Posted on the Libertarian Party of Colorado blog:
An investigation into the arrest of nearly 100 protesters on the first night of the Democratic National Convention revealed no “provable” police misconduct, the city’s Office of the Independent Monitor said today.
Rocky Mountain News: No police misconduct found in arrest of DNC protesters
Wow, who would have thought that when the police investigate the actions of the police they would have trouble finding any wrongdoing. Maybe they did not do anything wrong, but really, can the findings of a self investigation really be trusted?
Actual t-shirt worn by Denver police officers:
9 responses so far ↓
1 Michael Seebeck // Dec 22, 2008 at 7:59 pm
To answer the question, no, they can’t.
And I know two retired DPD officers who actually were honorable and honest guys. One is the father of a college friend, and the other a lot of people in the LP and LEAP know: Tony Ryan. They are the exceptions.
But when they make a scene over arresting a person for open carry in Denver (which is a constitutional right in Colorado), and then stack a jury of 6 (not 12) against him in an obvious railroad kangaroo job, then, yes, the DPD can’t be trusted. And that was 6 years ago. Yes, Rick Stanley may have been a nutcase and the worst LP US Senate candidate ever until Kevin Barrett came along, but nobody in the party questioned that situation, and we all even supported him on that, because in that case he was absolutely right. He proceeded to go off the deep end and wound up in jail for threatening a judge (after he left the LP), but that’s a different story.
The DPD tended to leave everyone alone in Denver at the LP Convention, but on the street, look out!
2 paulie cannoli // Dec 22, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Interesting that when it came to the Stanley case, city law was used to trump state law, yet when it comes to possession of small amounts of marijuana, state law trumps city law.
Basically, whatever level of edict they can use to give themselves most power is the one that carries the most weight.
3 Libertarian Joseph // Dec 22, 2008 at 10:42 pm
trivia: his wife can be seen in that old Ron Paul appearence on the Morton Downey Jr. show
pt. 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHB2I83_N_k
pt. 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGGDVm4mmTo
pt. 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waesMWjaqnU
4 Libertarian Joseph // Dec 22, 2008 at 10:42 pm
appearance***
5 johncjackson // Dec 23, 2008 at 12:06 am
Police can’t be trusted to do anything.
And I assume LJ’s comment is about Sliwa.
6 paulie cannoli // Dec 23, 2008 at 12:13 am
I’m wondering about something though…
Is Office of the Independent Monitor part of the police? LP Colorado seems to indicate it is, the name seems to indicate it isn’t, and a quick glance at their website was inconclusive.
7 Michael Seebeck // Dec 23, 2008 at 2:46 am
Paulie, Colorado has something called “Home Rule” for certain cities, including Denver. With it, these cities claim to exempt themselves from certain statutes in state law. Of course, it varies depending on what suits their needs of the moment. What these cities tend to forget is that the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Home Rule doesn’t exempt them from the state Constitution, including the state’s Bill of Rights. Stanley was denied his right by the municipal judge to present a positive defense of constitutional rights at his trial.
8 paulie cannoli // Dec 23, 2008 at 9:13 am
Of course, it varies depending on what suits their needs of the moment.
My point exactly. When it comes to guns, Denver has “home rule.” When it comes to marijuana possession – not so much. The common element with both is neither home rule nor states rights, it is more power to the police, politicians, prosecutors and prison guards, and less power to the people.
9 Ladygaura // Dec 24, 2008 at 7:13 pm
This is all a very interesting observation. It didn’t used to be this bad. There used to be a certain “don’t sweat the details” attitude, probably fostered back when there were fewer people. And there was a certain recognition that the needs of say, Leadville might be different from those of Denver. This is the principle that I seem to recall “home rule” being based upon.
Unfortunately things have turned topsy turvy in the sense that nowadays the various governments ARE a lot more intrusive than they used to be. I would say the change began in the mid 80’s or so.
Now I think (and I agree Tony would be the one to really ask here) that state law trumps on marijuana law because drug use isn’t a right in the Constitution therefore home rule can’t trump state law. Obviously the inverse as it regards gun law doesn’t stick to logic at all.
I might add that Denver is by far the worst on gun law– down in El Paso County wearing a gun (or a blade) on one’s hip was reasonably common. There was a general custom of removing such before entering a restaurant, of course. However, I do remember packing an open blade all the time in Monument Valley Park and seeing that as entirely normal. I feel that this sort of attitude is far more representative of Colorado as a whole– open and concealed carry are both more accepted the father from Denver that you get.
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