I think it is time for city leaders to look at who is running these departments. It would appear to me the police are reacting to poor leadership and lack of professional oversight.
The Denver coroner has ruled that the July 9 death of an inmate at the new jail was the result of homicide.
http://www.denverpost.com/news…
From the coroner’s report
“The booking deputy was joined by three other officers who forced the decedent first to a chair, and then face down on the floor. Two officers struggled to cuff his hands behind his back; another tried to control his legs; a fourth lay across his upper back and applied a carotid ‘sleeper’ hold around his neck.”
4 police officers, a taser, hand cuffs and a sleeper hold to subdue a 135 pound man.
The coroner said deputies had their body weight on Booker’s back continuously for four minutes while he was face down and put him in a “sleeper hold” for more than two minutes while shocking him with a Taser for eight seconds.
Innocent until proven guilty, in fairness…
The coroner’s finding means simply that another human being caused Booker’s death, rather than from natural causes, suicide or an accident. It is not the coroner’s role to determine who might have caused the death or whether the homicide was justifiable.
Second discipline case erupts for Denver safety manager, lying and cover up charges….
http://www.denverpost.com/news…
For the second time in less than three weeks, Perea clashed sharply with Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal and the Citizen Oversight Board, this time over an officer found to have lied about the use of excessive force.
Office of the Mayor and former City Council member are using strong words…
Roxane White, chief of staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, said late Friday, “Ron is seriously reconsidering his decision.”
“His rationale made no sense to us at all,” oversight board member Cathy Reynolds, a former Denver councilwoman, said of the Sellers case. “There are several things we’re concerned about, like there just being a slap on the wrist for lying. It’s the coverup that gets us.“
The victim was a volunteer firefighter, not exactly a crip or blood, has even stronger words…
The push to fire Sellers was applauded by the man who filed the complaint in the case, Jared Lunn, 23, of Commerce City, a volunteer firefighter in Brighton.
“Denver police, to me, are basically criminals with badges,” Lunn said. “I have no respect for them. I somewhat fear them because it’s Wild West out there for them.”
Here is the sad part. From the the Pueblo Police Vet, whose son was beaten in another case and video taped…
He can’t understand why it happened to his son, who grew up respecting law enforcement, who attended a 1990 ceremony as a toddler when his father received the medal of valor for saving a teenager who fell through the ice into the freezing water of a pond.
“It’s just ripping my guts out,” the father said.
Michael’s 4-year-old niece still doesn’t understand. Police officers are the good guys, she says, searching for an explanation from the grandfather.
“How do I tell her there are good police and bad police?” Anthony DeHerrera asks.
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it is a “leadership” issue, and the buck stops at the top.
Why is Hickenlooper still siding with his manager of public safety? It appears as though the police force, or more appropriately, a significant minority of the police force is little more than a gang of bullies who think, with just reason, that they can get away with anything they want.
Why is it taking over a year to investigate these issues? Why can the manager of public safety conclude that “no excessive force” was used when an individuals is thrown to the ground and punched for talking on a cell phone?
How does the Mayor excuse these lapses in judgement by saying the manager of public safety is new? How much “on the job training” is acceptable for this type of position of responsiblity? How many more members of the public have to be brutalized before the Mayor shows some leadership and fires his ass?
Mr. Mayor, it is time for some heads to roll. Show some leadership! Control the police force! That really isn’t too much to ask from someone who wants to be governor of the entire state.
Particularly because I have family and friends that serve their community with pride and honor.
I would hope DP continues to cover this tragedy in spite of the fact that their candidate for Governor seems reluctant (at this writing) to take swift and decisive action. I would hope the frequent posters on Pols won’t ignore this because the majority anointed Hick long ago or that the story originated on the pages of the paper who is so short sighed they wish not to be named.
Good job writing the diary. It needed to be done even if linked to the DP.
by linking to other news coverage, and that might have meant your post would have made the front page. But the Post did the groundbreaking work on the death of the man in the custody of sheriff’s deputies.
…but, in case you are, you might want to note that the death at the jail had nothing to do with the Denver Police. That sad tale involves in the Denver Sheriff.
who in turn reports to the same Mayor.
One might also note, in fairness, that cabinet appointments in Denver do not require city council approval, as the charter provides for a very strong Mayor.
…noting here that so-called cabinet appointments do not require council approval? Rather than a nod to fairness, your post seems like a nod to irrelevancy.
.
I didn’t expect CoPols to hold Hick accountable. Laudable.
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