By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News
July 12, 2003

A Denver police 911 operator did not break any rules when he interrupted Paul Childs' sister during her call for help July 5, a police official said Friday.

The operator, whom police would not identify, followed protocol in responding to the 911 call, said Steve Cooper, chief of the police department's technology and support division.

Ashley Childs, the boy's sister, said the operator interrupted her when she tried to explain her brother was mentally impaired.

When Officer James Turney went to the northeast Denver house, he shot the 15-year-old boy, who was threatening his family with a knife.

Since then, the second-guessing has begun.

Paul Childs' family and local ministers say the response would have been different had officers known about the boy's mental health and medical history.

Cooper said based on the information he currently has, "there is nothing to indicate rules were violated."

An operator doesn't know whether a cop is a block or 10 minutes away, he said, and in this instance, officers were on the scene within minutes.

"When the phone rings, at that point you don't have the benefit of hindsight or knowing the outcome," Cooper said. "His training is to get all the information he can about the threat to the people inside and to the officer when he gets there."

Nonetheless Cooper said his division would critique the handling of the Childs case - a review separate from the ongoing internal investigation.

"It doesn't matter to us if everything went perfect, in certain situations we always sit back and say, 'What could have we done different?' "

Meanwhile, police explained how a call to report a telephone threat made by Turney to his ex- mother-in-law a day before the Childs shooting was missed.

The Iowa woman called internal affairs Friday, July Fourth, to report that Turney had threatened to shoot her. Her voice mail message wasn't heard until Monday - two days after the shooting. Critics say a police officer making threats shouldn't have been on the street.

While police won't discuss specifics of the Childs shooting, Cmdr. Marco Vasquez, who oversees the internal affairs division, said a call received on a holiday would go into voice mail. But the recorded message urges callers to contact a non-emergency communications number for an immediate response.

"We're not a 24/7 operation," Vasquez said. "It's pretty clear that if you need after-hours assistance, if it's an important issue, contact communications."

Turney was suspended with pay Tuesday in connection with the alleged phone threat. Both the threat and the Saturday shooting remain under investigation.

The Childs shooting was not Turney's first. A year and a half ago, Turney shot and killed 18-year-old Gregory L. Smith who also brandished a knife. He was hearing impaired.

Turney last underwent use-of-force training in January, when he also had taser training, according to records released Friday.

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