A group of Latino Denver police officers wants the FBI to investigate possible civil rights violations in the case of a white officer accused of using excessive force against a 16-year-old.
The Denver chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association is forwarding a letter to Police Chief Gerry Whitman today, asking him to halt an internal affairs investigation into the Latino teenager’s injuries.
Whitman did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
“The facts have not been disclosed at this point,” said police spokesman Sonny Jackson. “It would be a rush to judgment to draw conclusions.”
The letter, signed by Denver Detective Rufino Trujillo, state president of the association, asks the chief to transfer the investigation to the FBI.
Trujillo provided a copy of the letter to The Denver Post.
“It is apparent that this incident is part of a problem we as an organization have been trying to address for years with the city and county of Denver, the civil service and the Denver Police Department,” Trujillo’s letter states.
Trujillo and other members of the organization have been pressing the city to hire more Latino officers, to increase diversity training and to promote more Latino officers to higher ranks.
They have said they plan to file a federal lawsuit this year challenging the city on a host of alleged discrimination issues.
Officer Charles Porter, of the gang bureau, has been placed on paid administrative leave while the Internal Affairs Bureau investigates.
Porter, who has declined comment, is accused of using excessive force against Juan Vasquez in April. Vasquez was sent to the intensive-care unit at Denver Health Medical Center with a lacerated liver and broken ribs, said Kenneth Padilla, a lawyer who has become a spokesman for the family.
Police have declined to release reports on the matter, citing the internal affairs investigation.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
