By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press The families of four Black girls mistakenly detained by suburban Denver police at gunpoint last year after they were suspected of being in a stolen car sued police and the city of Aurora on Monday — claiming the officers’ actions permanently traumatized them and are part of a pattern […]
police accountability
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Summit County sheriff hires civilian commander to oversee police reform measures
By Sawyer D’Argonne, The Summit Daily News The Summit County Sheriff’s Office hired a new civilian commander to oversee the implementation of police reform measures passed by the Colorado Legislature earlier this year. The Sheriff’s Office swore in Christopher Walton on Nov. 18 to serve as the commander of the new Support Services Division, a […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Denver police used excessive violence, didn’t turn on body cameras during George Floyd protests, report says
By Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press/Report for America Denver police didn’t have a cohesive plan for handling large racial injustice protests that erupted last summer following the death of George Floyd, according to a report made public Tuesday by Denver’s independent police monitor. The lack of a plan fueled chaos and deepened the rift between […]
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Parents of Elijah McClain sue Aurora police over his death
AURORA — The parents of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after officers in suburban Denver stopped him on the street last year and put him in a chokehold, sued police and medical officials Tuesday. “We have filed this civil rights lawsuit to demand justice for Elijah McClain, to hold accountable the Aurora […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Rifles, mine-resistant vehicles, robots: How Colorado police have used a federal program to stockpile military gear
Tipping the scales in excess of 12 tons, with an estimated value of more than $700,000, the hulking mine-resistant armored combat vehicle rumbled through the streets of a small Eastern Plains town, angling toward a local park and a crowd of people. Once there, its rear doors swung open and out stepped an American service […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Silverman: Police, and Cory Gardner, should reject Donald Trump
Prosecutors depend on police. And vice versa. Juries once trusted police. Now, citizens want and expect body cam footage. COVID-19 and police brutality have America’s criminal justice system reeling. Protests abound. Cities and states are going broke. Crime will increase. People are on edge. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann declined to file charges in the police shooting […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado governor signs sweeping police accountability bill into law. Here’s how it will change law enforcement.
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed Colorado’s sweeping police accountability bill, passed in the wake of George Floyd’s death, into law, calling it a necessary and positive step toward healing the state’s pain and hearing the public’s concerns. Senate Bill 217 was introduced and passed in a matter of two weeks after being introduced in […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Environment, Health, Politics and Government
Hickenlooper makes case for electability as repeated controversies continue to overshadow his campaign
In the final moments of the final televised debate ahead of the June 30 primary, U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper returned to a familiar refrain in making his most forceful argument yet about why he is better than his Democratic rival Andrew Romanoff. “Inside the state of Colorado, I haven’t lost yet. And Andrew hasn’t […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado legislature sends far-reaching police accountability bill to Gov. Jared Polis
The Colorado legislature on Saturday sent Gov. Jared Polis a far-reaching police accountability bill in response to the death last month of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Polis has vowed to sign it into law. The pace at which Senate Bill 217 made its way through the lawmaking gears at the […]