By The Gazette editorial board
For two years running — 2022 and 2023 — Colorado bore the dubious distinction of the nation’s highest auto-theft rate. Coloradans stood a better chance of having to walk home from a dinner date or ride-share to work than did motorists even in California or New York.
At root of Colorado’s woes was our state’s notoriously soft-on-crime Legislature. In 2021, lawmakers had reduced a range of criminal penalties to misdemeanors, including for stealing vehicles valued under $2,000. It was practically an invitation to auto theft — and an insult to motorists of modest means. An auto thief was let off with a slap on the wrist for stealing what likely was the only transportation for someone too poor to afford a another vehicle.
Under fire for yet again favoring offenders over victims, lawmakers relented in 2023 and agreed to peg the penalty for stealing any car to the severity of the incident instead of tying it to the stolen vehicle’s value. And then, importantly, they made all auto theft a felony once more.