Denver state police wants people’s input on their new "Use of Force" policy.
The policy is in the draft phase, but the policy is already in use to train new police officers. Denver Police department Chief Robert White said the goal is to encourage police officers to slow down and think and ultimately to improve the relations between police and the public.
Chief Robert White unveiled the policy on Wednesday, as other police departments are also reconsidering their “use of force policies” in the aftermath of high-profile incidents between the public and police officers across the Country.
Use of Force policy asks the police officers to think critically about whether physical force is required in a situation. The Policy asks police officers to keep a safe distance, consider other resources and wait for back-up when they encounter a suspect.
Chief Robert White says to improve the relations and the department needs to develop,
“What officers have been doing traditionally has to change… to change from traditional policing to dynamic innovative policing," White said.
"We’ve operated on a standard of legal, for years and years and years and that was the comfort zone that we’re in, but we’ve got to evolve to a more dynamic and innovative approach in policing."
The draft policy implements what Denver Police Department calls a ‘Decision Making Model,’ that changes the way police officers approach at the incident situation. It will give importance to concepts such as authority, necessary, reasonable, and appropriate.
Chief Robert White said, in the past police officers were trained to quickly take control of the situation and sometimes at the expense of the desired outcome. The new Force policy will include the consideration of time, distances, and cover and weighs when police action is necessary – basically which will encourage the police officers to slow down and think about the situation.
Chief Robert White said this change is a hard one, especially because this policy will be a sort shift in police culture, but he also said that in the long run police officers will be safer. The Denver Police Department of Protective Association disputes the claim and said that they are very disappointed in the policy draft saying.
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