“Shots fired; shots fired!” As a law enforcement officer who spent over 10 years on the job in the Denver area on assignments ranging from patrol officer to watch commander, this was the radio call I most dreaded.

Coupled with the 12 years I spent in the U.S. Army and Colorado Army National Guard, I’ve dedicated my adult life to defending the defenseless and protecting our community. Now that I’m in the state legislature, I’m no longer the first person arriving on dangerous scenes, but I can still contribute to the vital work of making our communities safer.

Protecting our schools and kids is critically important. “Thoughts and prayers” are not enough. As legislators, we must research, debate, and implement effective policies. As violence in our schools and society rages on, I rely on my experience to inform my policy positions. And that’s why I’m disheartened.

The ruling Democrats have been in complete control of Colorado for the last five years. Despite this unprecedented political dominance, problems are not being solved. A recent report from the U.S. Department of Justice shows Colorado’s violent crime victimization went up 45% between 2017 and 2019, compared to a national increase of 22%. In fact, the report (dated March 2023) shows Colorado had the highest violent victimization increase of any state in the nation over the span of three years. Schools are not immune from this violence.

So, what is the solution? We need to get serious about protecting our kids. This starts with understanding that well-trained and well-equipped law enforcement officers in schools are a huge deterrent to violence. In the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting, Nashville Chief of Police John Drake reported the shooter chose to attack Covenant, a school the shooter had attended, in part because another potential target had more security. In Denver, Democrat Mayor Michael Hancock has publicly stated that the Denver Public School Board’s decision to remove school resource officers was a mistake. Students themselves have told the media that Denver schools feel less safe when officers are absent.

Unfortunately, Colorado’s ruling Democrats don’t want to discuss improving school safety in this fashion. Instead, they focus on one-sided legislation with high partisan appeal and low real-world effectiveness. None of this year’s gun control bills would have stopped recent shootings. The suspected East High School shooter was 17 – too young to purchase or possess a firearm under current law. The Nashville shooter was 28 and premeditated the attack – increasing age restrictions and requiring a waiting period to purchase a firearm would not have helped. Expanding Red Flag laws to include mental health care providers will stigmatize seeking mental health care and result in fewer gun owners seeking help.

Protecting our schools starts with implementing recognized solutions — solutions for which even Democrats like Hancock are now advocating. Short-term, we must increase resources for proven security options like SROs.

Twenty-two years of law enforcement and military experience taught me that protecting key assets — like schools — involves robust physical security. In addition to SROs, this includes aggressively combatting things like fake threats that trigger lockdowns. Long-term, we need to get serious about holistic support structures that combine family, schools, mental and behavioral health in a complimentary system.

Unfortunately, Democrat policies this year pit parents and schools against each other by restricting parental involvement in their kid’s education and health care, stigmatizing mental health, and regulating inanimate objects, all while ignoring proven solutions. Moreover, under the Democrat’s watch, Colorado law enforcement has been historically demoralized and is facing a massive recruiting and retention crisis.

The policies being forced through the legislature by the Democrat majority are focusing on symptoms, not solutions. The time wasted on ideological legislation will not solve Colorado’s problems. My great fear is that, in a few years, we’ll be taking a page from Mayor Hancock’s book and apologizing for today’s short-sighted decisions that felt good at the time, but actually worsened school and public safety by failing to implement effective, balanced, and bipartisan policies.

Gabe Evans, a Republican from Ft. Lupton, represents District 48 in the Colorado House of Representatives. His district includes parts of Adams and Weld counties.  He’s a former Arvada police officer and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army.

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