DENVER - The ACLU of Colorado sent a letter to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Denver City Council today responding to widely-circulated videos (video1, video2) showing Denver Police taking blankets, tents, and survival gear from people experiencing homelessness as “evidence” of violations of the Denver camping ban, which criminalizes sleeping outside with a blanket, sleeping bag, or any other form of cover or shelter.
The letter demands that the City immediately (1) direct its police officers to cease confiscation of blankets and other survival gear possessed by people experiencing homelessness, (2) suspend enforcement of the Denver Urban Camping Ban through the winter months, using that time to explore alternative approaches to homelessness that do not criminalize people for having nowhere they can afford to live and (3) end the coordinated sweeps of people experiencing homelessness, whether they are conducted through police, public works, private security, all of the above, or any other means.
“It is not an inherent crime to sleep outside, and many people right now have no other viable option. Denver’s shelters are simply unable to serve all people in the Denver area experiencing homelessness, even in the short term, much less as a long-term solution. Until real solutions become Denver’s priority, the city’s ongoing policing-first approach to homelessness is a cruel waste of funds, curtailing fundamental constitutional rights, causing deep human suffering, and endangering lives,” ACLU of Colorado Executive Director Nathan Woodliff-Stanley wrote in the letter, which was sent by email this afternoon to Mayor Hancock, members of the City Council, and other relevant Denver officials.
On July 1, CBS4 Denver reported that the City of Denver paid Custom Environmental Services, Inc., an outside contractor, from a fund that included private charitable donations – most notably, donations made through meters around the city and at Denver International Airport – for work crews to confiscate the possessions of unhoused people during controversial anti-homeless sweeps initiated by Mayor Hancock.
“While Denver is home to many people of good will who value freedom, compassion, and care for all people, especially those in the most vulnerable circumstances, the City of Denver’s record on the treatment of people experiencing homelessness is abominable. From the inappropriate use of a Homeless Services Donations Fund to forcibly move, harass, and take the property of unhoused persons to increasingly aggressive sweeps of people experiencing homelessness, ratcheting up arrests of people whose only crime is to have nowhere to live, and now the use of police resources to confiscate blankets and survival gear on bitter cold nights, the City of Denver is exhibiting a level of cruelty that should bring deep shame to Mayor Hancock and other city officials,” wrote Woodliff-Stanley.
Resources: 

Read the ACLU of Colorado letter: http://static.aclu-co.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-12-09-Denver-Mayor-ACLU.pdf

CBS4: City Used Homeless Donations to Assist with Homeless Sweep: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/06/30/city-used-homeless-donations-to-assist-with-homeless-sweep/

Visit the ACLU of Colorado End Criminalization of Homelessness Campaign Page: https://aclu-co.org/campaigns/criminalization-homelessness/

Last night, we hosted an open house for a room full of volunteers who have signed up to join the ACLU of Colorado since the election. Here's our Executive Director explaining how the tremendous outpouring of support over the last month gives us hope for the fight ahead. Sign up to volunteer with the ACLU of Colorado at: https://aclu-co.org/volunteer/

Statement of ACLU of Colorado Executive Director Nathan Woodliff-Stanley:

“The ACLU of Colorado is disappointed by Arapahoe County DA George Brauchler’s decision to pursue the death penalty in yet another case, an outlier decision in direct contradiction to movement across Colorado and the rest of the country away from spending limited resources in the pursuit of death. The death penalty is expensive and arbitrary, and every costly trial perpetuates a broken, racially-biased system that can and does make irreversible mistakes.
Brauchler wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on the Aurora theater trial, a multi-million dollar failure that resulted in the same life sentence that was on the table all along.  Similarly, the defendant in this case has offered to enter a guilty plea and accept a sentence of life without parole, rendering a costly trial unnecessary.
Brauchler is once again seeking to put the 18^th Judicial District of Colorado on the map for all the wrong reasons. Currently, Colorado’s death row is occupied exclusively by black men sentenced in the 18^th Judicial District. If Brauchler secures a death sentence in this case, he will add yet another black man from the 18th Judicial District to the row.
According to a report released by the Death Penalty Information Center, just 2% of all US counties account for the vast majority of death sentences and executions in this country. Prosecutors all over the country have made the common-sense decision to stop throwing away millions on death cases and to start using those resources on programs that actually make their communities safer and ensure victims’ families have access to all the services they need.
Colorado can ensure the safety of the public, harshly punish killers, and spend limited resources wisely by putting those convicted of first-degree murder in prison for the rest of their lives with no possibility of parole.  It’s time to stop the political, tough-on-crime charade of the death penalty and to start talking about meaningful ways to prevent crime and better care for victims in the wake of violence.”