Candi CdeBaca — the novice Denver City Council member who is a veteran at stirring the pot — says she’d rather prevent crime than respond to it. She advocates a new “holistic, anti-racist, public health-oriented approach” to law enforcement in the Mile High City.

So, she filed a proposal last week that would ask voters to approve a charter amendment “creating a peace force that will replace the police force.”

Yes, a peace force — at the same time authorities in the state’s largest city have been scrambling to stem a surge in violent crime. It also comes on the heels of demonstrations that have run amok, turned violent and left the State Capitol complex and surrounding areas looking like a war zone.

The surprise proposal, which has yet to be formally presented to her fellow council members, blindsided even some of them. After learning of it Friday, several of her council peers chided her for pitching the idea out of the blue without seeking input so soon before the election.

They threw cold water on the idea, if only for procedural reasons as of now, making it unlikely it will face voters this year as it needs council approval to do so.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock denounced the proposal, calling it “reckless and irresponsible” in a statement to our news affiliate, Colorado Politics.

Sure, CdeBaca, a 34-year-old newcomer to elective politics and self-styled “anarchist,” has proven herself a pro at grabbing local headlines. Her skeptics at this point are likely to discount this latest development as another publicity ploy.

Yet, there’s reason for serious concern about this disturbing proposal. It comes amid a breakdown in law and order — and a seeming disregard among too many elected officials for basic public safety — that has been sweeping, and gripping, cities nationwide. Particularly inner cities but also a number of suburbs and small towns have become impromptu venues for wide-ranging political protests, a number of which have spiraled into mayhem.

While the protests began as laudable and peaceful calls for racial justice after the May 25 slaying of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, extremists, opportunists and thugs unfortunately seem to have invaded their ranks and joined forces, welcome or not.

In that context — and alongside irresponsible calls by radicals around the country to “defund the police” — CdeBaca’s proposal is at best reckless and irresponsible, as Denver’s mayor says. It provides another platform for distorting the rightful role of law enforcement in our society.

The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of police in Colorado Springs, around the state and across the nation regularly pledge their lives to protect us — while also rigorously respecting our fundamental civil rights. And that is true regardless of our race, creed or other characteristics.

The underlying peril here is not that CdeBaca has much of a political future in Colorado or even that her absurd proposal replacing Denver police with a “Department of Peacekeeping Services” will get very far.

Rather, it’s that in the current climate her fringe politics will further stoke the off-with-their-heads sense of retribution that has overtaken the public conversation and dominated media coverage — eclipsing more serious and responsible policymaking. It’s too easy for talk of specific improvements that might be needed to police recruitment or procedure to be drowned out by cries for “revolution.” And faced with enough bombast, even some moderate officeholders can be browbeaten into ridiculous positions.

Meanwhile, CdeBaca’s proposal is an insult not only to the many Denver cops who do an outstanding job — but also to her constituents in her northeast Denver council district. More than almost anything else right now, they need safer streets and schools for themselves and their families.

They don’t need CdeBaca’s daydreams; they need good cops on the beat.