Our communities are struggling. Coloradans do not feel secure. They are uncertain. It抖阴ap driven by a dramatic increase in crime and a dramatic increase in drug overdoses. Our state is unrecognizable today.
We are second in the country for property crimes like burglary and car break-ins, and only three states in America have a higher rate of total crime. Colorado leads the nation in auto thefts — in fact, four Colorado cities rank in the top ten cities for auto thefts. Over 4,000 cars are stolen each month 鈥� it抖阴ap unacceptable.
Crime and fentanyl should be the top issues for voters this November, and weak policies from do-nothing, career politicians like Sen. Michael Bennet are part of the problem.
We worked in law enforcement for years, and our jobs were to keep our people safe. But in Colorado, auto theft and most property crimes are treated as 鈥渓ow-level鈥� crimes by Colorado鈥檚 criminal justice system. That抖阴ap an epic leadership failure.
And the longer this crisis goes unaddressed, the more working-class Coloradans will be disproportionately affected. Most of the auto thefts in our state take place in low-income areas. We鈥檙e proud Coloradans, and we鈥檙e proud of the many ways our state is a national leader. However, leading the nation in auto theft is unacceptable, but it doesn鈥檛 stop there.
Fentanyl is destroying communities across the country, and the hard truth is that fentanyl is devastating Colorado as well.
Local law enforcement is working day and night to seize this poison and prevent it from being distributed in our communities. We鈥檙e proud of our fellow heroes who work tirelessly to seize this poison from our streets. But that抖阴ap as far as we can go. And while we鈥檙e making record seizures, we want to make clear that Coloradans should be alarmed by the amount of fentanyl that continues to make its way to our state — it抖阴ap unprecedented.
Nearly 2,000 Coloradans have tragically lost their lives to fentanyl drug overdoses. Regrettably, Colorado is number two in the nation in the rate of increase for overdose deaths. This is the dark reality that we are grappling with.
One of the consequences of the security crisis that we鈥檙e seeing at the southern border is that cartels are trafficking fentanyl across the border, most of it comes up I-25, and cartels use the Denver metro area as a distribution point for the rest of the country.
Make no mistake, the crisis at our border impacts Coloradans.
Coloradans deserve to feel safe in their communities. Coloradans deserve to feel certain about their futures in our state.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet抖阴ap is about election-year politics. The bill tells local communities they can engage in community policing activities that many are already pursuing. What抖阴ap more, the legislation doesn鈥檛 offer up any new money — not a single new dollar — to bolster our criminal justice system.
Rather than promote a sensible law enforcement strategy to push back on the growing risk of crime across our state, Bennet served up what feels like a press release — the legislation attempts to make him seem like he cares when in truth, Bennet has been MIA for our police, prosecutors, and other men and women who work in the criminal justice system.
There must be a national solution at the border to slow down the supply and help an overwhelmed border patrol. Thankfully, there鈥檚 a candidate on the ballot this November who gets this and is willing to fight for Coloradans: Joe O鈥橠ea, whose father was a Denver police officer.
Joe鈥檚 plan to secure the border and get tough on crime is straightforward:
鈥ero out $79 billion allocated over the next 10 years to the IRS in the Investment Reduction Act and instead make a massive investment in border security — including a border wall.
鈥hen, hire 100,000 new local and state cops across America to protect our neighborhoods and schools.
This is a commonsense proposal. President Bill Clinton, working with Republicans and Democrats, did the same thing as part of .
Like too many Coloradans, Joe and his wife Celeste have close family friends who lost their beautiful young daughter to fentanyl. This issue is personal for him as well.
Joe鈥檚 candidacy marks a clear contrast from our incumbent Senator, who is not focusing his campaign on these critical issues.
That is concerning.
Fellow Coloradans, we see the impact of this crime epidemic, and we know you鈥檝e felt it, too. Joe O鈥橠ea understands this challenge, and he will meet this moment. Vote O鈥橠ea this November.
State Sen. John Cooke is a former Weld County sheriff. David C. Walcher was the sheriff of Arapahoe County. This column was edited by Joe O’Dea’s campaign for U.S. Senate before it was submitted to The Post.
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