AURORA | Aurora police received 11 fewer formal complaints about its officers last year than they did in 2011, according to the department’s own data.
The most-common complaint was that officers were unprofessional, a complaint lodged 117 times last year, down from 140 times the previous year.
The data was released last week in the department’s annual Awards, Commendations, Complaints and Discipline Report.
The 87-page report, which is available on the department’s website, details the awards officers received last year, as well as some of bad behavior by officers.
“A modern and enlightened police department should be open and transparent about its discipline and its findings of mistakes and misconduct, as well as the penalties meted out by the Chief for poor performance,” Chief Dan Oates sad in the report. “So this report is also a frank public accounting of some of our failures.”
The awards included two officers — Sgt. Patrick Shaker and Officer Caleb Luallin — who received the department’s Medal of Honor, APD’s highest awards. Shaker and Luallin were recognized for their role in a March 2011 hostage standoff that ended when Shaker exchanged gunfire with the hostage taker, Daniel Garcia, killing Garcia and leaving Shaker with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police say Garcia took two people hostage inside an Isuzu Trooper and shot at police as they closed in. Luallin was one of the first officers to approach the SUV, smashing out a window so officers could get to Garcia, who was on the run from a halfway house. One of Shaker’s bullets struck one of the hostages who was seated near Garcia during the exchange, but the hostage survived their injuries.
Five other officers — Officer Dustin Clark, Officer Stephen Elswick, Officer John Falco, Officer Cesar Rivas-Galvan, and Officer William Stricklin — received the Distinguished Service Cross for their roles in the Garcia case.
Awards included in the annual report are often for events that happened more than a year ago because the investigations sometimes take that long to complete, said Aurora police spokesman Officer Frank Fania. Some of the awards in the 2012 report are for events going as far back as 2009.
The department honored several officers early this year for their response to the July 20, 2012, theater shootings. Because of a gag order in the criminal case of accused shooter James Holmes, police have not publicly discussed what those officers did to receive their awards. Details about those awards are expected in next year’s report.
The report also detailed the disciplinary actions against several officers. One officer was reprimanded for accidentally firing her Taser into a computer monitor, another officer was suspended 30 hours for accidentally firing his pistol into a glass door at the police station and a third officer was suspended 30 hours when he accidentally fired his assault rifle in a police parking lot.
The report does not include the names of officers who were disciplined, but some of the cases have already made headlines. That includes Officer Paul Swanson, who was demoted from lieutenant to patrol officer for failing to work the hours he was required to, and Officer Falco, who was fired last year. Chief Oates fired Falco for calling a man he shot a “marshmallow head,” being rude to a city attorney, babysitting his grandson on the job and being rude to a teenager who was in a car accident. Falco appealed his firing to the city’s civil service commission and has since been reinstated. The city is appealing that ruling in district court.
Did I read correctly? Officer Falco was given the Distinguished Service Cross and then he was fired? He won his position back and yet, they are still after him because he was rude? HA
The Chief et al have a thing or two themselves to learn about basic courtesy and manners.
You know what they say about people who live in glass houses!
Ashley your reading of the report is spot on. Oates gives Falco the 2nd highest award then fires him……hum sounds like checkbook Charlie will be paying Falco as well