A recently released report issued in support of Colorado Ballot Initiative 157 shows a correlation between police departments that suffer under-staffing issues and higher crime rates.

The Common Sense Institute, a Denver-based free-enterprise research organization, released a report Tuesday on Ballot Initiative 157 — which asks voters to approve appropriation of $350 million to fund police recruitment, training, and support for police officers and their families.

A change in state policy and funding aimed more towards prioritizing civilian roles within police departments and regulating policing strategies has reduced the number of police with arrest powers on the streets, according to the report.

According to the report, Initiative 157 would “devote state funding to hiring programs and pay raises for Colorado peace officers at a time during which the number of uniformed officers per capita has been declining.”

“Unfortunately, one of the problems with budgets, particularly the state budget, is it doesn’t go to law enforcement,” said Paul Pazen, former chief of the Denver Police Department and Fellow at the Institute. “So, meaning they have crafted a public safety budget, but when giving out grants, the majority, and I’m going to underline that word majority — 63% of the money — actually goes to nonprofits, community-based organizations, others, instead of focusing on law enforcement.”

The initiative has drawn critics, too. “Initiative 157 is designed to waste taxpayer money while masquerading as a ballot measure for public safety” said Sophia Mayott- Guerrero, interim director of advocacy and strategic alliances at the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in an email statement to The Denver Gazette. “This measure will direct additional money away from critical community programs such as education, social services, and healthcare, that are proven ways to increase community safety and does not include any financial support for diversion, mental health resources, or other, more effective public safety programs.”

Prioritizing alternative policing theories advanced by some nonprofits and community organizations has contributed to defunding the hiring and retention of uniformed officers, Pazen said.

In last-draft comments from interested parties sent to the state Legislative Council, which creates the for-andagainst Blue Book summaries, comments suggested by the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition objected to the funds being restricted to police officers that “cannot be used by or to support other entities like firefighters, paramedics, or community-based partnerships like youth mentorship, substance abuse treatment, and mental health resources”.

The CSI report analyzes crime rates and law enforcement funding between 2011 and 2023, saying that crime rose 26% overall in that period — with motor vehicle thefts going up 225% — as Colorado’s lagging law enforcement cadre of 2.2 officers per 1,000 people continues to fall behind the national average of 2.4 officers.

The report provided no actual crime numbers to back up those percentages, but cited the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting as its source.

The report says that the number of sworn police officers in law enforcement agencies in Colorado shrank from 69% in 2013 to 65% in 2023. From 2011 to 2024, the number of officers with arrest powers increased 7.9%, half the rate by which the state’s population rose.

In Denver, between 2010 and 2022, the number of uniformed police declined 15.1% as the crime rate increased 32%.

In Colorado Springs, with an increase in officers of 5.7%, crime decreased by 15.9% between 2010 and 2022.

The final Blue Book draft arguments against the Proposition includes the statement: “No evidence exists to demonstrate that increased funding to law enforcement agencies has made communities safer.”

The CSI report disagrees.

“There is some evidence that dedicated funding towards attracting and retaining uniformed police officers corresponds to a downward turn in crime rates, as seen in Colorado Springs,” the report added. “Additional funding may press crime downward, though the ballot measure is unclear as to how its impacts will be tracked and overseen.”

Pazen told The Denver Gazette that the notion that minority communities want fewer police officers on the street is not true.

“I would point to the Gallup surveys that say communities of color — 81% of African American communities — say they don’t want less police in their neighborhoods. Eighty-two percent of Latino communities indicated they don’t want less police. People — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation — want to be safe. And fewer police officers in communities certainly isn’t going to contribute to safer communities.”

The report also said the passage of SB20-217, which limited qualified immunity for police officers, resulted in a wave of retirements and officers quitting law enforcement, and agencies have had difficulty replacing them.

Pazen said that the removal of qualified immunity from police officers has had a detrimental effect on law enforcement in Colorado and has increased, not decreased crime.

Other legislation that lessened consequences for offenders on parole and probation, among other changes, increased the workload on a shrinking police force, according to the report.

According to the initiative, this is a one-time appropriation.

“The measure does not relay how the funding changes sparked by the $350 million will be sustained over time,” said the report. “However, the legislature could decide to authorize the program to make it permanent or exist over a longer period of time.”

The initiative is sponsored by Michael Fields, the President of the Advance Colorado Institute, and Suzanne Taheri, a lawyer with the West Group.

Advance Colorado Institute‘s web page says it is “an idea incubator, generating new, common-sense solutions to many of our state’s biggest challenges, including limited government, taxation, education, crime and public safety, and mental health.” Its leadership includes Vice President Kristi Burton Brown, former chairwoman of the Colorado Republican Party, and Colorado House Minority Leader Rep. Rose Pugliese, R- Colorado Springs, who is listed as a fellow.