VIDEO: Denver Police Rewriting Use-of-Force Policy to Emphasize Minimal Force

The Denver Police Department says it is rewriting its use-of-force policy to reflect progressive policies recommended by national policing experts.

The new policy will shift the department’s focus from telling officers what is legally allowed when using force against citizens to one that encourages officers to use the minimum amount of force necessary. It also will provide specific scenarios and a decision-making model to guide officers on how they should react to those situations, Chief Robert White told The Denver Post during an interview Wednesday.

“I’m of the opinion it’s just not good enough for officers to take legal actions, but they also need to make sure those actions are absolutely necessary,” White said. “That’s where we are going.”

The command staff is almost finished with a first draft, which will be distributed to the Office of the Independent Monitor, rank-and-file officers and community leaders, White told the Denver Post.

To write the policy, Denver police leaders consulted with 14 other departments, including San Diego, Houston, Kansas City, Mo., and Seattle, and they considered recommendations from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the Police Executive Research Forum.