AURORA | Shoplifters convicted of stealing more than $300 worth of merchandise from Aurora retail stores could soon face a three-day minimum jail sentence, under a proposal that City Council members are set to vote on Monday night.
The bill by Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky builds on mandatory minimum penalties for car theft that the council’s conservative majority voted to introduce earlier this year.
Jurinsky’s retail theft item was scheduled to be heard in late August but ultimately postponed at the request of Jurinsky, who said at the time that she wanted to create a “more comprehensive” ordinance with the help of police, business owners and the City Attorney’s office.
At a policy committee meeting last week, Jurinsky said she was bringing the ordinance back to the council without the unspecified provisions that she considered including in August, which deputy city attorney Pete Schulte said was the recommendation of the City Attorney’s Office.
During the committee meeting, Jurinsky said the three-day minimum sentence was chosen because the city jail, where defendants would be incarcerated, cannot hold suspects for more than 72 hours, though Schulte said habitual offenders would likely face longer sentences, which they would serve in another jail.
Schulte also said the $300 floor was designed to avoid locking up individuals stealing groceries and other necessities out of need, though Jurinsky said she was “open” to lowering the floor.
Also on Monday, the group may give final approval to allowing ducks in more residential neighborhoods, which they voted 9-1 to do in August.
Monday’s meeting will be the group’s first time together after a two-week break from regular meetings and study sessions. It is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. and will be in-person and open to the public as well as streamed through the city’s YouTube channel and broadcast on local television channels 8 and 880.
I voted for Danielle and I’m so glad I did. Great job!!!
Is she going to apprehend the thieves and hold them for the police?
Really? What does this actually accomplish? Be specific now..
Same problem as last time these goons tried mandatory minimums. They don’t work. Jailing people for 2 days for a minor offense is just stupid – it’s no deterrent, it’s just expensive for the city. In fact, it’s probably just going to end up being the most espensive way that we actually house the homeless. Anybody checked to see how many contractors who make $$$ off of jails have donated to Mike Coffman, Danielle Jurinsky, Dustin Zvonek? Somebody’s gotta be on the take for how excited these villians get for paying hundreds of dollars a night to jail people for tiny amounts of time. Taxpayers could spend less money on PROVEN things that actually reduce crime, like retraining programs and community service programs. They cost LESS than jailing people and they WORK BETTER. Daddy’s Girl Danielle just thinks spanking people with jail time looks powerful because she’s illiterate and can’t read the studies that staff keep presenting.
This is fantastic. It makes for good press. But who is going to apprehend and arrest the thieves? No one is allowed to stop them and are we to expect the police to be stationed at the door every time there is a theft?
I did not vote for Danielle, I don’t believe she is looking out for the average citizen, She does not care about the issues that hurt the society like homelessness , Crime only from the police prospective. We need people in local government who will look out for the lesser of us not for the wealthiest of us.
“Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said prosecutors are “swimming upstream” against a fundamental mistrust of government and need to work to earn the public’s trust, especially from communities of color after a tough on crime approach led to mass incarceration while not offering enough help to marginalized people.”
what part of this does Danielle not understand?