9NEWS reporters Chris Vanderveen and Chris Hansen reveal a staggering failure inside Colorado’s parole system: after a yearlong 9NEWS investigation, the Department of Corrections audited its own risk assessments and found errors in nearly 98 percent of scores reviewed. Governor Jared Polis called the findings inexcusable and said the problems must be fixed with great urgency.
The audit looked at assessments for 45 parolees and found only one done without error. In case after case, botched scores downgraded risk and reduced supervision, with violent outcomes to match. DOC now vows to re-engineer the entire assessment process and strengthen oversight.
The Bullet Point Brief
- 98 percent wrong. DOC’s spot-check of 45 parolees found nearly every risk score had mistakes. Only one was error-free. That is not a rounding error.
- Real victims, real names. A parolee linked to three murders across roughly 26 hours. Others allegedly involved in intentional vehicular homicide and multiple stabbings, including an 83-year-old victim.
- Downscored danger. One parolee was marked low risk just eight days before an alleged killing; another labeled moderate risk months ahead of double homicides. Bad inputs equal tragic outputs.
- Best practices ignored. An expert told 9NEWS Colorado failed to implement core safeguards. High-risk parolees should be seen six times more often than low-risk, yet mis-scores skew supervision.
- State promises overhaul. DOC says it will tighten supervision, retrain staff, and rebuild the assessment process. Great. Where was this urgency before people died?
My Bottom Line
Here’s yet another failed public safety effort under the watch of Governor Gaslight. When 98 percent of your risk scores are wrong, you don’t have a paperwork problem. You have a danger problem.
The state’s line is scarcity of resources. Families live with scarcity too – of safety, stability, and trust – when dangerous offenders are mislabeled as low risk. Government doesn’t get to shrug and move on after funerals.
Fix the inputs, not just the press release. Start with mandatory retraining and independent QA on every assessment. Require a second set of eyes on any score that downgrades risk. Add automatic supervisor review for anyone with a violent history. If the model can’t be trusted, junk it and use straightforward conditions that officers can actually enforce.
Victims deserve accountability. So do rank-and-file officers who have been flying blind with bad tools. Polis called the mess inexcusable. Good. Now make the fixes visible, measurable, and verified by an outside auditor – with timelines and public reporting. Until then, spare us the victory laps.
Source: 9NEWS (KUSA)
