Some Colorado Cities Are Fed-Up With Retail Theft And Do Something About It
There has been an increase in retail theft and some cities are doing something about it. Colorado is one of the states that has seen an increase in retail theft. The culprit is laws that loosen the penalties for theft.
Now some Colorado cities are doing something about it. A couple of cities have passed ordinances to try and put a halt to increased theft.
The Blaze has what’s going on in Aurora, Colorado.
“The situation is out of control,” said Mayor Mike Coffman of Aurora. The city has passed an ordinance that would put people in jail for three days if they are found guilty of stealing more than $300 in merchandise.
“There’s a rising anger about that,” Coffman continued, “and the feeling is they’re not just stealing from the store, they’re stealing from everybody.”
He went on to say that the new law was a response to the state legislature lessening penalties for theft.
“When somebody is an habitual criminal and behind bars, those days they are not creating new victims, not stealing from our stores,” said Coffman.
“The message of this ordinance is, ‘Aurora is fed up,'” he added. “Aurora is gonna be tough on crime.”
Property crime in the city has dropped 13.9% over the same period from last year.
Aurora is not the only city cracking down on crime. The city of Westminster, Colorado as well. Also, from The Blaze.
In the city of Westminster, a new law will target car crimes, including joyriding, street racing, and catalytic converter theft.
“Don’t do a crime in Westminster. We want you to know we are going to hold you accountable if we catch you breaking the law in Westminster,” said David DeMott, the mayor pro tem of the city. He also claimed the new law was a response to weakened resolve at the legislative level.
When I supported criminal justice reform, I wanted things like less police brutality. It does not mean supporting soft penalties for retail theft and other crimes. Stealing things is not a victimless crime.
The purpose of cities is for humans to come together to engage in commerce. Allowing crime to fester out of control harms commerce. You can see that from the retail stores that are abandoning San Francisco due to high amounts of retail theft.
If cities are not safe for commerce, let alone providing a quality of life, people will leave those cities. The cities will decay and the quality of life will get even worse. Society as a whole would be worse off.
To get property crime under control, more cities and states need to crack down on it. Putting criminals in jail actually works and we should have more of that.
