DENVER — Auraria Campus Police have backup from around the Denver metro area to handle protests on the Tivoli Quad and throughout the campus. Other agencies were called in after a botched attempt last week to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters. It was a sweep led by Auraria Police that was so badly bungled that the Denver Police Department (DPD) said they wouldn't participate again.
As police detained protestors on the Auraria Campus again Tuesday night, different badges from across the state were there.
Auraria Police, Colorado State Patrol (CSP), DPD and Colorado Rangers reserve officers were all present inside and outside of buildings that protestors occupied. Without them, the small college campus police department likely couldn’t handle the pro-Palestinian protestors. In total, 14 protestors were cited for trespassing.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas recognizes that Auraria Police is in charge on the Auraria Campus.
"Nothing is going to happen on that campus unless I and the mayor think it’s the right thing to do on that campus," Thomas told the Denver Citizen Oversight Board on May 3.
On April 26, Thomas' officers helped clear the encampment. Auraria Police arrested 38 people. DPD arrested six. The tents were replaced within hours, and Auraria Police asked Thomas to help clear them again. He said no.
"I didn’t think it was safe, nor did I think it was appropriate to go in and do that again. I shut it down then," Thomas said.
9NEWS has learned Auraria Police then went to the state and asked for more officers from other departments.
On April 28, the Auraria Higher Education Center sent a request to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management with a request for additional resources. Officers from Morrison Police, the Colorado Rangers, and Colorado State Patrol are now providing support to the campus police department, but they don’t have the power to make arrests.
"The request for support is for police officer patrols to work alongside their current ACPD staff and specifically for two officers per shift over three shifts per day and covering 14 days," a spokesperson with the Colorado Office of Emergency Management said.
Auraria Police asked for the help, and they are in charge or making decisions about what happens on campus.
"When ACPD requests assistance and if DPD becomes aware of activity that poses a safety risk, such as when demonstrators blocked the roadway near the campus on Sunday," a spokesperson for DPD told 9NEWS. "DPD would not initiate activity on the campus without coordinating with ACPD, unless there was an exigent safety/security issue that must be immediately addressed."
The Auraria Campus is in charge of paying for the additional police officers. It's not clear how much they're paying or what it costs.
Auraria Police is in charge of calling the shots on campus, but it’s also clear they don’t have all the power.
"They don’t have the resources themselves to deal with the problem," Thomas said. "They’re such a small police department that they can’t do anything without the assistance of State Patrol and the Denver Police Department. They are really at our behest whether they like it or not."
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