Aurora – Three months after the City Council said a new board wouldn’t re-examine the shooting death of Jamaal Bonner, the newly appointed police chief created his own internal review board and made the Bonner case first on the agenda.
Bonner, 20, was shot and killed by police at a motel during a prostitution sting in December 2003. He was unarmed. His family filed suit in federal court, claiming police unjustly killed Bonner.
A grand jury cleared the officers, but new Police Chief Daniel Oates wants to take another look.
Oates’ Tactical Review Board will feature police officials and a nationally known expert on police practices.
The board will look at the department’s policies and practices and whether they are followed correctly or should be changed.
No discipline against officers will result, Oates said.
“I was conscious that we didn’t have an internal review process,” he said. “It’s not disciplinary. It’s a review of tactics, procedures, supplies, equipment, weapons.”
Examining the Bonner shooting is only fair because previous police chiefs had said they wanted to look at the case, he said.
“Every good police organization needs a review process,” he said.
“An inquiry will be triggered when there is a traumatic event. That’s what the Bonner case is. We shot and killed an unarmed man. The Bonner case needs an airing by this department so it can learn from it.”
The review will be completed in 60 days, and its results will be publicized, officials said.
Oates’ internal board differs from the board being created under the City Council’s auspices. The council-approved Incident Review Board is made up of police and citizens and will examine high-profile cases in which police use force.
The City Council chose in October not to allow the Bonner case to be examined by the Incident Review Board, a decision that outraged the Bonner family.
But in December, Oates announced that the Bonner case would be examined and announced last week that his new board would look at it.
Mayor Ed Tauer said each board will have advantages.
The chief’s tactical board will have a wider scope, looking at day-to-day practices of the department, and can compare the department to national standards, he said.
The citizen board will look at only high-profile cases, giving the community a hand in examining incidents and whether policies were followed, he said.
Nevertheless, Bobby Bonner, Jamaal Bonner’s father, is skeptical.
“I’m not holding my breath on this right now,” he said. “It’s so confusing. I don’t know what they are trying to accomplish, telling us one minute they are going to (review) it and one minute they aren’t.”
Darold Killmer, the Bonners’ attorney, said he welcomes more review of the case.
“I’m skeptical of their sincerity,” he said. “This is the police self-reviewing only. That’s better than nothing, but it’s still the fox guarding the chicken coop as far as we are concerned. We hope they recognize that shooting an unarmed man three times in the back, killing him, is not the best police practice.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
