Today the county District Attorney announced what criminal charges will be filed in the Karen Garner case.

Something new to me today: the video tape of the police officers gloating over how they roughed up the 73-year old Alzheimers lady was reviewed by the District Attorney's office not long after that incident (it was in June 2020) - to decide whether to press charges against her. They reviewed it, decided not to prosecute her, and forgot about it, I guess. The current DA was not in office at the time of that incident & review. He claims he's told his staff if something like this happens again, they must notify him and make others aware of it. And they are now reviewing other arrest videos to see if there is anything they missed.

The Police Chief says the first his department heard of it was April 2021 when the lawsuit was filed. He claims there is no issue of a bullying culture within his current police force - 'they all know what is the right thing to do, and they do it.' I don't buy that, so hope if it isn't true, something will come out in the course of the citizen advisory committee set up 'to restore trust.'

This is from the Loveland Chief of Police press conference:

"Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer today announced his support for the criminal charges filed by 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin against two former Loveland Police Department officers for their roles in the arrest of Karen Garner last summer.

Austin Hopp was charged with two felonies: Second Degree Assault of an At-Risk Adult, and Attempt to Influence a Public Servant, the latter charge the result of his failure to report the seriousness of the injuries sustained by Ms. Garner during her arrest. Hopp also faces a misdemeanor charge of 1st Degree Official Misconduct. Daria Jalali was charged with three misdemeanors: Failure to Report Excessive Use of Force, Failure to Intervene in the Use of Excessive Force, and 1st Degree Official Misconduct. Hopp and Jalali both resigned their positions on April 30. A civilian community services officer, Tyler Blackett, who also resigned April 30, was not charged.

“I fully support the charges brought against these two individuals regarding their interactions with Ms. Garner,” Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer said. “We understand the desire for accountability and justice and we are seeing that today for Ms. Garner with the charges being filed. Our department will continue to cooperate with any criminal investigation into this matter. We understand the severity of this incident and as such I have requested, in addition to the criminal proceedings, an independent, third-party internal affairs investigation overseen by the City’s Human Resources Department. That investigation will begin immediately.”

On June 26, 2020, Walmart employees called police regarding a shoplifting suspect. Hopp responded and stopped Ms. Garner, 73, who has dementia and aphasia, as she walked along Mountain Lion Drive. Jalali arrived on the scene second and assisted in the arrest. During the arrest Garner’s arm was fractured, and her shoulder was separated, among other injuries.

“As part of our mission to serve and protect, we’ve taken a number of actions,” Ticer said. “First, a majority of our police officers have now undergone Alzheimer’s awareness training. This began within a week of my learning about how Ms. Garner was treated. Second, starting next month, we will begin instituting additional de-escalation training. When officers get the opportunity to rely on time and distance to slow down encounters with the public, and can do it safely so that everyone benefits, we want to take advantage of those opportunities. Third, since the first of the year, an Assistant City Attorney now sits within police headquarters to help review all use of force cases dating back to 2019, as well as all use of force cases moving forward. This extra layer of scrutiny is important not only to the Department, but to all of city government to ensure our existing policies are being followed. In addition, all officers will continue to undergo extensive Crisis Intervention Training, as has been done for the last 15 years.”

Hopp was employed with the Department for one year, and Jalali for three years. Blackett served in a civilian role for two years before his departure. Sgt. Phil Metzler, who was Hopp’s and Jalali’s supervisor, remains on administrative leave pending the findings of the independent, third-party internal affairs investigation. In addition to that investigation, a comprehensive assessment of the police department will also be conducted by this independent team.