Rep. David Ortiz has done the work and will continue to ensure that every Coloradan can live a life free from fear. In order to fight crime and promote real justice, Rep Ortiz knows we have to balance giving law enforcement more tools to be effective and providing resources to our people to prevent crime where it starts, which he did by supporting the Fentanyl law and legislation that will fight against catalytic converter theft.
The Fentanyl bill balances giving law enforcement and prosecutors more tools to go after dealers and distributors of fentanyl and other drugs with fentanyl in them, while also ensuring we secure significant funding to treat those that are battling addiction. The Anti-theft of Catalytic Converter Law will ensure that those that purchase catalytic converters second hand track who they purchased them from and ensure that the individual selling is not selling stolen products. This bill gives real tools to law enforcement to track and stop those attempting to steal and sell, and it deters with harsher punishments for those that commit these thefts.
Rep Ortiz also believes we need to strengthen the trust and bond between law enforcement and the community. We do that through ensuring transparency and accountability for our officers. We can support our law enforcement by providing funding and grants for partner organizations that might be better suited to handle certain situations that law enforcement might not be properly trained to handle, like nonviolent mental health crises.
Besides giving law enforcement more tools and increasing trust through transparency and accountability, Rep Ortiz believes that we tackle crime by bringing down recidivism, the rate at which a prior offender re-commits crime and enters back into the criminal justice system. Colorado’s largest expenditure is putting people in cages. Rep Ortiz was proud to expand access to our Veterans Treatment Courts. For veterans that committed a nonviolent crime that can be traced back to undiagnosed and/or untreated PTSD and mental health issues, plead guilty, but instead of going to jail they go on probation and remain out of jail as long as they meet certain gates around mental health treatment, peer to peer mentorship and more. Veteran Treatment Courts have the highest success rate of all specialized courts at 80% success. Rep Ortiz is proud to fight crime through combating recidivism and keeping our veterans out of jail with mental health treatment.
Rep David Ortiz has a proven track record on tackling crime holistically by ensuring law enforcement and DAs have the tools they need, promoting trust through transparency and accountability, and combat recidivism through successful programs that empower those that want to help themselves.
In his first term, David has supported many measure to help reduce crime and recidivism in our state, including
Expanding the Community Crime Prevention Initiative, investing over $4 million in direct grants for small businesses, local governments, and schools for community-led crime prevention efforts.
Created the Offender ID Assistance Program, assisting those who have served their time in getting an ID and helping them get a job to reduce recidivism.
Co-sponsored legislation creating new grant programs that support law enforcement recruitment and retention to combat workforce shortages.
Co-sponsored legislation to empower local authorities to crack down on human trafficking.
Supported work opportunities for inmates to promote their rehabilitation to help reduce recidivism.