Denver Police at a Crossroads Over Excessive Force

Activists in Denver say there have been too many incidents of Denver police clobbering individuals and beating them to a pulp for officials to ignore any longer -- and they hope new Mayor Bill Vidal will get to the bottom of it.

Vidal appeared pretty mindful of that at his recent swearing-in ceremony this month.

"Unfortunately, recent events have clouded this [police department's] reputation," Vidal said during his opening address Jan 12. "It will take every one of us to build and strengthen [that reputation]."

He then turned to the city's police officers, asking them to act "in a manner that you would be proud of, no matter who's watching."

His comments followed years of almost non-stop police brutality accusations, a recent one being a civil rights lawsuit brought by Alexander Landau, who claims he was beaten bloody by Denver police during a routine traffic stop in January 2009 (photos and official complaint here). The three officers in that case, one of whom has been also implicated in brutality charges brought by Michael DeHererra in another high profile case (details below), were not disciplined, though all charges against Landau, then 19-years-old, were eventually dropped.

Then this week, it was reported that a female officer will be facing a grand jury over charges of excessive force contained in a 2008 lawsuit against the department.  Vietnam veteran David Kraus claims Vicki Ferrari, a Denver officer who was once a contender on the television show American Gladiators, seized and cuffed him in "a fit of anger" because he had questioned why she had parked her cruiser in the entranceway of his store, effectively cutting off access for his customers (read the complaint here).

Call on Mayor Vidal to live up to his rhetoric and order an independent investigation into allegations of police brutality.

Interestingly, Ferrari is one of two female officers who have been on American Gladiators, the other being Abbe Dorn, who was also accused of excessive force in a September lawsuit by a Denver resident. Ferarri was not disciplined for the incident, though charges of interference against Kraus were later dropped. However, the judge in the case has ruled there is enough evidence to bring the matter before a grand jury, according to a Monday report by The Denver Post.

"This incident occurred four years ago, and we ask the public to give us the benefit of the doubt and refrain judgment until they hear all the facts," said police Lt. Matt Murray.

According to the  National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project, Denver police rank sixth out of 63 departments with over 1,000 officers in the country when it comes to excessive force complaints. According to the data, Denver officers were involved in nearly 20 cases of publicized accounts of beatings and other excessive force in 2010. Only Atlanta, New Orleans, Fort Worth, Louisville and Jacksonville ranked worse.

Critics say the city's response to the alleged brutality has been spotty at best. Ron Perea, Denver's Manager of Public Safety, resigned in August after a public outcry over his handling of two cases of officers beating citizens -- one which was caught on tape. The police department's Office of the Independent Monitor had released a report .(pdf) that month saying the officers involved in the 2009 beating of 23-year-old Michael DeHerrera should be terminated. Perea said there were "mitigating circumstances" to the situation and instead docked them three days pay. The ensuing uproar led to Perea's resignation, shortly after local African American and Latino leaders and activists  confronted Perea in a emotional hearing in August. At that meeting, City Councilwomen Judy Montero told Perea that the officers need to go -- or he should resign.

"Right now there has been a chilling effect in regard to the decision made and that video that has been played nationally," said Montero.

"I'm not satisfied that we are safe, and I'm not satisfied that we are being heard, and we have worked so incredibly hard to improve relations with the police. I am going to speak to the mayor and ask him to honor what we are saying here."

Meanwhile, more footage of the DeHererra beating has emerged in recent days, casting more doubt on the officers' story and the department's official line,  and stirring up already flared emotions on the subject.

The Denver Post, noting that Vidal is only serving out the final six months of former Mayor John Hickenlooper's interrupted term, said in an editorial this week that any candidate for the permanent job has to address the police brutality problem in order for the city to move forward.

"The DeHerrera case is important not only as an example of an incredibly slow process, but also because it highlights the need for debate over police discipline and transparency," the paper said.

"Under Hickenlooper, Denver made important progress in creating a system of consistent, appropriate police discipline. Unfortunately, the DeHerrera beating is not the only incident that threatens to undermine that progress — which is why it's so important that those vying to be mayor take notice, and take a stand."

Critics say the cases and how they are being played out internally do not bear out that the department has been creating a system of "consistent, appropriate police discipline." David Packman, the Seattle man behind the MSRP findings, said "report after report confirm that the problem in Denver is directly tied to an unwillingness to honestly investigate complaints and an unwillingness to effectively discipline officers involved in confirmed and repeated instances of misconduct."

Sadly, Denver is not alone. "Report after report" of police-on-citizen excessive force can be found in the news everyday, helped along by social media and especially YouTube. Meanwhile, police departments continue to shield officers from taking responsibility for their actions, making community relations between the people and their civil servants ever more volatile and distrustful.

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Photo Credit: Rob