The Denver Post
Turney gets 10-month ban
Friday, April 16, 2004 -
A Denver police officer who shot and killed a developmentally disabled teenager last summer has been suspended from the force for 10 months without pay and will not return to the street when he comes back.
Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe released his punishment decision at a news conference Thursday. Officer James Turney's suspension begins today, and when he returns he will be assigned to an "administrative post." Turney's attorney Doug Jewell said he will appeal the decision. LaCabe, who choked up when discussing the decision, concluded that Turney, who is white, violated the Police Department's "efficiency and safety" rules when the officer shot and killed black teenager Paul Childs on July 5. "I can't change what happened," LaCabe said. "I can't make up for the loss and the pain and everything that has happened. But what we want to do is move on from this incident." The anticipated decision represented the biggest political challenge yet for the administration of Mayor John Hickenlooper, who took office shortly after the shooting. His safety manager decided on a much more severe punishment than the 20-day suspension Police Chief Jerry Whitman had proposed. The penalty is among the strictest meted out against a Denver police officer in years. Hickenlooper's administration is strengthening city policies for disciplining officers and has set the stage for a public vote on tougher city rules if Turney's appeal prevails. The decision prompted some consolation for Childs' family. "I feel a little relief," said Paul Childs' mother, Helen Childs. "At least I know this cop will never go out and kill somebody again." Turney, who joined the force in 1998, shot Paul Childs after the boy's family called police when the teen began wielding a kitchen knife with an 8 1/2-inch blade in their home at 5550 E. Thrill Place. When officers arrived, Childs, 15, walked out from behind a door holding the knife and didn't drop it, despite officers' orders. Although two officers on the scene had nonlethal Taser stun weapons, Turney fired his gun when Childs approached him, according to an investigation by the Denver District Attorney's Office. The Childs family, which is represented by celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran, has notified city officials it plans to sue for more than $5 million. A January letter notifying the city of the family's intent to sue said Paul Childs' sister Ashley called 911 "not because they were afraid of Paul but because of Paul's good rapport with the police. Ms. Childs believed that the police could talk to Paul."
"In this case, officers, including officer (James) Turney, were aware that Mr. Childs was behind the door armed with a knife. In that position, he was no longer a threat to anybody."
- from the report of Manager of Safety Al LaCabe "All he had to do was step back." - The Rev. Paul Martin of Macedonia Baptist Church, where Paul Childs' mother, Helen, is a member, speaking about Turney "But now, as one community, we must channel our passions, our quest for justice and our desire for the safety of both our citizens and our police officers into constructive efforts that bring healing, peace and genuine reform." - Mayor John Hickenlooper "When you start thinking about what he did - and that's the second child - I think he should be fired." - Eldridge Mangrum Jr., 48, of the Curtis Park neighborhood, talking about a previous fatal shooting involving Turney "(Turney) will appeal, and it will come back down. I doubt seriously his punishment will end up being any more than 30 days." - The Rev. Gill Ford, regional director of the NAACP "The citizens of Denver can be assured that the Denver Police Department will continue to provide a high level of safety services to our citizens and the community." - Police Chief Gerry Whitman "This is not an indictment of the Denver Police Department. This is an indictment on an officer who made a very bad decision for about 48 hours." - City Councilman Michael Hancock
LaCabe's decision fell short of the one-year suspension advocated by a group of black ministers. The emotionally charged decision has pitted the city's black community against the police force and soured relations between the mayor and the City Council. Hickenlooper strongly supported LaCabe's decision. "No one supports the police force more than I do; I recognize what they go through," Hickenlooper said. "But in a case where there has been such a serious lack of judgment, I think there has to be punishment." Hickenlooper, noting that LaCabe had slept only 10 to 15 hours in the past week, called the punishment a tough call that is bound to upset many people. "My expectation is that people will look at this and recognize that this is a situation where no one is going to be happy - the ability to distinguish what is pure justice and what is appropriate punishment," Hickenlooper said. Turney's attorney said LaCabe and Hickenlooper submitted to community pressure in setting Turney's punishment. "The manager and the mayor's decision is a political one," Jewell said. The police union had similar criticism. Sgt. Mike Mosco, Police Protective Association president, said the punishment seems particularly harsh. "Officers are questioning this pretty strongly," Mosco said. "They feel it was politically motivated." But some community leaders who had been calling for a harsher penalty expressed disappointment. The Rev. Reginald Holmes, president of the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, said: "The 10 months falls short of what we would have liked to have seen. We're certainly not going to jump up and down and shout any kind of celebration. But had they done 12 months, it wouldn't have been a cause for celebration. A child is dead." The alliance plans a rally at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in City Park. Holmes wants to change city rules to make it easier to fire officers involved in similar cases. "Our fight is not over," Holmes said. Timothy Rastello, an attorney for the Childs family, called the shooting a "wrongful killing." "We believe today's action is the first step in the long road to justice," Rastello said. "But it doesn't bring Paul back." Hickenlooper's top aides said the mayor left the punishment decision to LaCabe, a former New Orleans police officer and deputy district attorney in Denver. But LaCabe kept Hickenlooper informed about his deliberations, and officials closely monitored the process. LaCabe conducted his own investigation of the events and said he was not swayed by the opinions swirling through the police union and the black community. Earlier this week, he went to the Childs home in North Park Hill and stood on the same doorstep as Turney to assess what happened.
Instead, Turney broke department rules when he ordered Childs to step out from behind the door while Turney was holding a security door open. LaCabe said that if Turney had closed the security door, he would have contained the threat and given officers the ability to protect themselves and the family. "No doubt I will be criticized for second-guessing someone's judgment in a very tense situation," LaCabe said. LaCabe also cited Turney's behavior the day before the shooting in setting the officer's punishment. While on duty that day, Turney spent 147 minutes on his personal cellphone making a threat to his former mother-in-law, who lives in Iowa, LaCabe said. In the Iowa case, Turney showed "conduct unbecoming an officer," LaCabe said. Denver Post staff writer Kris Hudson contributed to this report. |