Guest Columnist – Crime is Out of Control in Colorado

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by our guest columnists do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of this publication.

By Kristi Burton Brown

Haga click aquí para leer la versión en español

Chair of the Colorado Republican Party

If your car hasn’t been stolen, you might be one of the lucky ones. Colorado is #1 in the nation for auto theft. Working people who can’t afford the nicest cars are getting hurt more than the richest Coloradans. Governor Jared Polis signed a law that reduced the penalty for stealing a car worth less than a Maserati or Ferrari. So, if you’re an average, working Coloradan, your car is a higher target for thieves. Thanks to Democrat laws and policies, they can steal your car and not even spend a day in jail. Attorney General Phil Weiser says that once someone has stolen three or four cars, then they should be in jail. These soft-on-crime policies are hurting Colorado families. Crime is making us feel less safe and costing us more money than ever. Crime is Out of Control in Colorado.

If your car hasn’t been stolen, maybe your kids have been offered hard core drugs at school. Another law signed by Jared Polis made the possession of fentanyl, cocaine, meth, and heroin a misdemeanor. This has allowed drug dealers to market deadly drugs at high schools and other places kids gather while barely being afraid of the penalties. Colorado has become the #1 state in the nation for cocaine use and the #2 state in the nation for increase in fentanyl overdose deaths. Drug dealers are now offering brightly colored fentanyl pills meant to attract teenagers to poisoning and addiction. Drugs are out of control in Colorado – and it’s because of the laws Jared Polis signed and Phil Weiser supported.

Colorado is also #1 in the nation for bank robberies. Just yesterday, the bank in the building I work in was robbed. I had brought my kids to work with me that day, and we had gotten into my office just ten minutes before the bank robbery was committed.

Is this the Colorado we want to live in? The Colorado we want to raise our children in? If crime isn’t already in your neighborhood, it’s coming. And while that might sound frightening, it’s also just the facts. The leaders in charge have failed us, and they’ve allowed crime to reach record high levels, while they pass more laws that help the criminals instead of the victims.

Colorado is the third worst state in the nation for our crime rate. This includes property crime and violent crime. If we’re being honest, Colorado isn’t such a safe state to live in anymore.

The good news is we can change these results by changing our leaders. Heidi Ganahl, running for Governor against Jared Polis, has a solid plan to reverse the pro-criminal laws Colorado has and keep our kids safer at school and in our neighborhoods. John Kellner, a successful district attorney and Marine running for Attorney General, is running his whole campaign on building a safer Colorado for everyone. He told the legislators in Denver that they shouldn’t decriminalize fentanyl, but they didn’t listen. He told them that their laws would make crime increase and our families less safe, but they didn’t listen. He’s been proposing the right policies for years, and if he’s elected Attorney General, he can use his leadership to build safer communities with all of us.

I’ll be voting for change and safety in Colorado this year, and I hope you join me.