Cops dispute KDVR's report on sheriff's handcuffed van passengers

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:


Chris Halsne KDVR

A two-part story by KDVR-Channel 31 on the method of transporting passengers in sheriff's vans has drawn the ire of police. The November report by Chris Halsne used three undercover cameras to show that, contrary to the sheriff department's written policy, the inmates were not seat-belted in the van. The safety of inmates was at issue.

It’s not the most critical issue facing the city, and the station has a history of working well with police sources, but the cops are threatening to stop working with Fox31 reporters in the future due to what they see as “the clearly biased tone of this report.”

“We pulled lots of documents, we got our own video,” said KDVR-KWGN News Director Holly Gauntt. The video showed very intoxicated people were not being seat-belted, one sustaining a serious head injury.

An angry letter to the station from the Fraternal Order of Police called the reporting “sensationalist, tabloid journalism.”

Gauntt replied to Sheriff Patrick Firman’s more measured letter, noting, “Our report was fact based and we have the documents and/or video to support it.” She observed that the department had given conflicting answers to questions the station asked more than once.

The law enforcement policy seems to be in flux; the department’s attitude toward upholding the policy also seems to be variable. The TV station’s series continues.
More...