Reader: Denver cops may not be able to protect you if they're always looking over their shoulder

• "May "not be able to 'protect ME' if they're always looking over their shoulder". Funny, since the "protection" we need is protection FROM the DPD itself!

• Quite a post, Upstanding Citizen. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

• Denver Cops beat the shit out of me because I wouldn't let them enter my apartment to search for MJ.. punched me in the face, back and neck, tazed me 2 times, and I did nothing to instigate except look like a stoner.  These cops are crazy and itching to fight. They need a muzzle and I suspect there are a lot more lawsuits in the works.  The cop who posted is probably the worst of 'em.     Any time police brutality is in the news, the PD's take is the same: If we limit the Police in any way, then they won't have the ability to protect us when we need it.  It's like an abusive husband telling his wife that she needs him and he'll leave her if she doesn't like it... then beating the shit out of her again and again.       Time to put an end to this bullshit, the stories in the news are only the tip of the iceburg.  Denver cops will kick the shit out of you and then charge you with everything they can, and make up a story to cover their asses and put the blame squarely on your bloody face.

• The next cop that will be fired will be Chief Gerald Whitman. I can't remember a Chief lasting longer than 2 1/2 years. Whitman has set a record for years as Chief something like 8 years?

• DPD needs to stop the crying. Do your job according to procedure, use common sense and execise defensible judgment in every situation. Even more so, hold your fellow officers accountable if they are crossing the line and you'll have nothing to worry about. Most of the good cops go on to have great careers because if it. Too many times, there are some DPD cops that try to push the envelope to see how much they can get away with. It's time for that to stop.

• Very interesting post, citizen. We're going to make it an upcoming Comment of the Day. Congrats.

• This is absolutely unacceptable. Cops cannot threaten to be soft on crime just because citizens demand accountability. Those who are armed with weapons and are trained by tax payer money should be held to a standard that the taxpayers demand. Perhaps if we created circumstances in which police actually felt connected to the communities they served, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Police used to patrol neighborhoods on foot and by bicycle, forced to interact with citizens and businesses. They became deeply ingrained in community safety. Today, they drive about in their cars, talking on their cell phones, completely disconnected from the neighborhoods they patrol. If the police refuse to serve because they are accountable for their actions (as individuals), then it is time for the people of Denver to create a movement of community safety from within, not from above. 

• There's something that is fundamentally wrong about police answering accusations of thuggery with "nice city you got, shame if something happened to it" type threats.

• Well said, Dan.  This is pure fearmongering.  And it's quite disturbing to know that an alleged cop can't tell the difference between "protective action" and "brutally beating the shit out of someone who pissed me off".

• Employees of DPD are public servants and, in theory, the tax paying citizens of Denver are their employers. So, for the police union to threaten the citizens of Denver like this is deplorable. The majority of the citizens of Denver believe that when DPD isn't brutally beating innocent people they are simply pushing their pencils in response to crime, so it is an empty threat to begin with. But, nonetheless it gives us all very keen insight as to how the police union really feels about it's employers.

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