PPA PRESS RELEASE

The Denver Police Protective Association is alarmed and saddened by the event that took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As horrible as an event that occurred there, 1,000 miles from Denver, we want the citizens of our City to know all of the positive steps the Denver Police Department had, in the past few years, already taken and well prior to this recent event. There is always room for conversation; there is always room for more improvement benefitting both the officer
and the community.

The following is an accounting of what has been and is already in place:

• All Denver Police officers have completed a mandatory 64 hours of cultural diversity, back-to-basics, and community respectives classes.
• Community involvement in the drafting of the current Use of Force Policy.
• Two-day, advanced skills class focusing on de-escalation and wellness.
• The Denver Police Department has banned chokeholds.
• Each firearms qualification includes an educational component.
• Denver Police Department already collects data on all citizen contacts.
• Positive interaction with youth is a mandatory continuing education course.
• Body Warn Cameras
• Business cards on all stops
• Civil Service Rules on discipline regarding burden of proof (Rule 12).(It enhanced police accountability.)(Colorado is not a right-to-work State. Discipline is a prohibitive subject of collective bargaining and we are bound by the City’s Charter.)
• 21st Century policing by President Obama and the six pillars of policing have already been implemented in the Denver Police Department:
 Build trust and legitimacy
 Policy and oversight (community oversight, Office of the Independent Monitor)
 Technology (Twitter, Facebook, Body Warn Cameras, less lethal)
 Community policing policies and crime reduction
 Training and education
 Officer wellness and safety, and shift lengths

Denver Police Protective Association
June 12, 2020