Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman joined several dozen community activists on Saturday to reaffirm that his department will not tolerate the practice of racial profiling and will continue to prohibit biased policing.
Whitman spoke at a news conference during Denver’s Juneteenth celebration at Five Points. He also released a letter on the subject.
“We will continue to look at data to identify those officers who are involved in it,” Whitman said. “We will determine patterns, but it can be very difficult in some neighborhoods when people won’t talk with us. The community makes us effective,” he added.
Denver police and activists have been holding neighborhood talks since 2005 to address perceived problems with the city’s “broken-windows” policing strategy, which was created to reduce crime in at-risk areas.
The theory is that stomping out smaller crimes such as vandalism and littering may prevent more serious crimes from taking root.
But residents living in some Denver neighborhoods said all the strategy did was cause racial profiling. Many said their children were being targeted.
Whitman and activists agreed Saturday that although progress was being made, there still is a lot of work to do.
“It’s a milestone, but we have to keep the pressure on,” said Lisa Calderon, an organizer with the Denver chapter of Incite Women of Color Against Violence.
Whitman said that he has issued “official correspondence” to his department, including 85 of his police commanders.
But some remain unconvinced the recommendations by police are working.
Rudy Gonzales, executive director of Servicios de la Raza, said his agency is receiving calls from people who are being stopped by police for little or no reason at all.
“The struggle continues and I think we’re seeing more overt acts by police,” Gonzales said. “Even when we do the right thing we’re still stopped.”
Annette Espinoza: 303-954-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com
