Occupy Denver: Independent monitor criticizes police, Department of Safety over protest tactics
Alex Martinez' statement:
Importantly, we are grateful to the many police officers who worked hard and with great restraint during Occupy Denver to protect the safety of the protestors and the public. Indeed, Denver was one of the most successful cities in the country in striking a balance between supporting the protestors in exercising their first amendment rights while protecting the health, safety and welfare of all of our citizens. At the time of these events, the Safety and Police Departments coordinated with various other city agencies and departments on a regular and systematic basis to discuss best practices and tactics. Denver also debriefed on a regular basis, including after the sole incident in question. The timely policy and tactics review of DPD's actions during Occupy Denver were regular, ongoing, detailed and comprehensive.The full report from the Independent monitor. Occupy Denver is referenced on pages fifteen and sixteen.An additional tactical review more than a year after the incident in question is unnecessary due to the exhaustive, contemporaneous and continual tactical review of the management of Occupy Denver, and our interests in devoting resources to moving forward with major restructuring and retraining in DPD, and continuing to improve the disciplinary process. That said, we will not hesitate to conduct a timely Tactics Review Board review in appropriate cases.
Office of the Independent Monitor
More from our Occupy Denver archive: "Occupy Wall Street enters the classroom at UCD next semester"
Follow Sam Levin on Twitter at @SamTLevin. E-mail the author at Sam.Levin@Westword.com.
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