Denver Police investigation finds no wrongdoing in officers' actions at Denver charter school

1 year ago
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Denver Police investigation finds no wrongdoing in officers' actions at Denver charter school

DPD conducted an internal affairs investigation stemming from an April 24 incident in which Denver police officers searched the RiseUp Community School in search of a student who police believed shot at another person the night before in Lakewood.
A Denver police internal affairs investigation into an allegation of inappropriate use-of-force during an incident in a Denver high school in April concluded that the officer did not act inappropriately, according to a conduct review report released to 9Wants to Know.
The complaint against the officer was first filed by Lucas Ketzer, the principal at RiseUp Community School.

However, body camera video released to RiseUp reveals that police quickly interpreted the principal and other staff members’ actions as “uncooperative." At one point, an officer is heard referring to the principal as a “lib-tard.”
“I have never had a detective or a police officer accuse me of lying,” Ketzer said. “I have been the principal for 5 years, and I wouldn’t put my students in harm’s way.”
Ketzer said that he at first thought police were looking for information from the student, but later learned the student was a suspect in an attempted murder case.
Ketzer also confirmed that the student had been in the building earlier that day, but he and staff did not believe the student was in school when officers arrived.
“We actually found out that he left before lunch.” Ketzer said.
Police records show that 10 officers wearing body cameras arrived at the school to create a perimeter and search the school for the student. During the search of the school, one officer, Joseph Siemer who has worked as a Denver police officer since 2008, was accused of pushing a teacher out of the doorway in an effort to search the classroom.

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