A Denver cop will be compensated for a 10-day suspension after a hearing officer found that she was wrongfully disciplined for accidentally firing a pepper ball gun.
Officer Marika Putnam was suspended in February for a total of 14 days after accidentally shooting the pepper ball while responding to a suicide call. She received four days’ suspension without pay for careless handling of department property and 10 days for failing to follow department orders about using less lethal force and discharging firearms, according to a ruling from a Denver Civil Service Commission officer.
The hearing officer ruled the 10-day suspension without pay was not justified.
Putnam was escorting a suicidal person out of a Community Re-entry Project building on North Broadway Street when she fired a round while waiting for an elevator, the decision letter said.
The round immersed the suicidal man, police and office workers in a cloud of pepper spray. No one was seriously injured.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or
