Department provided less than a third of requested case documents

Last October, The Gazette asked police to provide summaries of Internal Affairs investigations since 2007 that resulted in mediation or punishment ranging from written reprimand to termination.

After seven months of delays, police partially granted the request - supplying 20 of the 66 cases sought by the newspaper, some with significant redactions. In all, 60 pages were released.

Police say they applied a "balancing test" that weighed the privacy interests of the officers who were disciplined against the public's right to know, as guided by their interpretation of the Colorado Open Records Act.

They refused to provide some case summaries altogether, saying the public's interest in the documents is "minimal."

Such complaints involved off-duty conduct and what police characterized as minor offenses with "little or nothing to do with CSPD's function as a criminal justice agency."

They claimed that releasing those summaries would have a chilling effect on the complaint process or otherwise prove "contrary to the public interest."

The Gazette was not allowed to inspect the documents.

Other summaries were offered to The Gazette on the condition that all officers' names were redacted. The newspaper has not yet pursued those cases.

One case summary police had planned to release ended up being withheld because the officer retained a lawyer who threatened legal action. The newspaper's attorney will pursue the document.