BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder police have launched an internal affairs investigation over an officer's interactions with a Naropa University student from the first of this month.
Naropa University President Charles G. Lief called officers' actions "beyond unacceptable" and accused them of creating a dangerous situation.
The incident in question took place around 8:30 a.m. on Naropa University grounds, according to police and Lief.
According to a news release, a Boulder police officer saw a man sitting in a partially enclosed patio area directly behind a ‘Private Property’ sign and spoke to him to find out if he was allowed on the property. The man told the officer that he worked and lived at the building and provided his school identification card, the release said.
The officer detained the man to investigate further and requested additional assistance over the radio, the release said. Over the radio, the officer indicated the man was uncooperative and unwilling to put down a blunt object, the news release said.
Several officers, including a supervisor, responded and determined the object the man was holding was used to pick up trash, police said. Officers ultimately determined the man had a legal right to be on the property and returned the man’s school identification card. All officers left the area and no further action was taken, according to the release.
Lief, in response to a request for comment, wrote via email to 9NEWS that eight officers in all responded. He said some of them drew their weapons and some appeared ready to draw weapons.
According to Lief, Boulder police's actions were "beyond unacceptable, creating a dangerous situation of their own making and demonstrating a shocking lack of training and adequate supervision."
He said that on a video of the altercation, profane language can be heard - presumably from the student - and stressed that he didn't think profanity warranted guns and an eight-officer response.
"While I understand the sensitivity that some have around the profane language heard on the video," he wrote. "That use of language arising from being confronted by eight armed police officers in no way mitigates the police actions."
Lief said via email that his student was acting lawfully and behaved in a way that "no reasonable person could view as a threat." He also told 9NEWS he's requested records of the incident but has not received them from the city. Officials have cited an "open investigation" exemption to Colorado's open records law, he said.
"We believe that to be an overbroad use of an exemption and will continue to seek access to information that the public ought to be entitled to see well before the "60-90 days" the city estimates the investigation will take," he wrote.
Boulder police began looking into the incident on Friday and launched an official internal affairs investigation Monday morning.
Once the report is complete, the findings will be reviewed by the Professional Standards Review Panel, which will provide a recommendation to the chief of police.
The panel consists of six community members and six members of the police department. The investigation and review process into this matter is estimated to take between 60 to 90 days.
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