A city advisory board is backing all the calls for change around use of force within the Colorado Springs Police Department that were recommended in the spring by a third-party consultant.

Individual board members also asked for additional steps, such as collecting data from those who have experienced police use of force and taking a broader community approach to address racial disparities. 

The Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission recommended the City Council “fully support the Colorado Springs Police Department in its efforts to prioritize, fund and implement the eight recommendations,” in a written statement the group approved. The committee did not make specific suggestions around how to implement or fund changes, saying the group did not have the knowledge or resources to make calls for such specific changes.  

Colorado Springs police plan change based on use of force study

The Pennsylvania-based Transparency Matters finished a study in April that examined racial disparities in police tactics and that resulted in the eight broad recommendations, such as enhancing a culture within the department that rewards deescalation tactics, conducting an independent audit of use-of-force training, and improving the timely release of information. It also called for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in use of force and improving oversight of instances when people are held at gunpoint.

The study was completed in the wake of a call for police reform nationally after a police officer murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minnesota in 2020. 

Chairwoman Janice JJ Frazier said it was important for the community to know that the recommendations had been independently vetted by the committee and that the group agrees with the steps the department is taking after careful questioning. 

“We have been through it with a fine-tooth comb. … It was a very thorough audit,” she said. 

In addition to backing the broad recommendations, board members also weighed in on the report with their own comments separate from the formal recommendation, including a call to gather data from those who experience force and address racial disparities more broadly. 

Recommendation – Assessment of CSPD Use of Force – 8-15-2022 APPROVED with Commissioner Comments.pdf

Vice Chairman Steve Kern noted in his written comments while the report found “modest racial/ethnic disparities” in arrestee and suspect sub-populations, when compared to U.S. Census data, Black residents in Colorado Springs are five times more likely than white residents to experience police use of force, probably because of disparities in education, health and poverty.

The Police Department cannot influence these factors alone, but the study recommends the city come together to address these inequities, he wrote. 

“A key question is whether City government and community leaders would support and participate in the recommendation,” Kern said. Such work could be informed by success in other cities, he wrote.  

He went on to say that discounting or ignoring racial disparities considered through the lenses of poverty, education or public safety brings risks to all Colorado Springs residents. 

Colorado Springs police study finds shift in arrests, use of force cases

Commissioner Nikki Hernandez wrote she would like to see a more balanced approach to gathering data, because the study relied on a non-scientific online survey to gather data from community members. She called for collecting data directly from those who have experienced force.

“Doing so would not only allow CSPD to present a more comprehensive view of both the impact and perspectives of use of force in their reporting, but would also demonstrate a true commitment to working with community members,” she said. 

The City Council will hear a formal presentation on the  recommendation later this month. The council does not oversee the Police Department directly, but it does approve the department’s budget. 

Since the report came out, the department has been working on each recommendation and no one step is ahead of the others at this time, said Amanda Terrell-Orr, an administrator with the research and development section. 

A brief update posted by the CSPD in June showed it is planning to contract with a company to audit its use of force training to ensure quality. The department has not completed a description of the work its contractors will bid on yet, Terrell-Orr said. 

The department also plans to develop a new policy to communicate the work of an internal use-of-force committee. The committee was formed four years ago to shape protocols and training around use of force.  

Police-useofforce-update.pdf

The report found that Black arrestees are 36% more likely to have force used against them and Hispanic arrestees are 20% more likely. The report focused on using either the arrestee population or criminal suspect population to determine whether Black and Hispanic people face more force, rather than using U.S. Census data as a benchmark.

“Where racial/ethnic disparities do exist, they are concentrated in particular locations, involve specific types of police-citizen encounters, or specific types of force,” the report stated.

When compared with census data, Black residents are about five times more likely to have force used against them than white arrestees, while Hispanic residents are 1.04 times, or 4%, more likely, the study said.

Colorado Springs police officers call better training, transparency and increased hiring

Using census data is a crude comparison and “it doesn’t account for any differential behavior on the part of the people who are being subjected to force,” said Professor Jack Glaser, a social psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination in policing. He said in an earlier interview that when researchers use arrestee data, it takes into account that Black and Hispanic people might be violating the law at higher rates.

The report also found that police would like to see higher quality use-of-force training and increased transparency. 

 Mayor John Suthers said previously he would work to ensure officers received the type of training they want.