As the economy sours, education fails, and access to quality health care dries up, we see increases in local crime statistics. As a result, our jails and prisons are overcrowded and we see too many criminals turned out to the streets before serving an appropriate sentence. Punishment alone is not sufficient as a deterrent.

My approach to solving these and other problems as they relate to our judicial system is based in my experience as a problem-solving engineer (addressing root causes instead of symptoms), my years in community service, and my work with police departments and sheriffs' offices. Addressing the socioeconomic causes of crime in our society would allow our law enforcement agencies to focus on more critical areas of justice, including white-collar crime and sexual predators.

When criminals are incarcerated, they are no longer benefiting themselves or society. They are not earning wages and paying taxes, it costs taxpayer money to incarcerate them, and if they have unsupported family members, then many times those family members must sustain themselves on welfare.

I would support the following approaches to crime prevention and reducing recidivism rates in Colorado:

• recognize that drug abuse is a medical problem and provide access to drug and alcohol abuse programs (counseling and treatment) for all that need it
• more rehabilitation and treatment programs for youthful offenders to help them get back on the right track, including community service and mentorships
• increase community involvement through neighborhood awareness programs
• require prisoners to go through personal development classes, skills training, and other education prior to release
• expansion of work-release programs for non-violent offenders
• develop other alternatives to incarceration for youth and first-time non-violent offenders
• cracking down on child abuse and sexual predators
• cutting the bureaucracy of the judicial system
• protect personal freedoms and civil liberties
• have criminals bear a more direct responsibility for compensating victims, rather than simply “serving time”
• working with local law enforcement agencies to address community-specific concerns directly
• revisit mandatory sentencing laws to evaluate their effectiveness and adjust as necessary
• encourage the development of after-school activities in areas most prone to have juvenile offenders