Colorado Senate Democrats this week killed legislation to create a $5 million grant for schools to hire more school resource officers and protect our students from crime on campus.
Sponsored by Republican state Sen. Jim Smallwood of Parker, Senate Bill 22-101 was supported by County Sheriffs of Colorado and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.
But it was defeated on a party-line vote in the infamous “kill committee,” also known as the Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee.
Smallwood wrote an op/ed in the Denver Gazette about the need for more school resource officers statewide, and the politicalization of these safety measures by socialist Democrats like Denver School Board Vice President Tay Anderson:
In 2020, Denver Public Schools, led by board members Tay Anderson and Jennifer Bacon, joined Colorado Democrats’ anti-police sentiment by deciding to remove the district’s SROs from its schools. Now, crime is spiking across Colorado and there is a critical need to protect students by giving schools access to an SRO.
When schools don’t have SROs, police officers respond to violence on campuses. In the best of times, there is no guarantee that officers will be able to make it to the scene of violence in time. Add staffing shortages and spiking crime, and the risk to students and staff becomes exponentially higher.
After Democrats killed his measure, Smallwood responded:
“Last week, Democrats stood on the steps of the Capitol and told Coloradans that school safety was one of their top priorities this session,” said Senator Smallwood. “Today, we discovered that their words were little more than lip service. School resource officers are popular and effective. I’m disappointed that Democrats wouldn’t let this bill advance to the Senate floor for a full debate.”
Colorado Democrats got their polling numbers back recently and discovered Coloradans are actually concerned about the spike in crime occurring under the Democrat-controlled legislature’s watch.
They stopped mocking Republicans for a hot minute so Gov. Polis could pretend his party would get all tough on crime this election season, before one of his press conference speakers let it slip that getting tough on crime was not actually on their list.
At Polis’s “comprehensive public safety” press conference, the Executive Director of Servicios de la Raza commended the Governor for opposing a “tough on crime” agenda#copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/gIuszROgcD
— Compass Colorado (@CompassCOorg) February 10, 2022
Colorado is less safe under Democrat control, and their actions this legislative session show they have no intention of cracking down on crime or protecting the public.