Denver Chief of Police Paul Pazen vented Wednesday about how law enforcement in Colorado is being hamstrung in its ability to keep the public safe.
Spiking crime rates can’t be solved by a “lack of accountability and consequences,” Pazen told the Colorado Springs Gazette, a sister publication of the Washington Examiner, in a Zoom interview. In particular, he cited a surge in auto thefts and illegal firearms out on the streets.
While there have been plenty of arrests, Pazen warns that the problem will only get worse with lenient practices such as low bail, which can be as little as $1, and Colorado’s Misdemeanor Reform bill, signed into law July 6, 2021, which the chief said goes into effect March 1 and takes away felonies related to fraud, theft, arson, and kidnapping.
“We already have more felons that we’ve been arresting with guns, more felons that we are seeing utilizing weapons on our streets involved in these shootings, in these homicides,” Pazen said. “And now, we are changing what that qualifying felony looks like.”
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Addressing the current situation, Pazen said Colorado is “the worst state in the country for auto theft.” As an example, Pazen said one suspect was arrested on eight separate occasions for auto theft in 2021. That suspect would be ordered to pay a $5,000 bond each time he was arrested and then released, a strategy Pazen called “a scam.”
“Violent and repeat offenders are harm to our community,” Pazen said. “They are creating harm to our community when you have 50% increases in shootings, homicides, 25% increases in robberies, 30% increases in burglaries, and a 99% increase in auto theft.”
Pazen said his department confiscated 2,095 illegal firearms in 2021, compared to 1,574 guns in 2019. Of the guns confiscated in 2021, 732 were taken from people with previous offenses, according to Pazen.
Pazen said “restorative justice” should be offered to people in need, such as rehabilitation for drug users, but not to repeat offenders.
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Pazen said the people of Colorado “want to be safe” and will either vote for different officials — or leave and take their businesses elsewhere, which the state cannot afford.
“The criminal justice system does not exist to try to get people out of jail — the criminal justice system exists to keep people safe,” Pazen said. “And when I talk to people, they don’t feel safe.”
