The conditions in Colorado are ripe for a violent juvenile crime wave. Of the many arguable reasons for juvenile crime, one thing is certain: our elected officials are on the side of the juvenile criminals and they are making it easier for them to commit more and worse crimes.
On July 10, a 14-year-old who had pending charges of motor vehicle theft, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief across Adams and Douglas counties shot and killed a 49-year-old man in Denver. This 14-year-old was on our streets despite his failures to remain law abiding and over the objections of prosecutors. The system that encourages such a result is broken, under-funded, and designed to allow violent and property criminals to remain free, even when they are repeat or violent offenders. That is exactly how our Legislature wants it.
When a juvenile commits a violent crime and poses a serious risk to our community, our reasonable expectation is that they are detained. Prior to 2003, there was no cap on the number of spaces available for juvenile detentions. If there were 500 violent juveniles — all 500 could be detained pending the outcome of their cases. The Legislature changed all that more than 20 years ago. Instead of creating a system governed by the number of violent juveniles and their risk to the community and others, our elected representatives chose an arbitrary number of juveniles who could be detained. From 2004 until 2011, that number was 479. Across the entire state of Colorado. Why? Who knows?
If there were 500 violent juvenile offenders, 21 of them would get to go home — maybe next door to you, because the state had reached its maximum allowable occupancy. A lot has changed since then. For the worse.
In 2004, Colorado’s population of those juveniles eligible for the justice system (ages 10-17) was 518,498. By 2020, that number had grown to 580,601, an increase of 12%. Outpacing that growth in population is the increasing number of violent juvenile criminal acts from 2010 to now, including robbery (up 12.3%), aggravated assault (up 17%), and murder (up 210%).
The obvious, non-high-as-a-kite answer in light of such increased numbers would be to increase the number of violent juveniles who could be detained, right? Nope.
In "hold my blunt” fashion, our Legislature has repeatedly taken a hatchet to the number of beds available for such violent miscreants. As of this year, Colorado now has a mere 215 beds available to detain juveniles accused of violent crimes, a 55% reduction. The Legislature did authorize 22 additional beds, but that is it. So, what if there are more than 237 juveniles accused of violent crimes? The system must scramble to choose which of the risky violent offenders go back into our neighborhoods. And into our schools (especially if you are in Denver).
The predictable ripple effect of a policy detached from crime rates, numbers — reality — is that judges are handcuffed from providing any meaningful bond for juvenile offenders even if they are repeat burglars, car thieves, or in some cases, violent criminals. Subsequently, bond conditions — like don’t do illegal drugs, or drink, or hang out with criminal friends, etc. — are largely fake. A court cannot revoke their bond for risk of causing the release of a separate violent juvenile. Juveniles who simply ignore bond conditions are kept in the community, because there is nowhere else to put them.
We used to have residential places to put juvenile offenders — places that actually helped juveniles offenders with mental health and addiction issues. Enter the federal government to kill them off. In 2018, Congress smuggled into the Bi-partisan Budget Act a law pleasingly-titled the Federal Family First Prevention Services Act. It promised money for things like residential placements, but, as is the case with everything the feds do, created so much red tape to even qualify for the funds, many have chosen to shut down rather than endure the death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts. For those who have survived the feds’ good intentions thus far, there are not enough spots statewide for the juvenile offenders who need them. The is no residential drug treatment placement that qualifies under the fed rules.
All juvenile offenders who are given bond are required to by law to be given a Personal Recognizance bond by the judge. The Colorado Youth Detention Continuum (CYDC) provides pretrial supervision for juvenile offenders. In the Eighteenth Judicial District, CDYC is almost out of money, which means CYDC terminates their supervision of juvenile offenders early. CYDC can no longer assist with paying for various needed services or therapies.
These are only the pre-trial problems BEFORE the juvenile is convicted or adjudicated for their misconduct. The problems are at least as bad — if not worse for judges when they impose just sentences on the young criminals.
There are going to be more 14-year-old, gun-slinging murderers in Colorado. Meanwhile, the Legislature will try again to immunize 10–12-year-old criminals next session. They can be stopped—but it has to take place on our ballots in November. Will we do it?
George Brauchler is the former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District and is a candidate for district attorney in the newly created 23rd Judicial District. He has served as an Owens Early Criminal Justice Fellow at the Common Sense Institute. Follow him on Twitter(X): @GeorgeBrauchler.