Crisis of Safety: How Policy Choices Put Coloradans at Risk

What We Believe

In May of 2025, Colorado was ranked the second most dangerous state in the nation, a distinction driven by years of lenient, soft-on-crime policies. Over the past decade, lawmakers have enacted sweeping changes that have prioritized leniency over accountability, reduced sentences for repeat offenders, and limited our law enforcement’s resources, fundamentally reshaping the state’s justice system.

These policies have had clear consequences. Violent and property crime rates in Colorado have consistently outpaced national overages. According to the Colorado Department of Public Safety’s 2024 crime trend report, between 2013 and 2022, violent crime rose 61%, homicides climbed 94%, aggravated assaults increased 88%, and motor vehicle theft surged by a staggering 231%.

As legislators continue to pass bills that reduce incarceration, expand mental incompetency loopholes, and weaken the authority of law enforcement, Colorado’s public safety remains at risk. Without a renewed focus on accountability and victim protection, our state will continue to serve as a cautionary example of how soft-on-crime policies can endanger entire communities.

Elizabeth Caven

Elizabeth serves as the Outreach Director and Policy Analyst at Advance Colorado. She previously worked for the Colorado House of Representatives for nearly three years as a legislative aide, where she assisted in policy work across a range of issue areas for the caucus. Elizabeth earned dual undergraduate degrees in Politics and Philosophy from Colorado Christian University. While at CCU, she served as President of the Philosophy Club, participated in First Liberty’s D.C. Fellowship Program, and worked with the Centennial Institute. She and her husband, Jason, live in Littleton.

At Advance Colorado, we believe in an education system that puts Colorado parents and students first through a system that emphasizes:

At the heart of Colorado’s school system is school choice, in which our state has been a national trailblazer for decades. – a system that has enjoyed deep, bipartisan support.

What We Do

We craft cutting edge policies that empower parents, taxpayers, and teachers and push back on the status quo interests that resist reform.

Our 2024 Policy Agenda includes several important education reform priorities. Read it HERE

This year, we are leading the charge to protect the school choice rights we currently have – rights that are annually under siege from the education establishment groups that want to eliminate your right to choose the best school for your children. We can secure our rights into the future through a school choice amendment to the Colorado Constitution.

Read our policy brief on this important issue HERE.

What You Can Do

We help citizens become advocates and leaders.

Whether you are a concerned parent, grandparent or taxpayer, Advance Colorado can equip you with the knowledge and tools to be an effective advocate for high quality, accountable schools. Learn more about our ambassador program.

And if you are interested in running to become a member of your local school board, you can apply to participate in the Advance Colorado Academy New Leader program. LINK If you are a current school board member, you can enroll in our “You’ve Won, Now What?” program. Learn more about our “You’ve Won, Now What?” program.