A panel of experts on Tuesday argued that certain crimes deserve a felony category, instead of a misdemeanor, and Colorado’s policymakers should give law enforcers the tools they need to go after criminals.

That approach might entail pushing back on policies throughout the state and in municipalities, according to the panelists at the Common Sense Institute’s (CSI) annual summit.

Moderated by Executive Editor of The Gazette, Vince Bzdek, three panelists discussed tackling crime through data-driven strategies. The Panelists included 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams and CSI criminal justice expert and fellow Mitch Morrissey, a former Denver District Attorney.

“The way you impact crime is you catch the criminals that are professionals,” Morrissey said, adding those criminals keep reoffending because they only face misdemeanors.  

Morrissey pointed to retail and auto thefts as an example, saying there needs to be changes in the state legislature to give law enforcement the tools it needs to go after criminals.

“When you make something a misdemeanor, they’re going to commit the misdemeanor and not the felony,” Morrissey said. “We have an incredible retail theft problem that needs to be addressed. It’s putting small businesses out of business.

“These are the kinds of things that need to be addressed,” he said, citing a CSI study showing Colorado retail stores have lost $80 million to theft. He did not specify a time range.

“It shows the people of Colorado and the legislature are out of step,” he said. 

Kellner, the 18th Judicial District Attorney, agreed with Morrissey, saying the legislature should focus on “misdemeanor reform.”

“What kind of message does it send to criminals in Colorado that you can walk into your retail establishment and steal $1,000 of goods?” Kellner asked. “It’s a misdemeanor, you’re not getting arrested, and then you can come back and do it again and still not face a felony offense.”

The prosecutor said different jurisdictions take different approaches, citing Denver’s one-time practice to not pull over vehicles based on expired license tags.

“I think the idea of not stopping people for violations of the law you’ve heard about in Denver is a mistake,” Kellner said.

Typically, Kellner said, prosecutors “hands are tied” when it comes to parole and sentencing for certain cases — especially surrounding drugs and thefts.

When it comes to drugs, Kellner said: “There is a lot of work that needs to be done at the legislature to fix our drug laws.”

He added that drug charges have very different consequences, depending on whether the charge is a misdemeanor or a felony.

Reams, the Weld County Sheriff, said marijuana has represented “a gateway to a lot of drug trafficking.”

The panelists suggested raising penalties for drug possession, more awareness, public education and additional offenses for drug dealing that result in overdoses.

“There is a natural mechanism that flows drugs out to the community,” Reams said, adding that the influx of immigrants who arrived in metro Denver after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has aggravated Colorado’s illicit drug problem and other crimes.

“The Denver Police Department has had to stop going to the overdose deaths at crime scenes because there were so many of them they couldn’t get to murderers, rapists and those kinds of things,” Morrissey said.

“This has a huge impact,” he said, noting a CSI report that pegged the cost of crime at billions of dollars.

After the panel, Kellner told The Denver Gazette that policymakers should conduct a “in-depth analysis of what’s working and what’s not.”

“Let’s not just make decisions of the law based on feelings and anecdotes,” he said. 

CSI, which describes itself as a nonpartisan research group focused on promoting Colorado’s economy,” held its annual summit at the Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. The guest speakers were former Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado and former Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona.