Bruce irked by hollow victory over cops in trespassing case

Political activist Douglas Bruce won what he considers a hollow victory against the Colorado Springs Police Department over his being cited for trespassing last year while collecting petition signatures outside a Costco.

In a letter to Bruce dated April  19, which Bruce released this week, Police Chief Richard Myers said police had reviewed his December complaint against four police employees and determined that department policy had been violated.

Myers told Bruce the department had taken “the appropriate administrative action and taken steps to ensure these errors are not repeated in the future.”

However, he did not let Bruce know which employee or employees were at fault, what actions violated department policy and what discipline if any they faced.

In an e-mail to The Gazette, Bruce objected, saying he and anyone who files a complaint against an office has a right to know the full outcome.

“CSPD  did not identify the officer(s), nor the violation of policy, nor the punishment,” Bruce wrote. “ I understand that would be confidential during an investigation. But this investigation is over.

“The public has a right to know what public employees violated what policy, and with what consequence. If the violator has a prior record of policy violations, that should also be made public.”

Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt said Friday the department generally does not discuss personnel matters. However, the department has recently changed its policy and will release portions of an internal affairs investigation, if it is in the public interest.

He said Bruce can file an open records request. His right to a public document would then be weighed against an officer’s right to privacy in determining if the request would be granted. One of the primary considerations in making that determination, Noblitt said, is whether an officer committed a violation while on duty.

Even if the records were released, any punishment given to the officer is not a public record and would be withheld.

“That is something private between the employee and the employer,” he said.

Bruce and another man were ticketed for trespassing by a Colorado Springs police officer last August while collecting signatures for a ballot initiative in the parking lot of a Costco. Bruce won in court and afterward filed complaints against the police employees, the prosecutor and the judge.

Gazette reporter Daniel Chacón contributed to this report