The Denver Post
Activist: Police to limit patrols by criticized cop
Tuesday, April 06, 2004 -
Activist Alvertis Simmons said Monday that Police Chief Gerry Whitman told him that suspended Officer James Turney will not return to assignment in predominantly black areas.
Whitman could not be reached for comment. Whitman has recommended to Manager of Safety Al LaCabe that Turney be suspended 20 days without pay in connection with the fatal shooting of a developmentally disabled black teenager, Paul Childs, on July 5. An internal police review found Turney used improper procedure when he shot Childs, although District Attorney Bill Ritter cleared Turney of criminal wrongdoing. Turney shot Childs after the boy's family called police when the teen began wielding a kitchen knife. It was the second time Turney was cleared in a fatal shooting. On Jan. 30, 2002, Turney and Sgt. Robert Silvas shot and killed Gregory Smith, 18, a hearing-impaired man who pulled a knife at his mother's home. Simmons spoke at a news conference where he called for 1,000 people to attend a rally at the city and county building next Monday to demand a city charter change freeing the police command from the "comparable discipline" rule. Simmons said Whitman told him that he recommended the 20-day suspension because he was bound by the requirement that the discipline be comparable to discipline meted out to others for similar violations. Simmons, head of the Million Man March Organization, said he and others are gathering signatures for the charter change. They plan to take the proposal to the City Council on Monday. "You fired more people for not coming to work on time than you have for killing our people," Simmons said he told the chief Monday. |