Denver’s independent monitor praised the police department’s revised policy for firing into moving vehicles but said strict enforcement will be key.
In a semi-annual report released Wednesday, Independent Monitor Nicholas Mitchell praised the department’s for officers. Mitchell launched a review of the department’s policies in January, the day after after they say she drove a car toward them.
Shortly after the monitor’s office announced its review, Police Chief Robert White said his department would examine its policy.
Hernandez’s death and three of officers firing at moving vehicles drew attention to the policy, which has nationally.
“The OIM launched this review in response to a cluster of officer-involved shootings involving moving vehicles, which pose unique safety risks to officers and the community,” Mitchell said. “I am pleased that the DPD has now made significant headway on bringing its policy and training on shooting into moving vehicles in line with national standards.”
Denver police changed their policy in June. The department announced the revisions days after District Attorney Mitch Morrissey announced his the two officers who shot and killed Hernandez, who was unarmed, on Jan. 26.
Officers fired eight shots into the Honda; four other teens were passengers. Hernandez was the only one hit by a bullet.
The monitor’s review looked at policies used by 43 agencies across the country and recommendations released by the Department of Justice. Of those departments, 47 percent included specific guidelines on officer decision-making during encounters with suspects in vehicles.
The Denver Police Department’s old policy did not include those guidelines, according to the report.
Mitchell’s office identified eight instances since 2007 during which Denver officers shot into moving vehicles they believed posed a safety threat. In several of those incidents, officers may have unintentionally placed themselves in the path of a stationary vehicle that later started moving, according to the report.
Three of those cases involved drivers who initially escaped after officers shot into the vehicles — two of the suspects were hit by bullets. All three suspects were arrested.
But the department’s revised policy addressed many of the concerns identified by reviewing those eight cases. One key revision prohibits officers from shooting at a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used against the officer. A moving vehicle alone is not considered a weapon.
Better training and guidance to prevent officers from moving into the path of a vehicle also were praised.
Still, the report emphasized that the new protocols must be strictly enforced and to avoid allowing the “exception to swallow the rule.”
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or @jsteffendp
