Cops Afraid of Cops and Why Women are Boycotting Denver's Woman's Police Academy

Denver, CO —

Why: "The Denver Police Department is not a safe workplace for women"

Denver, CO - On the heels of their testimony in support HB24-1460, the Law Enforcement Misconduct bill to protect whistleblowers who report police misconduct, former mayoral candidate Lisa Calderón, former DPD officers Carla Havard and Holland Wriston—and “TC”, the survivor of sexual harassment by a Denver police officer featured in a series of Westword articles, will call for a boycott of DPD's upcoming Women's Community Academy and future trainings. This will be the first time TC has been interviewed publicly.

"Despite the rhetoric they use to recruit women, the Denver Police Department has proven over and over that it is not a safe workplace for women," stated Lisa Calderón, Executive Director of Women Uprising, an organization dedicated to increasing progressive women's political power.

Former Sgt. Carla Havard, who was DPD's highest-ranking Black woman officer, was forced to resign after raising concerns about a hostile work environment. "The Department should not turn a blind eye to the racial and gender inequity occurring at all levels. Women are the future of law enforcement. DPD needs to change from a culture of discrimination and retaliation rooted in gender and racial bias," stated Havard who recently filed a federal lawsuit against the City and County of Denver and the Denver Police Department, alleging First Amendment violations, discrimination, and retaliation.

The women plan to talk about allegations described in an internal report detailing systemic and pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination against women police officers, their disproportionately high resignation rate, as well as the lack of accountability for sexual harassment by DPD officers toward civilians.

"DPD officials for years ignored a pattern of disturbing behavior by an officer who sexually harassed me after I reported a crime," stated TC. "After initially ignoring my complaint— and then mischaracterizing our relationship as consensual, they gave him a two-day suspension. They essentially gave him permission to harass other women, which he did." As reported in Westword, Officer Zachery Phillips recently resigned amid an investigation into inappropriate contact with two women he'd met during an on-duty call.

In addition to warning future female recruits away from applying to DPD's training academy, the women will discuss institutional changes that are needed in DPD, the public safety department, and the city attorney's office to address the systemic discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment against women.