By David Heitz, NewsBreak Denver
(Denver, Colo.) Denver would give residents the “Freedom to Walk and Roll,” as the proposal is called, under new regulations that decriminalize jaywalking.
City Councilmember Candi CdeBaca has sponsored a bill that would rewrite Denver’s jaywalking laws. People would not be able to just cross in the middle of the street erratically, she said, but language specifically prohibiting crossing safely would be removed.
The Denver City Council discussed the proposal at Tuesday’s Land Use, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee. CdeBaca and Denver Safe Streets Partnership director Jill Locantore explained an inordinate number of jaywalking tickets go to people of color and people experiencing homeless.
CdeBaca extracted data from court records to show that 25 percent of tickets go to people experiencing homelessness. Eighty-three percent went to men. Black people received more than 40 percent of the tickets even though they only make up 10 percent of Denver’s population.
Read the full story at NewsBreak Denver