Police Face Criticism, Encourage Tolerance In New Policy Meetings
DENVER (CBS4)- Denver's Police Chief was met with some criticism as he encouraged understanding in a community meeting focused on the Denver Police Department's revision of its use of force policy. There will be two more meetings for the community to offer feedback.
The police department released a draft of the new policy earlier this month hoping to receive public feedback about their changes. The policy changes come after demand from Denver residents to change traditional policing techniques.
Chief Robert White says officers previously were trained to stand their ground when dealing with volatile situations, which restricted an officer's options. White says the new decision-making model includes a threshold of whether to apply force, such as when it's necessary to shoot at a moving vehicle.
"It encourages officers to, when appropriate, to de-escalate, don't run into scenarios unless it's absolutely necessary to do that, use time and distance to their advantage," said White.
The new policy stems in part from a case in which Jessica Hernandez, 17, was killed when she was shot by police while driving a stolen car.
The policy urges officers to think critically about whether physical force is needed in a situation. It urges them to keep a safe distance, consider other resources and wait for back-up when encountering a suspect
Some who offered their opinion continued to question how the policy changes will make an impact in the community.
"What are you going to do to actually build bridges to start healing and repairing the harm caused by officers who are killing our people?" asked one woman.
The policy changes detail the difference between new tactics and traditional policing techniques used in the past.
Some say the draft leaves too much up to officers' interpretation.
"It looks like going forward, that is still going to be left up to the police officer if they feel their life is in jeopardy. How do you determine that? Particularly when you are dealing with a person who has mental health challenges," asked another woman.
The chief says input from these meeting can help alter the new policy as long as the input is legal. There will be a series of three meetings, the first was on Tuesday evening.
Scheduled Community Meetings:
Saturday, Jan. 28 9 a.m. - noon
Location: Elevate Denver Church
2205 W. 30th Avenue
Denver, CO 80211
Saturday, Feb. 4 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Red Shield Community Center
2915 N. High Street
Denver, CO 80205