Denver Post

Four who got it right
By Susan Barnes-Gelt

Thursday, July 17, 2003 - Fifteen-year-old Paul Childs loved and trusted the police. They were his heroes. But the only people the citizens of Denver can be proud of are the leaders of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance. Under enormous pressure, personal pain and loss they got it right.

The Rev. Patrick Demmer got it right when he bemoaned that the Childs family hadn't reached out to his church, the Graham Memorial Church of God in Christ, located a mere three blocks from the home where Paul Childs was shot dead by the Denver Police. "Now we're saying let's do an internal critique. Let's look at how this can be prevented on every level."

The Rev. Reginald Holmes of New Covenant Christian Church, president of the Ministerial Alliance got it right when he said, "We didn't throw one rock. If ever there was a time, if ever there was a reason for uncool heads to prevail, this was it. We are a peaceable people."

The Rev. Dr. James D. Peters Jr. of the New Hope Baptist Church got it right when he said, "We can work with our court systems, our new mayor, our City Council, our state attorney general and our federal government ... . There are ways to use something less than lethal force."

The Rev. Paul Martin of Macedonia Baptist Church got it right when he said, "It's time now that we go on the offense instead of always being on the defense."

And so, led by four visionary, calm and heartbroken men of God, the Ministerial Alliance presented five demands:

Take Officer James Turney off street patrol and put him on a desk job.

Train all Denver police officers, dispatchers and 911 operators to deal with developmentally and physically disabled citizens.

Change the Denver Police Department's lethal-force policies to require officers to defuse - not escalate - situations, relying less on lethal force.

Ask the federal government to investigate alleged civil-rights abuses and perform a thorough review of all police functions.

Put some teeth behind Denver's impotent Citizen's Police Review Commission.

Denver is a great and fortunate city because four smart men, leaders of the 35-person alliance, offer caution, comfort and wisdom to a grieving family, an outraged community and an incredulous citizenry.

Their demands are a pretty good start on what it will take to ensure the police department deserves the moniker "Denver's finest."

John Hickenlooper's first challenge as mayor will clearly be bigger than a $50 million-plus budget crisis, more pressing than the need to streamline city services, even a higher priority for Denverites than revitalizing a sagging local economy. His first challenge will be to restore the confidence of everyone in this city in the judgment and professionalism of the men and women in blue. He must begin by asking questions:

Why are our standards simply lower? Why don't we require a college degree for police officers, as many big cities do? Don't citizens deserve better than a recruit rejected by the police departments of four cities smaller than Denver?

Can't we do a better job recruiting and screening officers?

What's missing in the way officers are trained when a developmentally disabled teen, known to both dispatch and the department, is shot dead because two officers couldn't get a clear shot with their stun guns?

What's wrong with the DPD's budget cuts when a call, warning of Officer Turney's alleged threat to his former mother-in-law, goes to voice-mail during a holiday weekend? Had the phone been answered, Turney and his deadly weapon would have been on forced leave.

The Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance deserves more than the heartfelt thanks of a grateful city. They deserve more than easy answers to tough questions. They deserve a thoroughly reformed Denver Police Department. And so do the rest of us.