The Denver police violated activists’ rights during racial injustice demonstrations following George Floyd’s murder in 2020. And on March 25, a federal court jury awarded a $14.5 million settlement to 12 activists as a move toward repairing this harm. And yet, on the heels of this settlement, another injustice is being used to fulfill this settlement. Citizens of Denver are once again in an unjust position of paying for the brutality and misconduct of police. This is not the first time that the City of Denver has settled complaints from police abuse during the racial injustice demonstrations. In the past 10 years, Denver has spent well over $30 million in police abuse cases.

We are here because of a failure of leadership. And we are calling on leadership to make a change.

Mayor Hancock has failed to consider and implement reasonable, community-based solutions that would minimize unnecessary interactions between law enforcement and the citizens. He has also failed to develop a comprehensive vision of what public safety means for Denver, and that lack of clarity has led to poor management in the Department of Safety.

Chief of Police Paul Pazen has failed to move on the blistering report issued by the Office of Independent Monitor in any significant way. A report that was issued in December 2020. He and his office have failed to hold officers, who cost the city millions of dollars, accountable for their misconduct and abuses.

City Council has thus far failed to make any meaningful moves on the 112 recommendations presented by the Task Force to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, a consortium of over 40 community organizations and community leaders. They have continued to approve enormous spending for the police department without requiring basic oversight and accountability.

We have partnered with the Denver Justice Project to illuminate this injustice and argue that police officers should be required to carry personal liability insurance. Police carrying liability insurance is not only a fiscally responsible solution, it is a just one. The Denver Justice Project makes a very clear case for this solution in a press statement released today. This solution would shift the burden of paying out these settlements from Denver taxpayers to the officer(s) responsible for police abuse, creating real accountability mechanisms for those responsible for harm. This would free up tax dollars to be used to address a long list of community needs. In the long-term, our communities would be safer thanks to less citizen interactions with violent police officers who are weeded out due to being a costly liability.

We call on city leaders to stop forcing its citizens to pay for settlements for police abuse and do the right thing to get us on a path toward community healing.

Dr. Robert Davis

Project Coordinator 

Denver Task Force To Reimagine Policing and Public Safety

Dr. Aisha Rios

Member of Denver Task Force To Reimagine Policing and Public Safety, Social Scientist, and Community Organizer 

Alex Landau 

Director of Community Relations

Denver Justice Project

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