Judge threatens Denver with daily fines over release of police excessive-force documents - The Denver Post
Judge threatens Denver with daily fines over release of police excessive-force documents - The Denver Post A federal judge has threatened Denver with $5,000-a-day fines if city officials don't make "substantial progress" toward handing over police excessive-force documents that are the subject of a lawsuit. Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane had already scolded the city in a previous order for failing to turn over the documents, which detail how the city handled excessive-force complaints made against officers in the past eight years. The attorneys for a man who claims police wrongfully roughed him up are seeking the documents to try to prove their allegation that Denver police condone a culture of abuse. Separately, The Denver Post also is seeking the documents. Kane ordered the city to produce the documents in July. His latest rulings come after the city sought reconsideration of that July order, arguing that the time and cost of gathering the documents are too much. In a court filing last month, city attorneys said it would take 3,600 staff hours — at a total cost of more than $85,000 to the city — to get the reports together. In an e-mailed statement Tuesday, Denver City Attorney Doug Friednash said the documents span 300,000 pages and 7,500 audio and video recordings. "There is still a great deal of work that must be completed in order to comply with the court's orders," Friednash wrote. "These are hours that cannot be devoted to other critical matters, including public safety issues, at a time when the city's resources are limited." Complicating things, wrote Safety Department records coordinator Mary Dulacki in a sworn statement filed with the court, is that most of the documents are not electronically stored and must be pulled and copied by hand.
1 comment:
Funny how they don't have the resources when it comes to accountability, yet they've got plenty of money to pay out these lawsuits to the victims of the D.P.D, as well as the systemic exploitation of addicts and alcoholics under the guise of public safety.
Post a Comment