Vandals who defaced a police memorial in Denver while police stood by and watched are at the heart of a brewing controversy between statewide law enforcement officials and the city’s mayor. Though Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Police Chief Robert White are publicly united over the police’s non-involvement when protesters turned to vandalism and splashed red paint on the memorial on Saturday, the negative response on a state level has been strong.
“While it was organized professional protesters that perpetrated this planned hate crime, the blame lies completely at your doorstep,” wrote the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) in a scathing three-page letter on Monday, calling for Chief White’s ouster. The FOP also wants the mayor to fire Stephanie O'Malley, the city’s Manager of Public Safety, over the incident.
The FOP argues in its letter that a more hands-off approach has become the “standard” for the Denver police who “allowed this despicable hate based act to occur.”
Denver’s approach is not uncommon. In the wake of violence and controversy over the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last summer, many police forces have adopted less aggressive tactics in dealing with potentially hostile crowds.
