By Rebecca Wallace
Boulder Councilperson Bob Yates’ opinion piece about Senate Bill 21-62 is replete with demonstrably false statements that would have been disproven with even the most minimal fact checking (e.g., reading the bill) by the Boulder Camera editorial board. If SB21-62 did half of what Mr. Yates suggests, no one would support it, and it would be the flash point for crime victims across the state. Mr. Yates failed to mention, however, that SB21-62 is in fact supported by the chief law enforcement official in the state, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, as well as the Colorado Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Every crime survivor organization in Colorado is neutral on the bill, other than the Colorado Crime Survivors Network, which supports it. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who is deeply respected in Boulder and across the state, has been closely involved in drafting the amendments to SB21-62 which brought the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council to neutral and several elected District Attorneys to support. Every single one of these people and organizations would vehemently oppose SB21-62 if Mr. Yates’ descriptions were accurate. They are false.
Mr. Yates says SB21-62 limits arrest on statutory crimes of violence like manslaughter and armed robbery. This is false. The bill’s arrest provisions explicitly excludes statutory crimes of violence and high-level felonies, as well as domestic violence.
Mr. Yates says SB21-62 prohibits arrest for Class 4 felonies. This is false. All class 4 felonies (as well as lower-level felonies and victim crimes) are arrestable under the bill whenever there is a safety risk or a risk of reoffense.
Mr. Yates says SB21-62 recreates the COVID-era arrest standards. This is false. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, who was involved in this bill since June 2020, has been quoted saying that SB21-62 reflects the arrest standards in place in Boulder before the COVID crisis.
Mr. Yates says SB21-62 will create a new obligation for officers to exercise discretion in who to arrest, increasing the potential for racial profiling. This is false. SB21-62 reins in officer discretion, rather than expanding it. Officers will be required to ticket people, rather than arrest them, for low-level, non-violent offenses, like the crimes that cost Michael Marshall and Eric Garner their lives. By taking away arrest authority for those cases, the bill decreases the chances that a violent confrontation will occur over non-dangerous offenses. Mr. Yates suggests he is concerned about racial profiling with SB21-62, but that rings disingenuous and patronizing given that this bill is being championed by racial justice organizations across the state, including BLM5280, NAACP Boulder and SURJ Boulder.
Mr. Yates says COVID era jail depopulation drove increases in crime. This is false. Data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows there was no correlation between jail depopulation and crime. Jefferson County provides an important example. In 2020, it had the highest jail depopulation in the state – 50% — yet crime remained flat across Jefferson county. That certain property crimes have been increasing during COVID is understandably upsetting to Coloradoans. Still, there is no evidence linking that to jail depopulation. As DA Dougherty has said in the Boulder Weekly, shuttered businesses, a jobs and housing crisis, and emptier pedestrian walkways are much more probable reasons why property crime has been on the rise.
Mr. Yates’ inaccuracies are a bit confounding given that he was present (as was I) for testimony by 37 Boulder residents and 3 ACLU staffers at the Boulder City Council which detailed exactly what the bill does and does not do. I can say with certainty that these very points were discussed in detail.
As a twelve-year ACLU staffer, I welcome reasoned debate about policy matters, but I would expect that –at least with elected members of Boulder City Council – we could operate from a common set of facts. I have to believe that the people of this state, including the residents of Boulder, are ready to move on from an era where elected leaders rely on made up facts and fearmongering to justify their policy positions.
Rebecca Wallace is the Senior Staff Attorney & Senior Policy Counsel at the ACLU of Colorado.
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April 19, 2021 at 11:13PM
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Guest Opinion: Rebecca Wallace: Speaking truth about SB62 - Boulder Daily Camera
"Opinion" - Google News
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