Blue state makes $350M 'defund police' comeback after record homicides, violent gang takeovers

Four years after a frenzy to defund police departments nationwide, Colorado voters approved a ballot referendum that earmarked $350 million of the state's budget to recruiting, training and retaining law enforcement officers.

Proposition 130, which passed with just shy of 53% of votes, will not raise residents' taxes. Instead, funding for the initiative will be pulled from other public services within the state's general fund.

The win for the state's police departments comes after the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs saw record homicides in 2022, Denver saw homicide rates double in the last decade, and apartment building takeovers by Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora made national headlines.