Senate unanimously approves $30.5 million in grants for Colorado law enforcement - coloradopolitics.com

The Colorado Senate unanimously approved a bipartisan proposal Wednesday to fund $30.5 million in grant programs for state law enforcement, sending it to the House for consideration.

If enacted, Senate Bill 145 would establish three grant programs to fund: crime prevention and crisis intervention in high-crime areas; law enforcement recruitment, retention, tuition and training; and, improving law enforcement diversity.

The grant programs intend to address rising crime and increase public trust in law enforcement, said bill co-sponsors Sen. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, and Sen. John Cooke, R-Greeley.

“Every Coloradan deserves to feel safe in their community, but like the rest of the country, crime has been on the rise here in Colorado, which is why we’re taking action,” Buckner said. “I am proud to champion this common-sense legislation, and I look forward to reducing crime and creating a safer Colorado for us all.”

Under the bill, the funds would be distributed over two years with $15 million going to the crime prevention program and $7.5 million going to each of the workforce programs. Another $400,000 would pay for oversight from the Department of Public Safety and $100,000 would fund a statewide forum to solicit suggestions on crime prevention measures.

Of the $15 million for crime prevention, at least $5 million would be reserved for community-based organizations and another $5 million for law enforcement and local governments.

At least 20% of the grant funds would be required to go to rural communities if they apply, Cooke said. The $30.5 million would come from the general fund and is already included in Gov. Jared Polis’s budget, Buckner said.

Though the bill united lawmakers in the Senate, many activists have raised concerns, saying providing more funding for law enforcement will not address issues like brutality and misconduct by police officers.

“This bill, and other similar ones around the nation, is window dressing for a deeper issue regarding the real training officers should receive,” said Dr. Robert Davis, co-lead of Denver's task force to reimagine policing. “We need a stronger collective will to overhaul how we approach policing and policing training.”

Public perception of law enforcement has taken a hit in recent years. In 2020, only 48% of U.S. adults said they had confidence in the police, according to a Gallup poll. That is an all-time low, and down from the historical high of 64% in 2004. In 2021, confidence slightly increased to 51%, but for Black adults, it was only 27%.

This change came in the wake of several high-profile incidents in which unarmed Black people were killed by police officers, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Colorado resident Elijah McClain. During the resulting protests, calls to defund the police spread throughout the country and state, contrary to the additional funding the bill would provide.

Cooke, the former sheriff of Weld County, said most people don’t want to decrease police funding, pointing to a 2021 Pew Research survey which found that 47% of Americans want police funding to increase and 37% want it to stay the same.

Cooke is also sponsoring another law enforcement funding bill, Senate Bill 5, that the Senate passed on Wednesday. If enacted, that bill would spend $5 million to expand mental health support for law enforcement.

“For members of law enforcement, serving on the frontlines of traumatic situations can have devastating effects on their mental health,” said Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, who is also sponsoring SB-5. “We’ll ensure they are well equipped to continue to show up for our communities whenever and wherever needed.”

Last year in Colorado, 2,400 law enforcement officers quit or were fired, while just over 1,700 officers were hired, Buckner said, citing data reported by Colorado Public Radio.

This comes as violent crime has increased in Colorado over the years. In 2021, there were 30,282 reports of murder, assault and robbery, compared to 21,743 reports five years prior, according to state data. This is part of a national trend — the nation's murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020, the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to the Pew Research Center.

Concern over crime has similarly increased, hitting a four-year high late last year, according to a national Washington Post-ABC News poll. Of respondents, 59% said crime is an “extremely” or “very serious” problem in the U.S., the highest level since 2017.

source: https://www.coloradopolitics.com/legislature/senate-unanimously-approves-30-5-million-in-grants-for-colorado-law-enforcement/article_da5224a8-c651-11ec-94f2-7b50cf4d8e4a.html

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