Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jan 2001
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2001 Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  400 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80204
Feedback: http://cfapps.insidedenver.com/opinion/
Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/
Author: T.F. Shirley, Richard Parks
Note: 2 PUB LTEs

DENVER HAD TO TAKE POLICE OFFICER BACK

Putting Denver police officer Joseph Bini back on duty had to be done, and 
here is why. If they fired him, he would take the city to court to show 
cause. In court it would come out that there were problems with his case 
that go all the way to the top.

What about Rockies player Mike Lansing who was riding along with the SWAT 
team that mistakenly raided the wrong house (because Bini gave them the 
wrong address), killing Ismael Mena? What happened to the door Mena was 
supposed to be hiding behind, while at the same time he was aiming a gun? 
Where are the missing bullets from the wall? Were there really bullet holes 
in the floor?

No, the best way to keep the truth from being known is to pay off the Mena 
family (which the city lucked out on; had Mena lived, he may have gotten 
$1.2 million), take Bini back, and take the heat that will come with this 
until the situation blows over. And it will -- always has -- and nothing 
changes.

T.F. Shirley, Denver

PLENTY OF BLAME TO SPREAD

Columnist Bill Johnson and a News editorial have made Denver police officer 
Joseph Bini the scapegoat for the death of Ismael Mena. I'm not sure if all 
this vitriol is justified. There seems to be a lot of blame to be spread 
around.

No. 1 is that no-knock raids are a direct usurption of the Fourth 
Amendment. There were numerous unchallenged agreements to conduct this 
raid. There was no Neighborhood Watch-type program to alert the police of 
drug activities. Ismael Mena was an illegal immigrant who escaped scrutiny 
by INS after being contacted earlier by Denver police. And all of this was 
initiated by the rights-thieving failure known as the "war on drugs."

Yes, Bini is responsible for a part of this tragic fiasco, but let's not 
oversimplify the solution by attaching him with all the blame.

Richard Parks, Denver
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