The Denver Posteditorial
Fire Turney
Thursday, April 15, 2004 -
Mayor John Hickenlooper's administration has a chance to break with business as usual in the handling of police shootings by firing Officer James Turney.
We've said it before, and it bears repeating: Turney, who fatally shot a 15-year-old African-American boy last July after the mentally disabled youth failed to obey orders to drop a kitchen knife, should no longer be allowed to carry a badge and a gun. He's a danger to the community. He should be dismissed from the force. Not out of fear that a light punishment might erode Hickenlooper's political strength in the black community. Not because of threats of civil disobedience in the black community. Despite talk that officers will stage a "blue flu" slowdown in protest if Turney is severely reprimanded. Turney should be fired because he has a history of bad judgment on the job, and he is a financial liability to the city. Manager of Safety Al LaCabe must decide by Friday whether to uphold Police Chief Gerry Whitman's slap-on- the-wrist recommendation that Turney be suspended without pay for 20 days. He can do one of three things: take no action, in which case Whitman's recommendation stands; impose no punishment at all; or impose a more severe punishment. The Police Protective Association - the union that represents Denver cops - says Turney shouldn't be penalized for doing his job. Police organizations routinely oppose tough discipline for officers involved in shootings. The argument seems to be that police have dangerous jobs and that serious discipline for the use of deadly force could undermine the effectiveness, safety and morale of all cops. That surely doesn't apply in the Turney case, and it shouldn't be persuasive to the Hickenlooper administration. Cops who shoot people for unjustifiable reasons should be disciplined appropriately. The killing of Paul Childs wasn't the only fatal shooting in which Turney was involved. In January 2002, he and his partner fatally shot a hearing-impaired 18-year-old in his northeast Denver home. Turney charged up to the front door of the youth's home even though two other officers were already in position. One of those officers had a less-lethal Taser at the ready. A Taser disables a subject with a powerful electric shock. Turney's precipitous action erased the option of disarming Childs without killing him. The shooting occurred only a day after Turney had threatened by telephone to shoot his ex-mother-in-law in Iowa. Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter declined to prosecute Turney in the Childs case, saying he couldn't prove criminal conduct beyond a reasonable doubt. That's much higher than the standard of proof needed to fire Turney. We asked Hickenlooper's office if the mayor would urge LaCabe to fire Turney. "We're not through with our decision," said chief of staff Michael Bennet. "We're not going to have anything to say about it today." We think the mayor should carefully weigh Turney's record and tell LaCabe to dismiss him from the force. |