Aurora, Colorado, residents are suffering from skyrocketing juvenile violent crime as a 2021 state law restricting juvenile detention allows violent teenagers to be released from jail, according to CBS Colorado.
Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law Senate Bill 21-071, which decreased the cap on juvenile beds for detainees from 327 to 215 in 2021. In 2023, there was a 42% increase in juvenile detentions for violent crimes in Aurora, with approximately 50 juveniles detained on an average day for manslaughter and murder-related charges, according to a Colorado Division of Youth Services (DYS) report.
“It’s at crisis levels at this point,” 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner told CBS Colorado. “Youth crime in our district, in our state, and certainly across the metro area is skyrocketing. We’ve seen an increase of over 20% of juvenile filings just since 2021, but more importantly, seen an increase of 124% when it comes to juvenile homicide filings.” (RELATED: Escaped Murder Suspect Captured After Barricading Himself In Workplace, Authorities Say)
Most recently, Aurora Police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle which led to a shootout where 20 shots were fired at officers by four teenagers. The suspects are being charged with attempted murder, one count each of aggravated motor vehicle theft and one count each of second-degree burglary, according to the Aurora Police Department (APD).
Last week, APD officers tracking a stolen vehicle were attacked by several minor-aged criminal offenders. More than 20 rounds of gunfire were fired at our officers, prompting a multi-jurisdictional pursuit that traveled through portions of Aurora and Denver.
Today, we are… pic.twitter.com/1yP1ePF14A
— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) August 16, 2024
“We’re seeing this so much, and part of the reason why it’s important to share this video is to show what our officers have to deal with,” Aurora Police Chief Mark Hildebrand told CBS Colorado. “On any night, on any call, they can be confronted with a situation just like this.”
In Aurora, 47.2% of juveniles detained in 2023 were “mandatory, repeat, violent or aggravated” offenders, according to the DYS report. There were 172 unique juveniles booked for detention for homicide or manslaughter-related charges from 2022 to 2023, compared to 107 in 2021 to 2022.
“It used to be well over 300… and it keeps getting cut and cut. Only 36 are allocated to the 18th Judicial District, and we occupy all 36 almost every day. That does not set us up for success. What that does is put at-risk youth back onto the streets,” Kellner told CBS Colorado. “Judges have to make a decision of which violent juvenile to release to stay underneath this arbitrary bed cap. If you’re releasing other violent juveniles back into the community, there’s a sense there isn’t a consequence.”
“As crime rates continue trending in the right direction, Colorado will continue looking for ways to make our state safer for everyone, including working with legislators, District Attorneys, local law enforcement and other stakeholders to make sure that the Division of Youth Services has the necessary resources to respond to our current needs, including increasing the juvenile bed cap if needed,” Shelby Wieman, press secretary for Gov. Polis, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Aurora Police Department did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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