Q&A
Colorado U.S. Attorney William Leone participated last week in the U.S. Department of Justice’s annual Project Safe Neighborhoods national conference, held this year in Denver. U.S. Attorneys from each of the country’s 94 federal judicial districts attended and swapped ideas about ways to fight gang and gun violence. Leone spoke to The Denver Post about Colorado’s program and the problems it is designed to address.
Q: What is Project Safe Neighborhoods?
A: Project Safe Neighborhoods is a broad-based initiative from the Department of Justice that includes federal prosecutors, state and local prosecutors and federal, state and local law enforcement. Its purpose is to fund additional apprehension and prosecution of people who violate gun laws and those who engage in gang-related crime.
Q: How has your office tailored the national strategy to address Colorado’s problems?
A: We do have a number of violent gangs that operate in Colorado. They’re not necessarily limited to the largest cities. You see gang activity in the suburbs and even the rural communities. We have used our grant funding to focus on the worst gang problems in cooperation with the metro gang task force and our other state and local partners.
Q: Can you give an example of the types of gun prosecutions you pursue through Project Safe Neighborhoods?
A: From a federal standpoint, any person who has previously been convicted of a felony or has had a domestic-violence conviction is prohibited from having a firearm. I think that can be a useful tool for attacking gang-related violence. We try to focus our resources on the group of those who are the worst of the worst.
– Alicia Caldwell, Denver Post staff writer
REGIONAL NOTES
GOLDEN
“Ugly” Evergreen bridge coming
Folks up in Evergreen will be happy to know that the bridge they considered “ugly” and a “death trap” is scheduled to be placed over Clear Creek on the eastern boundary of Clear Creek Canyon Park.
The 210-foot-long weathering-steel bridge once sat on the north face of Evergreen Lake dam but was removed in late 2004 after Evergreen leaders said it didn’t fit the locale, had too steep a slant and wasn’t the result of public input.
Open-space director Ralph Schell said the bridge design is more appropriate for its new site, which will allow a connection to the Clear Creek Trail from the city of Golden.
Bridge placement, trail construction and trailhead amenities are scheduled this year and in 2007.
AURORA
Reading to kick off volunteer day
A team of volunteers for Leadership Aurora Unite!: A Day of Giving will read to children from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Aurora Central Library, 14949 E. Alameda Parkway.
Police Chief Dan Oates will kick off the story times with a reading session at 10 a.m., with sessions every half hour until 2 p.m. in the library’s children’s department.
The 2005-06 Leadership Aurora class, a program of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, is coordinating the event.
Volunteer projects are being planned throughout the city, including shed restorations at DeLaney Farm, cleanup at Aurora Mental Health Center, repair and restoration of the historic Coal Creek School, cleanup at Cherry Creek State Park and on East Colfax Avenue as part of the preparation for the Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon.
To volunteer or for more information, call the Aurora Chamber of Commerce at 303-344-1500 or visit www.aurorachamber.org.
For more information on the story times at the Aurora Public Library, call 303-739-6600 or visit www.auroralibrary.org.
DENVER POST STAFF REPORTS
