COLORADO SPRINGS — The city of Colorado Springs has reached a nearly $3 million settlement in a civil lawsuit brought by the family of a 19-year-old Black man who died after being shot in the back by police officers in 2019. De’Von Bailey’s death spurred protests against the use of excessive force by police and […]
police accountability
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Ex-Colorado cop sentenced for using stun gun on elderly man
GEORGETOWN — A former Colorado police officer who shot a 75-year-old man with a stun gun without warning, requiring the man to be taken to the hospital, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation. Nicholas Hanning, who was an Idaho Springs police officer, pleaded guilty in December to misdemeanor third-degree assault and permanently relinquished […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Tiny wrists in cuffs: How police use force against children
By Helen Wieffering, Colleen Long and Camille Fassett, The Associated Press CHICAGO — Royal Smart remembers every detail: the feeling of the handcuffs on his wrists. The panic as he was led outside into the cold March darkness, arms raised, to face a wall of police officers pointing their guns. He was 8 years old. […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Denver should implement the police task-force recommendations
In our combined experience working with communities across the United States to transform policing, one thing is abundantly clear, especially in Denver: Community members are in the best position to provide solutions to their public safety needs. The Denver community has spoken, and local government leaders should implement the recommendations recently released by the community-led […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Violent arrest in Aurora reignites anger over policing
By Patty Nieberg and Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press/Report for America AURORA — A video showing a police officer pistol-whipping and choking a Black man during an arrest in a Denver suburb has reignited anger over policing in the community, with activists decrying what they say is just the latest example of the mistreatment of […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
A Colorado officer was convicted of excessive force. He went on to become an interim police chief.
By Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post Jon Geiger’s criminal conviction in an excessive force case was supposed to prevent him from ever again working as a police officer in Colorado. When the former Georgetown officer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment in 2018 — a conviction that triggers an automatic revocation of an officer’s state certification […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Colorado Springs officer who said “Kill Them All” at protest against racial injustice sued for excessive force
By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press A Colorado Springs police officer disciplined for saying “Kill Them All” during a livestream of a protest against racial injustice and police violence last year is one of two officers accused of using excessive force on a woman following an earlier protest in a federal lawsuit. In the lawsuit […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Littwin: A year after George Floyd’s death, much has changed. Not all of it good.
Everything has changed and nothing has changed. The last time I remember using that lead for a column was on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. But it fits just as well on the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death. As I write this on Tuesday, it was just a year ago. The pandemic had already […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado bill would convene a study of law enforcement response to police protests
Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill that would convene a study of law enforcement response and training on protecting First Amendment rights and ensuring peaceful demonstrations. The measure comes after outrage by activists on Denver and local police department’s response to last summer’s racial justice protests for the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: How can we make sense out of Karen Garner’s ordeal at the hands of Loveland police?
For a few weeks, I have been haunted by arrest of Karen Garner. Garner is the 73-year-old woman with dementia who had her arm fractured, shoulder dislocated and wrist sprained by Loveland Police officers who wrestled her to the ground for allegedly shoplifting soda and laundry detergent last year. I still cannot make it through […]