Denver George Floyd Protests: Independent Review Released

Denver CO

09 December, 2020

4:22 PM

Description

DENVER, CO — Denver's Office of the Independent Monitor released a report Tuesday with 16 recommendations after an investigation into the city's police response during the George Floyd protests. There were "significant gaps" in the Denver Police Department's "use of internal controls to manage police use of force" during the protests, according to the report. The gaps included "deficiencies" in the department's use of body worn cameras, tracking of less-lethal munitions and documentation of the use of force, investigators said. There were also deficiencies with the "limitations on which officers were permitted to use certain high-risk less-lethal weapons," the report shows. During the protests, officers from 18 Colorado law enforcement agencies were deployed to Denver to help local police. The Denver Police Department didn't have mutual aid agreements set up with the agencies and allowed them to use less-lethal weapons that weren't permitted under the Denver department's policy, according to the report. Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Denver newsletters and real-time email alerts. More than 100 community complaints of police misconduct were filed and around 50 of them remained open as of Tuesday, officials said. "I appreciate the high level of transparency from DPD officers and community members as we performed this review," said Nicholas E. Mitchell, Denver Independent Monitor. "Chief Pazen and Director of Safety Robinson have expressed their desire to learn from these events, and I look forward to working with them as they make necessary improvements." Here are the recommendations, as listed in the document: >> Read the full independent review here.