Public deserves more information about CPD investigations
It’s safe to say Cheyenne Police Department officers and leaders have been well respected by the vast majority of local residents for generations. But all it takes is a single incident to spark a fire of outrage, even if ill-founded, and to breed long-term animosity and distrust.
Rodney King. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. These and others have become part of our national psyche, as well as the ongoing conversation about police procedures and use of force.
Recently, two separate incidents have cast a shadow on CPD and the actions of some of its patrol officers. Neither rises to the level of the cases mentioned above, but they each have the potential to erode the trust officers rely on each day as they put on the uniform and head out in service to our community.
Unfortunately, we see some of that already happening, as local residents talk to each other about the Jan. 18 in-custody death of 22-year-old Aiden Hall and the use of force in the arrests of Victor Urbina and his sons, 20-year-old Jr Urbina and 17-year-old Jason Urbina, during a traffic stop Jan. 17. Though the incidents happened within 24 hours of each other, communication to the public was delayed. CPD didn’t release a statement about Hall’s death until five days later, and only addressed the allegations of excessive use of force against the Urbinas after cellphone video was posted online and local media started asking questions.
CPD has done better before, and should have done better in these cases.
On Feb. 6, CPD issued a news release saying it had concluded an internal investigation of the death of Hall, who died by suicide in the back of a police patrol vehicle using a gun officers failed to find before he was placed there. In the statement, CPD officials wrote, “The administrative review ... identified opportunities to enhance and clarify departmental procedures related to the search and transportation of individuals in custody.”
It goes on to say a policy has been updated related to the transportation of people in custody, and department-wide in-service training will be conducted.
Two thirds of the way down the page, the statement says, “Through the review, a policy violation was also identified.” Rather than give details of that violation, though, CPD officials wrote, “The personnel aspects of this incident have been addressed in accordance with established departmental procedures and disciplinary policy. As mandated by Wyoming state law, matters relating to personnel performance and discipline are confidential and, therefore, cannot be disclosed further.”
This summary of Wyoming Statute 16-4-203 (d)(iii) is 100% accurate. However, no one is asking for the names of the officer(s) involved or what personnel action was taken in response to their apparent failure to follow department policy.
To trust CPD, the public needs details of what happened and how officials are making sure it doesn’t happen again. Mr. Hall chose to take his own life, but he could have just as easily turned the gun on officers or anyone else.
City administration and CPD leaders should look at section (b) of the same public records law, which reads, “The custodian may deny the right of inspection of the following records, unless otherwise provided by law, on the ground that disclosure to the applicant would be contrary to the public interest.” Subsection (i) includes police department investigation records.
We would argue that allowing the press an opportunity to review the in-car camera and officer body camera footage of the incident, as well as any internal investigation report produced, would not be “contrary to the public interest.” We need facts to accurately explain to citizens how this incident took place. That’s why the Wyoming Tribune Eagle has filed three unsuccessful public records requests to review (not obtain copies of) this video footage.
But it shouldn’t end there. If the city administration and Cheyenne Police Chief Mark Francisco truly believe in the transparency they profess over the recent Flock brand license plate cameras controversy, they would ask the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to conduct an external review of his department’s actions, both during and since the tragic death of Mr. Hall.
Then there’s the second incident, the use of force against Victor Urbina and his sons. The cellphone video appears to show a CPD officer kneeing one of the young men in the chest repeatedly behind a car, and reports from family members said another officer was using a Taser against Mr. Urbina as they were yelling that he has a heart condition.
CPD has an internal panel that reviews all incidents involving the use of force and the actions taken afterward. The department denied a request from the WTE to sit in on that meeting when it occurs.
Again, if Chief Francisco truly believes in transparency and openness with the community he serves, he could allow a reporter to sit in on that discussion, or hold a press conference to view body camera footage of the incident, hear representatives of CPD and the review panel explain their conclusions, and answer questions about the documentation (with officers’ names redacted) summarizing the incident and the response to it.
We don’t have any reason to believe these are more than isolated incidents involving officers who made mistakes or may have stepped over the line. At least one is undoubtedly experiencing remorse and regret for their actions (or failure to do enough).
But we also don’t have enough information to trust whether the department has taken the appropriate action to prevent something worse from happening in the future.
And neither do the people CPD has vowed to “protect and serve.” If Chief Francisco and other leaders want to keep these small brush fires from becoming a raging inferno, they’ll recognize that a single-page news release is not enough to get people to move on to the next topic of conversation.