The Denver Post
Cops march on city hall to protest Turney suspension
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 -
A crowd of about 500 Denver police officers and their family members marched to the City and County Building today, demanding a detailed explanation of why an officer was suspended for 10 months without pay for fatally shooting a knife-wielding disabled teenager last year.
Members of the Police Protective Association delivered a letter expressing concern about the decision made last week by city safety manager Al LaCabe, who last week issued the order suspending Officer James Turney in connection with the shooting last July of 15-year-old Paul Childs. The officers had hoped to meet with Mayor John Hickenlooper, but he was out of the office when they arrived. The officers were upset that Hickenlooper was not available. The mayor reportedly had heard about the planned rally on Friday but had a previous engagement. Turney shot and killed Childs when he refused to drop a knife. A family member called police to report that Childs was threatening his mother with a knife. Many police officers say the punishment was unjust and that Turney was just doing his duty. Sgt. Mike Mosco, president of the Police Protective Association, said most officers believe Turney should not have been suspended at all. "It's created such uncertainty. Nobody will tell us exactly what he did wrong," Mosco said. He told the crowd on the steps of the City and County building today that the police were not planning a blue flu or work slowdown. "We'll go to work and do our jobs. We'll do everything we're supposed to do as professionally as possible," Detective Nick Rogers, vice president of the Police Protective Association, said. |