As district attorney, I will improve the safety of every resident of the city and county of Denver.
Without a plan to back it up, that sentence could represent yet another empty campaign promise from a politician. But I have a plan, and I am no politician.
As a prosecutor in Denver, I have dedicated my career to making tough decisions that I know will impact our community’s safety. I am running for district attorney because I feel that responsibility deeply. I know the work and the people of this city, and I have a real plan to take us all in a new direction moving forward.
• Transparency: We must do more to sustain our community’s trust in law enforcement. I am committed to establishing a public fact-finding review in cases involving the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers. Everyone in Denver should know the evidence collected during the investigation and the legal and ethical obligations the district attorney has when they make a filing decision.
• Community engagement: I will reinstate Bill Ritter’s community prosecution program, assigning senior-level attorneys to neighborhoods around the city so they can establish relationships with community, government, and faith leaders.
• Modernization: As the only candidate with experience prosecuting cases involving DNA, I know firsthand that cutting-edge technology and forensic science solve crimes. I will continue to build a DA’s office that fully utilizes body cameras, shot-spotter and ballistics databases, DNA, and computer forensics to help us protect the innocent and bring justice to victims.
• Mental health: We need to improve our approach to treating mental illnesses. I will work hand-in-hand with city officials to increase our options, and the first step to stopping the revolving door at the jail is the creation of a treatment-based mental health court in Denver. I will make that happen.
Now is the time to change the metrics by which we gauge the success of a prosecutor. Measuring success through trial statistics and conviction rates is outdated. Success in my office will focus on four key areas: a reduction in crime and recidivism; a reduction in calls for service by police; the sense of safety by our residents and visitors; and, finally, an increase in community engagement by our victims and witnesses, and our business, government, and nonprofit communities.
Everyone has a role to play in keeping our city safe.
Kenneth Boyd () is a senior Denver deputy district attorney.
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