The Denver City Council agreed Monday to pay $24,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the city withheld public records involving an internal police investigation.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued Mary Dulacki, the records coordinator for the Police Department, in April, alleging she had denied access to the records.
The ACLU wanted access to internal affairs records regarding an allegation that police engaged in racially biased policing. The city eventually released the records on the eve of a court hearing seeking to force disclosure. The settlement approved Monday is to pay ACLU attorney fees in the case.
The internal affairs complaint from Ashford Wortham and Cornelius Campbell alleged police racially profiled them, used excessive force, stopped their vehicle without probable cause, held them at gunpoint, searched them without cause and taunted them with racial epithets.
The police charged Wortham with minor traffic violations, which Denver County Judge Aileen Ortiz-White dismissed because she found the police had been “extreme, profane and racially motivated.”
The internal affairs investigation into the Feb. 13, 2009, incident found allegations of police misconduct could not be sustained because it could not be determined whether Sgt. Perry Speelman, Officers Tab Davis and Jesse Campion or the two men were telling the truth.
In 2004, Speelman, prior to his promotion to sergeant, was named in another civil-rights lawsuit alleging racial profiling. The city paid $75,000 to settle that lawsuit.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
