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Denver Police Officer's 10-Month Suspension Removed
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 13, 2005
DENVER, COLORADO--Denver Police Officer James Turney will not face any punishment related to the shooting death of 15-year-old Paul Childs III.

Civil Service Commission hearing officer John Criswell decided Thursday to overturn the 10-month suspension given Turney in April by Manager of Safety Alvin LaCabe. Instead, Turney's record and pay will show a one-week suspension and a one-day fine for threatening his former mother-in-law and using his cell phone excessively on city time. He will get all of the pay he had lost except for those seven days.

"The family is devastated by the decision," Childs family attorney Timothy Rastello told the Rocky Mountain News. "It's just wrong and it just sends absolutely the wrong message to other officers on Denver streets."

Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a statement Thursday that he was disappointed by the ruling and that he has asked City Attorney Cole Finegan to review the case. Finegan said he may appeal the decision.

Criswell ruled that the suspension was inappropriate because Turney did not violate any department policies when he shot Childs.

On July 5, 2003, Ashley Childs phoned 9-1-1 to report that her brother, who had mental retardation and epilepsy, was carrying a kitchen knife around the house in a threatening manner. The family wanted police to come and calm Paul because he liked the officers and would often talk with them. Paul's mother, Helen, came out of the house to greet police and explain the situation, but officers pulled her out of the way.

When Turney, who had given Paul a ride home a few weeks earlier, arrived at the scene, he approached Paul in the front doorway and told him to drop the knife which the teen was clutching with both hands in front of his own face. When Paul failed to drop the knife, Turney fired four times, killing him.

The incident led immediately to public outcry, along with calls for Turney's firing. While an official inquiry cleared Turney of criminal charges, LaCabe determined that Turney had violated the department's "use of force" policy by unnecessarily forcing a confrontation with Childs. He determined that Turney should have stepped away from Childs and let a security door close between him and the teen. LaCabe suspended Turney 10 months without pay and ordered that he be restricted to office work when he returns to work.

In response to the incident and the lawsuit, Mayor Hickenlooper set up a panel to look into improving the city's handling of similar cases. He announced that at least one-half of Denver Police officers would receive training in crisis intervention techniques over the next two years, a hundred more Tasers would be issued to patrol officers, and a mental health worker would be hired to train officers how to deal with people who have developmental disabilities and mental illnesses in crisis situations.

Child's death was the second fatal shooting by Turney since he joined the department in 1998. On January 30, 2002, he shot and killed 18-year-old Gregory Smith Jr., in the home of Smith's mother. Turney shot the partially-deaf Smith after the teen failed to follow orders to drop a pocket knife. Turney was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in both cases.

Related:
"The Death of Paul Childs III" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/childs.htm

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