A Denver judge Wednesday condemned the Denver Police Department’s policy of refusing to release files of the Internal Affairs Bureau and ordered the release of the bulk of the files on community activists Stephen and Vickie Nash, members of CopWatch.
The city earlier had admitted that police officers improperly spied on the couple. CopWatch tracks Denver officers and their behavior. The police had labeled the pair “criminal extremists.”
In a letter to the Nashes, Chief Gerry Whitman said their claims had been substantiated and changes in policy and procedure had resulted.
The couple and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit attempting to obtain the names of the officers who authorized and carried out the spying.
They also wanted to know what rules the officers had violated and what discipline they faced.
Mark Silverstein, the legal director of the ACLU, said that the ruling means the Nashes will “find out … who the officers were that were held accountable and whether they received a slap on the wrist or received more serious discipline.”
Denver District Judge Catherine Lemon ordered most of the documents released. In doing so, she blasted the department’s blanket policy of refusing to release the files.
“The court finds that (the Police Department’s) blanket denial of every request for IAB files, without a case-by-case consideration … constitute arbitrary and capricious denial of plaintiffs’ rights,” Lemon said.
Lemon said there is a strong public interest in releasing the files because it allows the public to know how the department handles IAB investigations of citizen complaints in general and how it handled the Nash investigation in particular.
“The Nashes are well-known community activists and there is significant public interest in knowing that DPD handled the investigation of their complaint thoroughly and fairly, and that the resulting discipline was fair and appropriate,” Lemon said.
The judge also ordered the Police Department to pay the legal fees of the Nashes.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
