Denver Post

Force policy facing review
U.S. attorney joins probe of shooting
By Jim Hughes
Denver Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 25, 2003 - U.S. Attorney John Suthers will ask the Justice Department to assess Denver police policy on the use of deadly force, he told two City Council members in a letter Thursday.

Responding to the council members' request for help investigating the July 6 fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Paul Childs, Suthers also wrote that his office would review the results of the city's ongoing investigation into the shooting.

Suthers' letter came one day after new Denver City Council President Elbra Wedgeworth told citizens at a public meeting that she had asked him for help.

Wedgeworth and Councilman Michael Hancock, sworn in this week, signed the letter asking Suthers to get involved.

An internal police investigation into Childs' death is expected to conclude soon.

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter will then consider what investigators found and decide whether to charge James Turney, the officer who shot Childs, with a crime.

"It's an appropriate response," Wedgeworth said. "I think it's great. I think it's something that the community is looking at, in terms of accountability. It's something we all want to have, and I think the U.S. attorney is making the right decision."

Turney shot Childs after responding to a 911 call in which Childs' sister said her brother was trying to stab their mother.

After arriving at the scene, police twice told the mentally disabled Childs to drop the knife, which he failed to do. The boy was shot four times. The shooting of Childs prompted the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, which represents 35 black churches, to demand Turney be permanently barred from serving on patrol duty.