Independent monitor reports case-review findings, training plan; recommends DA courtroom training for officers

Sherry, the Independent Police Monitor for the City of Boulder, presented the monitor's monthly case-review report and data for April 2025, noting completed reviews, open cases, and training recommendations.

Sherry said the office completed 0 case reviews in April, had nine cases awaiting panel review and two scheduled for the next two weeks. She described findings in individual reviews, including MI2025007 (commercial tenant/landlord incident) where surveillance refuted the complainant's allegation and recommended an ‘‘unfounded’’ classification that the department agreed with. She also summarized MI205009 (traffic stop) and recommended it be unfounded for alleged harassment while noting an observed traffic violation for which the department agreed to coach the officer.

The monitor provided broader case statistics: monitored staff classified 30 complaints for April, of which 13 were misconduct investigations (one classified as serious misconduct), two were community inquiries, four were community feedback items, eight were unspecified incidents, and two were referred to the conflict-facilitation (mediation) process. She reported observing six interviews and noted zero critical-incident responses during the period. As of May 8, the monitor's office had 41 open cases between the monitor and PSU: 29 classified, two awaiting monitored facilitation, and 10 in PSU's preliminary investigation.

Sherry told the panel that, following interviews last summer, many officers reported little or no experience testifying in court. She said she raised this with BPD leadership and received a response from Chief Redburn that the district attorney's office will provide courtroom training in the third quarter; the monitor described that as scheduled but said the office will monitor whether and how it is carried out.

She also summarized outreach and training the monitor's office participated in, including an 8-hour training for BPD on Fourth and Fifth Amendment issues, sergeants' training on a Spanish traffic form, panel case-review training, and community presentations at New Vista High School and other events. Sherry described conversations with the Denver Office of the Independent Monitor about their community-engagement model and suggested the panel consider adapting some approaches.

The monitor identified several open cases by case number and current procedural stage (e.g., MI2024-065 scheduling statements, MI2024-076 in investigation, MI2024-078 in chain of command review). She said several of those may be scheduled for panel review within the next month.

The monitor recommended no further action beyond the department's agreed coaching where applicable and noted the department concurred with the monitor's recommendation in the specific case examples she presented.

The panel did not take formal independent-action votes on the monitor's staffing or on the DA training during the meeting; Sherry asked the panel to note the training schedule and the open cases list for ongoing monitoring.

Sherry closed by listing partner events and trainings attended during April and early May and recommended continued engagement with peer oversight offices for community-engagement ideas.