from enactment services; desensitization to violence; restrictions successful the availability of religious, educational, wellness and societal institutions; deficiency of parenting and enactment for our young people, and the unthinkable proliferation and casual entree to guns successful our community.

As The Denver Post’s Elise Schmelzer reported successful July, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation saw a 45% summation successful weapon income successful 2020 implicit 2019 and, “more weapon income were approved successful 2020 than were recorded successful 2000, 2001 and 2002 combined.” Beware of anyone who pontificates that they cognize what’s causing our convulsive transgression spike but who omits the bright-line transportation betwixt the overwhelming prevalence of guns successful our assemblage and the information that radical — including our younker — are utilizing guns to perpetrate convulsive crimes.

There has besides been treatment of transgression justness betterment arsenic the crushed for the summation successful violence. Many communities close present are struggling with an summation successful superior crimes successful the aftermath of the pandemic, irrespective of whether they pursued immoderate transgression justness reform. The transportation with betterment and an summation successful transgression has not been established.

Recently a section probe enactment made recommendations for however to code Colorado’s transgression surge (although the researchers did not see the relation guns play). Prior to the report’s release, my bureau was already good underway successful executing the report’s main proposal that, “the way guardant should see a broad reappraisal of disposable information to code immoderate unintended consequences and higher costs brought astir by caller policy.”

The Denver DA’s Office is 1 of 8 Colorado jurisdictions presently participating successful a statewide effort to bring unneurotic prosecutors and academics to usage information to beryllium astute connected crime, deliberation astir caller ways to maximize nationalist safety, heighten fairness and make a caller strategy of accountability to the public.

I americium arrogant to stock that the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative selected Colorado to motorboat a Prosecutorial Dashboard Project. A dashboard is simply a instrumentality organizations usage to assistance track, analyze, and show data. Dashboards assistance an enactment summation deeper penetration into the wide activities of the enactment oregon a circumstantial process. We volition make an interior dashboard truthful that each territory attorney’s bureau tin analyse its information to summation position into areas successful which we are excelling and those areas successful which we tin improve. We volition besides make an outer dashboard for the nationalist and fortify our capableness to execute transparency, efficiency, justness and fairness arsenic good arsenic data-driven determination making. The Colorado Dashboard task should motorboat successful August 2023

In summation to our prosecution of transgression behaviour aft it happens, I judge that it is important for the territory attorneys to beryllium progressive successful transgression interruption and prevention. To that end, we are expanding our diversion programs and our restorative justness program, aptly named Restorative Denver. Now successful its 2nd year, Restorative Denver’s recidivism complaint of 1% is simply a testament to the program’s occurrence fixed that the emblematic recidivism complaint of those released from situation is person to 50%.

Moreover, we besides helped motorboat the caller Handgun Intervention Program to code younker violence. We besides hired a firearms relinquishment researcher whose occupation it is to enforce the instrumentality that requires home unit offenders to relinquish firearms during the pendency of the case.  He has been capable to unafraid much than 132 guns conscionable this year. All of these programs are interrupting lifestyles that pb to further transgression engagement and helping radical marque amended choices successful their lives frankincense keeping them from further transgression activity.

I commend our Denver Police Department for their relentless efforts to apprehension those who perpetrate crimes and their fantabulous grounds of solving homicides and assaults. Furthermore, I applaud them for their engagement successful cutting-edge efforts to code intelligence wellness and substance maltreatment done the LEAD, co-responder, and STAR programs.

Protecting nationalist information is my apical precedence and that of the Denver DA’s Office. The attorneys successful my bureau are successful tribunal each time prosecuting transgression cases, presenting grounds to judges and juries, and warring to support radical successful custody who request to beryllium there. The investigators and unfortunate advocates are making definite that witnesses look successful tribunal and that victims are accompanied and supported passim tribunal proceedings. Our enactment unit members are down the scenes making definite that the trains enactment connected track.

However, it volition instrumentality each of america moving unneurotic arsenic a community, a state, and a state to code the underlying issues that are driving our nation’s convulsive transgression summation if we basal a accidental astatine fixing them. One happening anyone tin bash to marque Denver safer present is to guarantee their weapon is decently stored if they ain one.

Beth McCann is Denver’s territory attorney.

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