From The Denver Post: Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman faces his first big challenge in the case involving the death of inmate Michael Mitchell.
We hope Firman and the city have learned that keeping videos of these troubling incidents from the public for an extended period of time is the wrong approach.
Look at what is happening in Chicago, where for more than a year the city refused to disclose a police dash cam video of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
The city released the video Tuesday upon a judge’s orders, hours after charging Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder. There was no credible justification for the delay.
Denver also has had its problems. In 2010, the city and Denver’s district attorney refused to release a video showing deputies subduing and shocking street preacher Marvin Booker, who then died.
Booker’s family, attorneys, protesters and this newspaper called for the release of the video as the weeks wore on.
But it took 10 months for the release of the video, which occurred after officials determined deputies acted appropriately when subduing Booker.
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