Community could have done more for Childs, ministers say

By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
July 14, 2003

Black ministers throughout Denver preached Sunday that churches need to do a better job of reaching out to kids like Paul Childs, the 15-year-old who was killed July 5 in a confrontation with Denver police.

At least two ministers interviewed after services said they wished they could have done something for Childs, a developmentally disabled East High Student with a penchant for wandering away from home.

"She (Paul's mother, Helen Childs) should not have had to call 50 times to the police to be the caretakers for Paul," said Paul Martin, pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church, where funeral services for the youngster were held Saturday.

Denver police dispatch records released Friday showed that police had been called to the Childs home 50 times over the last 3 ½ years. That included nine calls for help with Paul Childs.

"I believe that Paul really saw a friend in the police," Martin said. "But the friend that he saw was not manifest in the actions of the man who killed him."

Meanwhile, an investigation continues into the shooting by patrolman James Turney, who remains on suspension for an unrelated incident in which he allegedly threatened his former mother-in-law over the telephone the day before the fatal shooting.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said it was unclear whether the investigation into the shooting would be wrapped up before Mayor Wellington Webb leaves office next week.

Webb has urged police to do a thorough but expedited investigation before he ends his term. The case will then go to Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, who will review whether Turney was justified in shooting Childs.

Mayor-elect John Hickenlooper, who takes office July 21, said Sunday that he is waiting on the outcome of the case.

"We just have to wait for the investigations to be completed and make sure that we have all the facts about what really happened," Hickenlooper said.

"My heart goes out to the (Childs) family," he added. "For anybody who has a child or children or who has lost a parent, it's just unimaginable sadness."

In a similar shooting in January 2002, Ritter ruled that Turney and a second officer had used justifiable force when they shot and killed a hearing-impaired teenager when he confronted them with a knife.

The Black Ministerial Alliance has demanded that Turney be removed from patrol duty as well as other changes within the police department.

But on Sunday, several ministers also challenged their congregations to do a better job helping disadvantaged youngsters in their neighborhoods.

Paul Childs' uncle, minister Michael Thompson, said that not enough people in the community were aware of his nephew's need for assistance before the shooting.

"The community that has been there to love and support my sister in the past week, they didn't know the situation earlier," he said.

He told mourners Saturday that he hopes that will change, with love, patience and kindness growing out of his nephew's death.

"That's what we need, not just in our community, but in our world and in our nation," Thompson said Sunday evening. "In my own mind, we should know our neighbors."

Pastor Patrick Demmer said he hopes his church learns from the past week.

"We're just three or four blocks from where this tragedy occurred," said Demmer, pastor of the Graham Memorial Church, a congregation of about 50 families that was founded by his grandfather about 50 years ago.

"We've been here (on East Thrill Place) for five years and I know we have never been down that block," Demmer said.

"We've got to do better. It's too easy to point fingers at police and say they made a mistake. Churches have always been the anchor for the community, and I told them (congregation members) that we've been a pitiful anchor."

Later in the day, Demmer rode along on patrol through northeast Denver with Police Chief Gerry Whitman.

In a meeting with the ministers Thursday, Whitman offered to take any of them along on patrol.

While Demmer was in the chief's unmarked Dodge Durango, they came across some officers contacting a group of teenagers wearing scarves atop their heads.

The mother of one of the teenagers had told police her son had run away and she heard he was at a certain address.

Whitman rolled down a window, pulled up alongside a sergeant and asked, "Did you find your code 5 (wanted party)?"

"This is him, but he's not wanted," said the sergeant, explaining that police had no runaway warrant for the youngster.

"She (the mother) wants him to be wanted," Whitman replied.

The chief explained to the minister that police will frequently bring a missing youth back to his family, as they did several times with Paul Childs.

Demmer called it a curious situation.

"One of the things I'm learning riding with you is that there really is a social-work aspect of what you do," Demmer observed.

News staff writer Sarah Huntley contributed to this report.

Copyright 2003, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.