Initiative 300 Unanimously Opposed by The Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Denver

The Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Denver came out strongly in opposition to Initiative 300 on the ballot for the City and County of Denver's 2009 Coordinated Election.

The Committee met Tuesday and came to unanimous agreement to oppose Initiative 300 and to urge Denver voters to vote NO on Initiative 300 on their mail-in ballots for the November 3rd election. The vote was 50-0 in opposition to Initiative 300.

"Our committee quickly voted to oppose Initiative 300, and we encourage all voters to Vote NO on this issue on their mail ballots this November," said Cindy Lowery, Chair of the Democratic Party of Denver. "Initiative 300 forces police officers to focus their time enforcing a law that potentially has no effect on the public safety of Denver residents and is arguably discriminatory in nature."

Initiative 300 would amend the Denver Revised Municipal Code to require "the immediate impoundment of a vehicle when the driver is driving without a valid operator's or chauffeur's license, or driving contrary to the restrictions imposed upon their license, or driving while their license has been denied, suspended, canceled, or revoked, or when a a driver of a vehicle is an illegal alien."

In outlining the reasons to oppose Initiative 300, the Executive Committee adopted a resolution citing the fact that Initiative 300 would remove the current discretion that Denver Police Officers have to determine when impounding is appropriate, and that extensive and detailed vehicle impoundment laws already exist and are enforced. The Denver Police Department estimates that passing Initiative 300 would more than double the number of vehicle impoundments, increasing the out-of-service time of each officer by an hour per impoundment and resulting in a minimum impact of $1.7 million on the Denver Police Department.

Furthermore, the Initiative will force officers to divert attention from public safety risks such as traffic offenders and drunk drivers while processing impoundments for drivers who simply forget their identification, or who are legally driving a car they do not own. The City Attorney has also advised that Initiative 300 could put Denver at odds with Colorado State statues and United Sates Immigration statutes, and could violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens from seizure of private property without warrant and without due process of the law.

The Initiative is opposed by the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police and County Sheriffs of Colorado, Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Denver City Council, the Anti-Defamation League, the Denver Area Labor Federation, the Interfaith Alliance, the Colorado Progressive Coalition, and many other organizations and elected officials.

For the full text of the Executive Committee's resolution, please click here.