Denver’s Manager of Safety, Alex Martinez, has appealed a Civil Service hearing officer’s decision to reduce a fine to a written reprimand for a Denver police officer who failed to write a required use-of-force report.
On April 12, hearing Officer Rhonda Rhodes ruled Officer Eric Sellers should be paid for the 16 hours he was fined for an incident that occurred in September, 2009.
Sellers was working off-duty at a Lower Downtown club when an intoxicated patron became increasingly aggressive and a member of the club’s security staff held him with his face against a brick wall.
Sellers handcuffed the man twice and had seen him pinned against the wall. Police regulations require a use-of-force report when a person is injured and the circumstances could result in that person accusing the officer of causing the injuries.
An on-duty officer who responded to Sellers’ call for help noticed a cut on the patron and called for an ambulance to have the injury checked.
Sellers’ lawyer David Bruno argued to Rhodes during a hearing in March that Sellers had no obligation to write the use-of-force report because he didn’t know how, or even if, the man was injured.
In her decision, Rhodes said Sellers violated the rule calling for him to write the report, which normally triggers a written reprimand. But in deciding on the fine, .
In her decision Rhodes said that Sellers was under investigation for the Lunn incident, but wasn’t disciplined for that until after Sept. 20, 2009, when he helped the club’s security handle the drunk. She ruled that Martinez could not factor in “discipline that might result based upon a pending investigation.”
Martinez’ appeal to the Civil Service Commission of Rhodes’ decision, filed last Friday, says she “erroneously interpreted” the police disciplinary handbook. “The Manager’s ability to interpret the rules of the department and determine when the level of discipline should be raised because of prior misconduct are policy considerations with impact beyond this case,” according to Martinez appeal.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
