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Colo. police reform a possibility

In wake of incidents, lawmakers consider options
Denver East High School students participate in a protest against the Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury decision, on Dec. 3 in front of the state Capitol. Colorado lawmakers are working on measures to bring about police reform in the wake of national incidents.

DENVER – Colorado police chiefs Tuesday released a position paper acknowledging the unrest after incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, where grand juries did not indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed, African-American men.

But the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police said it is concerned about an onslaught of reactionary state legislative measures that are being discussed for the upcoming session that will begin in January.

“We will not support legislation that is punitive, ill-considered or which negatively impacts the safety or due process of our citizens or officers,” the statement from the police chiefs read.

Legislative ideas run the gamut, including expanding the state’s racial-profiling law, mandatory use of body cameras on officers, requiring taped interviews, cracking down on the use of chokeholds by law enforcement, and removing prosecutors from cases in which there is involvement with police agencies they work with.

Large protests – mostly organized by high school students – circled the Colorado Capitol in the days after the Ferguson decision, calling on lawmakers to take action in the coming year.

Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, one of the lawmakers working on legislative proposals, said he expects to see a push in the upcoming session.

“A lot of what’s happened in Ferguson has moved the ball forward in terms of doing more proactive thinking about legislation,” Salazar said.

“It’s about anger; it’s about frustration; it’s about trying to achieve some type of equality,” he said. “It’s about disillusionment with government in general and being disappointed with law enforcement specifically.”

The police chiefs acknowledged the anger but said safety must be a primary concern. The murder of two New York Police Department officers over the weekend in an ambush-style attack linked to the unrest highlights safety concerns.

“The incidents of social unrest, outside of peaceful assemblies turning to outright criminal behavior, continue to occur across our great nation, and it is disturbing, to say the least,” Chief John Jackson, president of the Association of Chiefs of Police, wrote in the association’s position paper.

“In this time of unrest, we must double our efforts in key areas of public safety to seek solutions to known problems, so that we can all safely and peacefully co-exist,” Jackson said.

District attorneys also are concerned, especially about the proposal for requiring a special prosecutor in cases where there is involvement with police agencies that DAs work with.

“That would be a knee-jerk reaction to headline-type scenarios and potentially a waste of taxpayer money,” said Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys’ council.

He pointed out that DAs regularly prosecute officers, and that the public already can request special prosecutors in cases where there may be a conflict of interest. Decisions often involve multiple jurisdictions and are posted on respective government websites.

Raynes said a better idea would be to address the root of the frustration by working on community relations.

“Sometimes, there are policing agencies and prosecutors who don’t quite understand what the community is upset about, or sometimes, the community doesn’t understand what the obligations of the job are,” Raynes said. “Everybody has broken down a little on community involvement and communication.”

Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver, another lawmaker working closely with stakeholders on crafting measures, said the overall goal is to rebuild relations.

“Our goal is to make sure we rebuild the trust between our law enforcement and the community,” Williams said. “Legislation can’t address emotion. But we’ve got to be smart about what we’re doing and how that affects Colorado.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



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