The video evidence of a Denver jail deputy dropping an inmate with a single punch to the face may not have been enough to prosecute the jailer — at least in the of the district attorney.
Fortunately, though, it carried enough weight to result in the deputy’s firing. On Tuesday, Denver Sheriff’s Deputy was terminated for assaulting an inmate, as was deputy Edward Keller for similarly aggressive actions in a separate incident.
It was a just result for two of those involved in what has become an embarrassing and unconscionable pattern at Denver’s jail involving abuse of inmates.
The firings Tuesday by the city’s Department of Safety show a decisiveness by authorities that has been lacking at times — a sign that they are serious about cleaning up a significant problem.
Though the appeals may take time, even that process has been somewhat streamlined during this administration, so it shouldn’t be as onerous as it had been.
Due process is important, but there comes a point where repeated and lengthy delays actually frustrate justice.
In both instances that led to the latest dismissals, there is strong video evidence that shows unprovoked — at least physically unprovoked — aggression by deputies.
Thank goodness the video evidence exists. Otherwise no one might take the word of an inmate over a jailer.
The video clearly an inmate who is standing in a non-aggressive posture and hitting him. In a separate incident, an inmate who was asking for medical attention, grabbed him by the neck, and shoved him onto a bunk where the inmate’s head hit a wall.
The safety manager’s decision to fire Ford also revives questions about the district attorney’s failure to file charges against him. While the standard for a conviction isn’t the same as the threshold for a firing, the city obviously believes Ford’s behavior was indefensible.
And if that’s true, it’s hard to understand why it also wasn’t against the law.
