Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jul 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact:  1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author: Kevin Simpson and Michael Booth, and Allison Sherry contributed to 
this report.

SOME RIDE-ALONG REQUESTS MISSING

July 21, 2000 - Documents clearing celebrity athletes to participate
in Denver police ride-alongs were conspicuously absent from 1,100
forms released Thursday on the suddenly controversial program.

Among the authorization requests, which date to 1998, police found
only one from Colorado Rockies second baseman Mike Lansing, whose
presence during a SWAT team's fatal "no-knock" drug raid last
September remained concealed from investigators for 10 months.

Lansing has said he also participated in ride-alongs both before and
since the botched raid at the wrong house, which killed 45-yearold
Ismael Mena.

But records don't reflect any other requests from Lansing, or from
Rockies star Larry Walker, who has said he and several other players -
including ex-Rockie Dante Bichette - have cruised with cops.

"That was a procedure not followed correctly," said department
spokeswoman Virginia Lopez. "If they rode, they should have filled out
request forms. Since Chief (Gerry) Whitman made the policy changes,
there should be more accountability when riders make a request." Lopez
said she didn't know if street officers allowed the other players to
ride along without filling out paperwork as part of an informal buddy
system.

"That would be pure speculation on our part," she said. She added that
she knew of no internal investigation into the matter and did not
anticipate disciplinary action, although a final decision on that is
up to the chief.

Like the sports stars, one Denver Post reporter who went on police
ride-alongs didn't show up in the pile of records, even though he
filled out forms. Another reporter's form was released in the records,
indicating some inconsistency in record keeping.

In the 8-inch-thick stack of forms released Thursday, there was one
from an Eric Young - but this E.Y. was a visiting California officer,
not the former Rockies second baseman.

The ride-along program, which has been operating for decades, allows
citizens the opportunity to spend all or part of a shift with
officers. Police departments nationwide considered it a valuable
public relations tool.

But some large metro police departments - including Seattle, San
Diego, Dallas and Houston - prohibit citizens from riding with SWAT
teams. Denver police acknowledge that SWAT ride-alongs are rare, and
produced only four official request forms to shadow the special unit.

Lansing, who reportedly was in a police van during the September SWAT
raid, was not reported as a witness until earlier this week, prompting
questions of lax attention to procedure and possible favorable treatment.

The development prompted Whitman to tighten Denver's department policy
and require participants to give written witness statements when
appropriate.

Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said the city erred by keeping Lansing's
name secret for 10 months.

"We addressed that way too late," he said.

Applicants must fill out a onepage form that asks basic questions such
as name and address, and includes a liability waiver. The address and
phone-number fields were whited out in the copy of Lansing's request
released to the media.

Of the 1,100 forms released by Denver police, there were more asking
to ride in downtown District 6 - 380 - than any other area. In
addition to the six geographical districts, requests also sent
citizens riding with the crime lab, traffic control, SWAT and gang
units.

More than two dozen signed up for helicopter rides with the police air
support unit. Several were aircraft maintenance personnel.

"They don't ride for the whole shift," Lopez said. "Maybe a halfhour
or hour. We're limited to so many hours of flight."

Many of the applicants sought ride-alongs to keep up with
credentialing requirements in their jobs - victim assistance advocates
or criminal justice specialists, for example. A woman from the U.S.
Department of Justice wanted to ride with a female officer to see how
women are treated on the job.

Others wanted the experience for reasons less directly related to
their work: screenwriters sought real-life grit, novelists craved new
material. And journalists - both print and electronic - were frequent
riders.

Neighborhood watch captains and community activists wanted to see how
the officers worked, and to observe trouble spots in their corners of
the city. Many riders were friends or relatives of officers.

Some didn't seek to justify their presence beyond the pursuit of
"fun," as one put it, or "curiosity," as did another.

Patrick Werner, a 27-year-old Denver resident who's between sales
jobs, was even more direct: "Adventure Seeker," he wrote as his reason
for requesting the ride.

"I was looking for suspense, basically," said Werner, who rode a
3to-midnight shift on a Friday.

"There was plenty of that all night long - from picking up a 300pound
prostitute to arresting some guy who was drunk off his butt and passed
out inside Immaculate Conception cathedral during a wedding
rehearsal." And he couldn't beat the price.

"Most things of interest in my life cost money," he said. "This
happened to be free." But Denver police apparently didn't take just
anybody.

"DENIED" was scrawled across the request of a photographer wanting to
expand his portfolio. Another applicant failed to pass a background
check.

And once launched with their ride-along partner, police noted the
behavior of the person sitting next to them.

"This individual is attending the citizen's academy - there was a
strong odor of alcohol on his breath the night I met him . . . I told
him that he can't be drinking when he rides with us. So, please
discreetly check his breath before he rides," wrote one officer on the
indiscreet drinker's request form.
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