Editorial: Aurora’s police chief did the right thing releasing video, but questions remain

The Denver Post: Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz did the right thing this week releasing his officers’ body camera footage of the fight on Dec. 17 that lead to the death of 32-year-old David Baker but questions remain.

It’s clear, after watching the 12 minutes of chaotic and violent video, why Metz tried to keep the video from the public — the footage is disturbing. Officers arrive at the apartment of Baker’s wife and find two men fighting. Baker immediately attacks the police officers and the scuffle lasts for about seven minutes with only a brief reprieve in the assault. The officers were put in an impossible situation and they never drew their guns even though Baker was a large man who seemed impervious to other techniques.

As the public engages in use-of-force questions across this nation, it is increasingly important that these real, raw videos be made public. The Denver Post and other local news outlets pushed for the release of the video.

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