“Soft on Crime” Legislation Leading to More Guns & Violence on Denver Streets
Dr. Terry Hildebrandt is in the news again! In this article, he talks about how irresponsible policies and legislation are exacerbating crime and illegal camping in Denver.
In addition to harmful policies, the current M.O. is for authorities to offer treatment services and shelter to the unhoused living in tents (which is almost universally declines) rather than insist on it - especially for people suffering from addiction and/or severe mental illness.
Denver can find shelter for everyone on the street - there are hundreds of beds available every night.
Hildebrandt says that “I see no excuse left to ever tolerate allowing anyone to rot on the street in an illegal tent to overdose and freeze to death. How is there any dignity for the unsheltered in allowing dangerous illegal encampments to remain?”
Citizens for a Safe and Clean Denver know he’s right … Do you agree?
SOS Camps Enable Crime & Addiction
The SOS camps, run by Colorado Village Collaborative, look great on paper but they are not what they seem. Duane Peterson is a longtime Colorado resident who attended CU Boulder and is sober with no criminal record, nor has he ever been a drug user or diagnosed for a mental health condition. “These factors not only made him an outcast among the BVC residents, but also made him the target of stalking, death threats, and racial attacks - which ultimately forced him to move out for the sake of self-preservation.”
There have been numerous accounts of negligence on the part of Colorado Village Collaborative. Duane estimates he made over 50 complaints with the Denver Police Department and “Nothing was ever done”.
Dawn McNulty and the other Citizens for a Safe and Clean Denver are staunchly against SOS spaces. We intend to address and remove the glaring oversights and extreme safety hazards to neighborhoods populated by families with children.
Union Station Sweep…It’s a Start
On February 23, 2022 the Denver Police Department executed a major sweep of the area. At least 42 individuals were arrested, most of the offenses were drug-related.
On December 3, 2021, Mayor Hancock responded to the outcries of RTD passengers and groups like ours and asserted that “Illegal drug use, public urination and unsafe loitering must not be allowed to continue. Union Station is an important public transit and commercial space and we will redouble our efforts to ensure it is clean and safe (…maybe he visited safeandcleandenver.com) for all of those who use and enjoy it.
Keep up the good work Denver Police Department!!
…Now only if our judges and DA, Beth McCann would keep these criminals (some felons) in jail.
We’re in the News!
Dr. Terry Hildebrandt and the other Citizens for a Safe and Clean Denver are fed up with the increase in crime, violence and open drug use in the city.
Dr. Hildebrandt says that “if we had folks wandering streets as Alzheimer’s patients getting run over by cars, we would never allow that. However, some of the addicts I’ve experienced right here, outside my front door clearly can’t make good decisions. I think it’s (an) unethical situation to allow people to freeze to death and kill themselves in the street.”
Dr. Hildebrandt and the other members of Citizens for a Safe and Clean Denver are focused on enacting tougher drug laws on a state wide basis along with more on-demand, in-patient mental health and substance abuse treatment centers. We are pushing for zero tolerance of urban camping.
Colorado Worst in Nation for Car Theft
Colorado is the worst state in the country for auto theft. Denver Police Department Chief Paul Pazen suggests that such crimes were rising in part because perpetrators have been getting off easy.
On average, in 2021, 75 vehicles were stone each day in the Denver metro area.
97% of the people who have been arrested in the last three years for auto theft have multiple arrests for auto theft.
“People that committed ‘property crimes’ like vehicle theft, were admitted to the jail. They were released right back out to continue doing what the do,” Sergeant Troy Kessler with Colorado State Patrol said.
As a stark contrast - the Vail Police Department is warning skiers and riders that borrowing a friends ski pass will result in a maximum fine of up to $999 and/or 180 days in jail. source: https://snowbrains.com/jail-for-using-someone-elses-vail-pass/