News
Hickenlooper: States have ‘sovereignty’ on recreational marijuana issue, a ‘great social experiment’
DENVER – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper seems to have warmed to the legal recreational marijuana industry in the state, according to comments he made Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press.
Moderator Chuck Todd asked Hickenlooper, who is in Washington for the 2017 National Governors Association Winter Meeting, on his thoughts about the recreational marijuana industry and how it might be affected by new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Continue reading
Colo. burglary victims unlikely to get results; data shows police have a hard time solving the crime
DENVER – If you’re the victim of a crime awaiting justice, recent law enforcement reports suggest you may be waiting a long time. FBI data shows that clearance rates — the rate in which crimes are solved — for some crimes in particular might be even lower than one would think.
“I think generally society wants the law enforcement to be able to solve all crime, and unfortunately, it’s just not a reality,” Golden Police Department Captain Joe Harvey said.
Clearances are defined by the FBI in one of two ways: by arrest or by “exceptional means.” Clearance by arrest means at least one person has either been arrested, charged or turned over for prosecution in regards to the alleged crime.
Editor’s Note: Watch the full story Friday night on Denver7 at 10 p.m.
Exceptional means clearances happen when all four of the following conditions are met: Law enforcement agencies must have identified the offender of the crime, gathered enough evidence to support an arrest and charge, identified the alleged offender’s location, and have come across a circumstance that prevents them from arresting, charging and prosecuting the alleged criminal.
Nationally, clearance rates for various crimes in 2015 sit as follows: murders and homicides — 62 percent; aggravated assault — 54 percent; rape — 38 percent; robbery — 29 percent; burglary — 14 percent.
In Colorado, the percentages are fairly similar, though Denver, the state’s largest city, bucked some of the trends.
Clearance rates in Colorado similar, but burglaries are biggest problem
Denver’s homicide clearance rate was lower than the national average, at 51 percent. But Denver police cleared 53 percent of rapes – higher than the national average, and cleared 14.5 percent of burglaries.
Burglaries remain the most difficult crimes for law enforcement agencies in Colorado to clear, they say.
According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation data, there were 23,333 burglaries reported in Colorado in 2015 – a 0.9 percent increase from the year before. Burglaries accounted for nearly 51 percent of all major crimes that were reported.
In some Colorado cities, the clearance rate is significantly lower than the national average.
In 2015, Denver saw a 15 percent clearance rate for burglaries. Golden had the highest burglary clearance rate in the Denver metro area, at 22 percent. And northern Colorado’s burglary clearance rates were higher on average as well: Larimer County had a 20 percent clearance rate; Fort Collins’ rate was 15 percent and Weld County’s was 12 percent.
“Sometimes it’s good luck; sometimes it’s good investigative leads,” Golden’s Harvey said.
But he adds that numbers can change quickly, and that sometimes, there aren’t enough detectives to assign one to each case.
A force’s manpower and many other factors come into play when it comes to solving crimes, and that shows when looking at the clearance rates in some other metro-area jurisdictions, which didn’t fare as well.
The burglary clearance rate in ritzy suburb Cherry Hills Village was 11 percent; Aurora’s was 8 percent and Centennial’s was 6 percent. Lone Tree police cleared just one of 50 burglary cases in 2015, and Jefferson County cleared 7.8 percent of its 500 burglaries that year.
But Littleton, a municipality of around 50,000 people, had a burglary clearance rate of just 1.5 percent in 2015 (three out of 199 burglaries were cleared), putting it near the bottom of the list for the entire state.
“It’s very difficult to solve a burglary in any city,” said Littleton Police Department Commander Trent Cooper, who leads the department’s investigations division.
He says there is obviously room for improvement when it comes to solving burglary cases, but told Denver7 Investigates he thinks his department is doing well overall.
“These numbers reflect the difficulty of a burglary in particular,” Cooper said. “Burglary as a crime has got a very low solvability rate.”
Cooper says that numbers in 2016 improved to a 5 percent clearance rate for burglaries, though the FBI data for last year won’t be available until later this year.
But 2015 data for Littleton wasn’t great as a whole, aside from the low burglary clearance rate.
The Littleton Police Department cleared one of seven arson cases, five of 112 motor vehicle thefts, and 93 of 770 theft cases.
For the full Colorado clearance rates per crime, sorted by city and county, click here or see the chart embedded below. (Hit Ctrl+F to search the spreadsheet).
What can be done to stem burglaries?
But both state- and nationwide, burglary victims are often left without closure in their cases.
Dave Read, of Commerce City, came home one day to find a man loading his guns out of his apartment in a wheelbarrow. When confronted, the burglar jumped out of a window.
Chuck Frederick had nearly $15,000 worth of tools stolen from his truck overnight in Castle Rock as his wife and kids slept inside – another unsolved burglary.
Read even had a video of the suspect in the burglary at his home, but despite the footage being broadcast across Denver news channels, the suspect was never caught.
Cooper says it’s unlikely that a detective would be assigned to a case that has no video evidence and in which no one saw a suspect enter or leave the home or vehicle that was burglarized. A scene with no obvious fingerprints is also often times a dead-end for investigators, Cooper says.
Police say that having security cameras is still the best way to help investigators catch any burglary suspects, if a homeowner can afford them.
Video evidence can show a suspect’s face, appearance, or special characteristics such as an odd gait or distinct height and weight features.
It can also show places where the suspected burglar walked or touched, which can narrow down the scope of the area where detectives could search for fingerprints, shoe sole prints or DNA evidence that may help them identify a suspect.
Police also advise people to write down the serial numbers of any electronics or other items that a burglar may target.
Televisions, computers, cell phones, game consoles and many other items come with distinct serial numbers that law enforcement can put into a nationwide database that pawn shops and other stores across the country often cross-check when items are sold, and could help investigators figure out where stolen items end up.
Editor’s note: Each year, the FBI Uniform Crime Report comes with the following disclaimer:
Each year when Crime in the United States is published, some entities use the figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, tribal area, or region. Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population coverage or student enrollment.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Data: Crackdown on legal marijuana industry would cost thousands of jobs, billions in revenue
DENVER – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s Thursday statements that the Department of Justice may crack down on states with legal recreational marijuana could lead to far-ranging effects on the burgeoning industry should they hold any water.
A Forbes report based on data from New Frontier Data says that if the legal marijuana market continues to grow unimpeded by the federal government, the industry would create more jobs than the manufacturing industry by 2020. Continue reading
Sheriff’s Office: Rabbit Mountain Fire was caused by people shooting targets at ranch
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – Investigators have determined that people shooting targets at Round Mountain Ranch caused Monday’s Rabbit Mountain Fire, which burned 151 acres and four buildings.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says the people were shooting at steel plates and that a bullet fragment sparked a fire in grass near the targets.
The sheriff’s office says the people tried to put the fire out, but it spread quickly because of dry and windy conditions. They were the ones who called 911 to report the fire, according to spokesman Commander Mike Wagner.
The sheriff’s office says the fire burned 151 acres, four buildings and a horse trailer. It said Thursday that no animals were lost in the fire.
The sheriff’s office says it is discussing possible charges for the people with the Boulder District Attorney’s Office.
It said the peoples’ identities are not being released, citing the ongoing investigation.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Colorado’s Buck, Beauprez to speak at CPAC panel comparing wall, extreme vetting to heaven
DENVER – Two Colorado politicians will speak this Saturday at a session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) titled, “If Heaven Has a Gate, A Wall, and Extreme Vetting, Why Can’t America?”
Rep. Ken Buck, Colorado’s Republican CO-4 representative, and former CO-7 Rep. Bob Beauprez, who most recently launched two unsuccessful bids for the governorship, are among five speakers on the panel, which also includes Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, Mike Gonzales of conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, and Helen Krieble of the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation, who is also a Coloradan.
The panel is one of hundreds at the annual event, which has been under more of a microscope than usual this year after it originally invited Milo Yiannopolous to speak at the event, then rescinded its invitation to the alt-right blogger after he made comments advocating pederasty.
But the panel Buck and Beauprez will speak on has been jeered on social media for various reasons.
The official CPAC website lists Beauprez, who is the moderator of the panel, not as a former representative, but rather as a current one. It also says he represents Colorado’s 10th Congressional district, which does not exist.
And though Beauprez is Roman Catholic, the Pope even seemingly threw shade at the panel.
Jesus entrusted to Peter the keys to open the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, and not to close it.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) February 22, 2017
“Jesus entrusted Peter the keys to open the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, and not to close it,” Pope Francis tweeted.
Both Buck and Beauprez wrote on their Facebook pages that they would be speaking at the CPAC panel. Beauprez said he was “honored” to have been asked to participate.
Among other panels at CPAC: Facts, Not Feelings: Snowflakes, Safe Spaces and Trigger Warnings; and When Did WWIII Begin?
C-SPAN is streaming the conference through the weekend.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
White House compares recreational pot to opioid crisis, says DOJ will be ‘taking action’
WASHINGTON – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at Thursday’s daily press briefing that he expects the Department of Justice will be “taking action” against states that have legalized recreational marijuana, and at the same time seemingly compared recreational use to the nationwide opioid crisis.
“There’s a big difference between [medical] and recreational marijuana,” Spicer said. “And I think that when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing that we should be doing is encouraging people.” Continue reading
Bill that would launch study for Front Range rail line from Pueblo to Fort Collins passes Senate
DENVER – A proposal that aims to continue work toward a Pueblo stop on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief passenger train route, and to add a passenger train route from Trinidad along the Front Range to Fort Collins, cleared a Colorado Senate floor vote Thursday morning.
Senate Bill 153 is co-sponsored by Sen. Larry Crowder, a Republican who represents much of the area in southern Colorado the Southwest Chief runs through, as well as Sen. Leroy Garcia and Rep. Daneya Esgar – both Pueblo Democrats.
The bill would replace the Southwest Chief Rail Line Economic Development, Rural Tourism, and Infrastructure Repair and Maintenance Commission with a new commission, the Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission.
The original commission’s authorization is set to expire July 1. Should the bill become law, a Type 1 transfer would be used to move the original commission to the new commission.
The new commission would be tasked with continuing the work the Southwest Chief commission has undertaken since its establishment in 2014, namely improving existing rail lines used by Amtrak and BNSF and extending rail lines between Pueblo and La Junta in order to eventually have Pueblo and Walsenburg linked to the Southwest Chief route, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles.
The new commission would have 13 members, as opposed to the current 9. Five would be governor-appointees; five will be appointed by various metro planning organizations along the Front Range, and one would be appointed by the Regional Transportation District. The final two members, a CDOT employee and and Amtrak employee, would not be able to vote, but would sit on the commission and advise it.
Should the bill become law, the new commission would continue to be funded by grants, gifts and donations. Its members would not be paid for their work. Some would serve four years on the commission, and others would be limited to two years.
In addition to the Southwest Chief expansion, the commission would also be tasked with facilitating a plan to build a passenger rail line along the Front Range, which the bill says “may include” stops in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins.
The commission would have to present its plans for the proposed rail line to local government committees in both the state House and Senate by Dec. 1.
The bill passed the Senate Local Government committee by a 3-0 vote on Feb. 14 and cleared the Senate Finance Committee two days later by a 4-1 vote.
After three readings without amendments on the Senate floor, the bill passed the full Senate with a 24-11 vote Thursday morning. It now heads to the House.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Bill that would have allowed lawsuits against ‘sanctuary city’ officials dies in House committee
DENVER – A bill that would have prohibited the establishment of “sanctuary cities” in Colorado and would have allowed individuals affected by such policies to sue the lawmakers who put the laws in place died in a House committee Wednesday night.
The House State, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee killed House Bill 1134 with a 6-3 party-line vote.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dave Williams, R-El Paso County, told Denver7 Tuesday the bill would have forced politicians “to have skin in the game.”
“If they create the sanctuary city, then they would have to be responsible for the backlash and the follow to that,” he said.
The bill would have allowed for victims of a crime committed by an undocumented person to file a civil lawsuit or criminal complaint against the official or officials who created the “sanctuary” status in that jurisdiction.
It would have allowed people to seek up to $700,000 per person in injury compensation, and up to $1.98 million if two or more people were injured.
The bill also would have established the crime of “rendering assistance to an illegal alien through a sanctuary jurisdiction,” which would have been a class 4 felony.
But the bill saw staunch opposition from Democrats and other groups.
Kyle Huelsman, the policy manager for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, called the bill unconstitutional.
“This is one of the most anti-immigrant and xenophobic bills that we’ve seen in the last decade,” Huelsman told Denver7. “Rep. Williams and (co-sponsor) Sen. Vicky Marble have gone to new extremes to push a radical anti-immigrant agenda in the State Capitol.”
Rep. Williams fired back at the Democrats on the committee who killed his bill in a news release.
“Democrats sent a clear message to Coloradans they are unwilling to accept any responsibility for policies that inhibit criminal illegal aliens from being reported to federal immigration authorities,” Williams said in the release. “If elected officials want to create a sanctuary city, they should be held accountable if those policies directly result in known criminals being released rather than deported.”
Boulder is the only city in Colorado that has officially proclaimed itself as a “sanctuary city.”
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Federal judge grants injunction barring Fort Collins from enforcing rule banning topless women
DENVER – A federal judge on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction that will prevent Fort Collins from enforcing a city ordinance that bans women from exposing their breasts in public, other than for breastfeeding purposes.
U.S. District Court of Colorado Judge R. Brooke Jackson handed down the ruling Wednesday four months after he allowed portions of the lawsuit to proceed on the grounds the ordinance violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
He ruled Wednesday that should the case have gone to trial as the plaintiffs, Free the Nipple – Fort Collins, Brittany Hoagland and Samantha Six, had sought, that he would have found that the ordinance would have indeed violated the clause.
“I also find that the other factors courts must assess in deciding a motion for preliminary injunction weight heavily in plaintiffs’ favor,” Judge Jackson wrote in his granting of the injunction.
The city of Fort Collins had sought to dismiss the claims that the statute violated the Equal Protection Clause after it successfully got some of the other initial claims in the suit tossed by Judge Jackson in October.
The statute in question, which said that “[n]o person shall knowingly appear in any public place in a nude state or state of undress such that the genitals or buttocks of either sex or the breast or breasts of a female are exposed,” was revised in November 2015.
The tailored version barred the exposing of breasts in public areas and on private property if the person could be viewed from a public place.
But Judge Jackson said the code’s modification “did little to mollify plaintiffs’ concerns” in his ruling Wednesday.
He also wrote that Fort Collins’ argument that topless females could disrupt public order is a “negative stereotype…namely, that society considers female breasts primarily as objects of sexual desire whereas male breasts are not.”
He further took the city to task for what he said was seemingly a lack of research for its various arguments in favor of the ordinance, including claims that exposed breasts could endanger children.
“Nor has Fort Collins provided any meaningful evidence that the mere sight of a female breast endangers children,” he wrote. “…It seems, then, that children do not need to be protected from the naked female breast itself but from the negative societal norms, expectation, and stereotypes associated with it.”
He wrote that Denver and Boulder already have legally-sound ordinances “that permit what plaintiffs here seek…But during the hearing, representatives of Fort Collins admitted that they had made no effort to contact either of these neighboring cities or any other jurisdiction to see what their experiences have been.”
“Unfortunately, our history is littered with many forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women,” Judge Jackson continued in his ruling. “As the barriers have come down, one by one, some people were made uncomfortable. In our system, however, the Constitution prevails over popular sentiment.”
He wrote that he also found that Fort Collins’ ordinance discriminates against women because of a “generalized notion” that the exposure of breasts in public “is necessarily a sexualized act.”
“I do not accept the notion, as some of those courts have, that we should continue a stereotypical distinction ‘rightly or wrongly,’ or that something passes constitutional muster because it has historically been part of ‘our culture,’” Judge Jackson writes. “We would not say that, rightly or wrongly, we should continue to recognize a fundamental difference between the ability of males and females to serve on juries…Or between male and female estate administrators…or between military cadets…or between the ability of males and females to practice law…nor should we.”
“After much thought, I have concluded that going out on this lonely limb is the right thing to do,” he continued. “I have no more right to fall back on ‘the way we have always done it’ than those who have reassessed their thinking.”
Fort Collins City Attorney Carrie Daggett issued the following statement to Denver7 in response to the judge’s order Wednesday:
“In light of the Order issued Wednesday, the City is prohibited for now from citing women for exposing their breasts in public under the City Code, pending a final decision in this case,” said City Attorney Carrie Daggett. “While the Judge has acknowledged the other cases upholding similar laws, he concluded he is likely to find the City’s restriction on female toplessness in public is based on an impermissible gender stereotype that results in a form of gender-based discrimination. The City is reviewing the Judge’s decision in this case and City legal, policy and enforcement staff will be considering the City’s options for next steps in light of the Order.”
The plaintiffs in the case could still pursue a permanent injunction via a trial verdict.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Colo. Bureau of Investigation hands Holly Moore case back to Castle Rock, concurs death was suicide
Nearly two years ago, Holly Moore was found dead, hanging by her neck from an electrical cord in a closet at her Castle Rock apartment. The Douglas County Coroner’s Office ruled her death a suicide.
But Moore’s family has always maintained she was murdered, saying that police botched the scene, failed to collect evidence and rushed to the judgment that she had killed herself. Continue reading