Four years after a frenzy to defund police departments nationwide, Colorado Voters approved a referendum that set aside $350 million from the state budget for recruiting, training and retaining law enforcement officers.

Proposition 130, which was adopted with just under 53% of the voteswill not increase taxes on residents. Instead, funding for the initiative will come from other public services within the state’s general fund.

Victory for the state police departments comes after the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs saw record homicides in 2022, Denver saw homicide rates double over the past decade and apartment buildings were taken over by the prison gang Venezuelan Tren from Aragua to Aurora. made national headlines.

“(Proposition) 130 is a huge comeback in Colorado after the police movement was defunded,” Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky, who has previously spoken out about migrant gangs in her campaign, told Fox News Digital. city.

“We support blue in Colorado!”

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Colorado voters approved a referendum that set aside $350 million from the state budget for recruiting, training and retaining law enforcement officers. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Joe Gamaldi, national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told Fox News Digital that the funding is “a really positive step to show law enforcement that they are supported.” that they will be funded and will then have the resources they need to do their job. This is a big step forward because it truly shows the public’s position in favor of law enforcement in Colorado. »

Gamaldi criticized Denver’s decision Earlier this year, he cut $8 million in spending on his police department to help fund programs for the growing number of migrants arriving in the city.

“And that’s in Denver, where the homicide rate has more than doubled in the last 10 years,” he said.

Fox News Digital was unable to reach Denver Mayor Michael Johnston’s office for comment as of press time.

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Suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang invade an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, charging rent in exchange for “protection.” (Edouard Romero)

Critics of the funding initiative have expressed concern that money taken from the general fund would strip funding from other public services, along with Kyle Giddings of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. say CPR that the dollar amount is equivalent to “6,000 teacher salaries” and “the entire affordable housing program budget.”

However, Gamaldi told Fox News Digital that “nothing in our communities works unless we have a foundational public safety platform.”

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Boulder police officers stand at attention during a memorial for murdered Boulder police officer Eric Talley on March 22, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado. Officer Talley was killed a year ago in a shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, that left 10 people dead. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)

“We can’t have good schools if they’re not safe. Businesses can’t thrive if they’re not safe,” Gamaldi said. “It all starts with public safety, and that’s where investment must be prioritized. And make no mistake, we are hemorrhaging police officers across the country – we are having a record number of departures retired, a record number of resignations, to the tune of a 45% increase in the number of police resignations nationally.

“So this funding is necessary not only to recruit the next generation of officers, but also to retain the experience we currently have. If we do not invest in the law enforcement professionals we currently have, I mean, we could lose all of this for an entire generation… Obviously, it’s a lot of money, but it’s definitely needed right now, and it’s really needed now more than ever.

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Ten members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua were arrested in Aurora, Colorado, for “committing acts of violence against members of the migrant community.” (Aurora Police Department)

Alex Rose, public information officer for the Wheat Ridge Police Department, a city near Denver, told Fox News Digital that while funding has not yet been allocated and they don’t know if their service will benefit, this would be the case. a useful tool to “ensure that we encourage our officers and (that) our good cops develop their careers here and stay here for the long term.”

“I think when you zoom out and look at the big picture, the pendulum swings back toward supporting law enforcement here in Colorado,” Rose said. “It’s great to see our citizens supporting law enforcement in the state.”

Although the Wheat Ridge Police Department currently has a sufficient number of officers, Rose said additional funding would help them establish “that this is a great department to start your career and… to demonstrate that it is an excellent service to end your career.

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Aurora, Colorado, population about 390,000, became the home base of the Tren de Aragua gang, officials said. (Kvork Djansezian/Getty Images)

“It’s an increasingly difficult job to do,” Rose said of police work. “The people who dress up every day and continue to make Wheat Ridge one of the safest communities in Colorado deserve to work in a department willing to make it a great place to work.”

Proposition 130 was one of several enforcement measures on the ballot. Colorado residents also voted in favor of Proposition 128, which would require people convicted of violent offenses to serve 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole.

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Colorado voters also restored the ability of state judges to revoke bail for first-degree murder defendants. When the state General Assembly abolished the death penalty in the state in 2020, it also removed an exception to bail requirements for first-degree murder charges.

Now, judges can again deny bail in these cases “when the evidence is clear or there is a strong presumption that the person committed the crime,” according to the constitutional amendment.

“It’s no secret that Colorado’s electorate continues to lean left – it’s one of the few states that voted more Democratic (in the 2024 elections) than in 2020,” said Rose at Fox News Digital. “But just because a state leans more to the left doesn’t mean it’s further away from law enforcement and keeping its communities safe.”