A lawsuit challenges the Boulder Police Department’s insistence that a news organization pay the city nearly $3,000 to get video of a 2023 fatal shooting of a 51-year-old woman by officers.
Powerful new reporting by the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) and news organization partners shines a light on gaps and weaknesses in Colorado’s recent legislative efforts to make law enforcement more transparent and accountable in our state.
A Colorado law that went into effect in 2021 sets a timetable for the public release of law enforcement body-worn camera footage of incidents “in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct.” But if an officer shoots and kills someone, and no one formally complains, does the footage-release provision apply?
But a year after House Bill 21-1250 was signed into law, reporters still can’t tune into Denver and Aurora police radio transmissions like they did before both agencies blocked public access — Denver in 2019 and Aurora three years earlier. Although each department has a written policy on radio access, neither has reached an agreement with any Denver metro news organizations.
Court rulings top CFOIC’s 2021 list of Colorado transparency highlights and lowlights, with the most impactful paving the way for a state law change that lets governments publicly name just one finalist for chief executive positions like university president, city manager and school superintendent.
A new Colorado law requires the public disclosure of police body-worn camera footage of incidents “in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct.” But what do journalists do when they want to request video, but no one has filed an official complaint?
Another court hearing, another ruling in favor of a news media coalition under Colorado’s new law governing the public release of police body-worn camera footage.
In a test of Colorado’s new law governing the public release of certain police body-worn and dashboard camera footage, a Weld County District Court judge ordered the immediate disclosure of video from a June incident in which a Greeley officer allegedly used a chokehold during an arrest.
A coalition of news organizations asked a Weld County District Court judge to modify or rescind his order barring the public release of body-worn and dashboard camera footage from a June incident in which a Greeley police officer allegedly used a chokehold during an arrest.
The Colorado Supreme Court removed a frustrating barrier for some requesters of police internal affairs records, deciding that criminal justice agencies may not withhold completed IA files from the public simply because the requester has not referenced a “specific, identifiable incident” of alleged misconduct by an officer.
