Colorado law enforcement integrity bill sponsor says change is needed after dropped charges in Christian Glass case
One of Colorado's elected leaders who sponsored the legislation that a judge referenced in making a surprising ruling this week in the Christian Glass death case is sharing her perspective.
The judge ruled that charges for two Colorado Division of Gaming officers in the Glass case be dropped. Mary Harris and Christa Lloyd had been charged with failure to intervene. The Glass family's lawyer said the judge's ruling exposed a loophole, and state Rep. Leslie Herod agrees it needs to be fixed.
The law was first drafted in 2020 in the wake of Elijah McClain's death. Herod was one of four politicians to sponsor SB20-217: Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity, and she said she understands why the judge made the ruling.
"When we passed the police accountability bill 217 and then the subsequent bill 1250 the following year, our intent was to ensure that any type of POST certified law enforcement officer who arrived on the scene that had the ability to take someone's rights or the ability to, you know, use lethal force against someone was underneath that police accountability legislation," Herod said.
"In this case, there were many officers on the scene who are post certified who had that duty to save a life, and quite frankly, they could have."
Both Harris and Lloyd received their POST certification as gaming officers, even though their position does not require it. That difference is what their respective lawyers were able to successfully argue should get the charges dropped. Herod said she believes change is now clearly needed.
"I feel like with these bills there, there's always someone looking for a loophole and if they find it, they will use it," Herod said. "That is why we have legislative sessions every single year to make sure that we address the laws as written and how the world evolves."
While there could be change on the horizon for the bill, Herod said it might not go in the way they intend. She believes each time they revisit 217, there's a chance it's eliminated, even though the initial passage had support from multiple law enforcement agencies. But that's not all.
"There are also bills that seek to end our police accountability legislation in Colorado," Herod said. "But what I will say is that for the most part, outside of this case (involving the death of Christain Glass), it is working as intended. Law enforcement is held to a standard that if they violate someone's constitutional rights, knowingly violate someone's constitutionally rights or use excessive force, they may be individually prosecuted."
