Police in Denver and Boulder, Colorado, are decreasing the number of people they arrest on low-level crimes to try and stop the coronavirus from spreading to jails.
Law enforcement in Denver will issue summons for a person to appear before a judge rather than arresting people suspected of low-level, nonviolent crimes, police chief Paul Pazen told the Denver Post.
“We don’t want to unnecessarily introduce infection in the (Downtown Detention Center) or the county jail for a low-level crime,” Pazen said. “We want to use good judgment to reduce risk and reduce exposure.”
Boulder authorities are following similar guidelines, and the district attorney’s office is looking into who in the jail can be safely released, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.
The prosecutor’s office has already filed motions to release some inmates whose immune systems are compromised or have serious health conditions. The office is also recommending the release of inmates who have less than 45 days left in their sentence, as well as inmates who are being held ahead of their trial because they can’t afford to post bond.
“We have the president saying we shouldn’t gather in groups more than 10, and if we have a group of 500 people in our jail, that seems like a public health crisis waiting to happen,” Dougherty said.
Several facilities throughout the state are barring in-person visitation during the outbreak.
Nearly 6,000 people across the United States have tested positive for the virus. Nearly 100 have died, and 17 have recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Colorado has 164 confirmed cases and one death.
