Colorado lawmakers want to add body cameras to youth detention staff

Colorado lawmakers want to add body-worn cameras to staff working in the state’s juvenile detention centers and have backed off a request to substantially increase the number of beds available to house youth awaiting trial.

Legislators this week made drastic overhauls to House Bill 1146 to now include a pilot program in one youth detention facility and in one commitment facility that requires every staff member who is responsible for the direct supervision of youth to wear a body camera while interacting with them.

The program would be implemented from January 2026 through December 2028. The Colorado Department of Human Services would then recommend whether to continue and expand the program, or eliminate it.

The lawmakers’ request comes just weeks after a Denver Post investigation found widespread allegations of excessive force by staff in the state’s 14 juvenile detention facilities. A year’s worth of internal incident reports reviewed by The Post showed teens suffered broken bones, sustained concussions and overdosed on drugs in these secure centers.

Colorado’s child protection ombudsman, tasked with investigating child safety concerns, has been calling since last year for the state to add body-worn cameras to staff in juvenile detention. Currently, facilities are equipped with video but no audio, making it impossible for investigators to determine whether verbal altercations contributed to excessive force or restraint incidents.

“We were thrilled when we saw this amendment,” Stephanie Villafuerte, the ombudsman, said in an interview Wednesday. “This will increase juvenile and staff safety.”

The revised bill also reversed course on adding substantially more beds to Colorado’s maximum capacity for detained youth awaiting trial.

The state’s district attorneys originally requested to hold 324 youth in pre-trial detention at any one time, up from the current cap of 215. The legislation’s original language ultimately asked for 254 beds in the first year, followed in subsequent years by a formula to determine the maximum bed count, based on the average daily population.

Prosecutors argue the state doesn’t have enough beds to house violent youth offenders awaiting trial, citing increased violent crime among youth. As a result, they say, authorities are forced to release teens who might otherwise be deemed a danger to the public to free up spots for someone else.

The amendment introduced and passed by the House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday would instead create 39 emergency beds that wouldn’t count towards the total bed cap. Authorities could use these beds if they run out of space from their normal allotment.

Juvenile justice advocates hailed the revised legislation.

“The dramatic pivot from a bill that would have locked up more kids every year without regard for the dangerous and deteriorating conditions in our youth jails to the amended bill that passed out of committee today is a step in the right direction,” said Dana Walters Flores, Colorado campaign coordinator for the National Center for Youth Law.

The bill now heads to the House Appropriations Committee.

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