called for help, experts say
Sheriff’s Office lists de-escalation techniques — many of which were not followed in the arrest of Christian Glass
(snip)

The first Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputies on scene acted with needless aggression, the group failed to pursue alternative communication options when they couldn’t get Glass to step out of his car, and they created a violent encounter when they broke one of the car’s windows while failing to maintain a safe distance, they said.

“He’s not breaking the law — he’s sitting in his car,” said Shamus Smith, a former New York City police officer and trainer who now studies policing at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “Sit and wait and make it turn into a waiting game.”

Attorneys for Glass’ parents last week released body camera footage of the killing early June 11 of Glass, which prompted questions from local and state authorities. The Clear Creek County Board of Commissioners in a statement said “the circumstances around his death are deeply troubling.”

Gov. Jared Polis spoke with Glass’ parents and in a statement called for the expansion of teams that pair officers with mental health professionals. There’s no such program in Clear Creek County.

“This tragedy should never have happened,” Polis said in the statement.

https://www.denverpost.com/2022/09/20/christian-glass-clear-creek-county-tactics/
(possible paywall)

Soopers shooting
Dean Schiller is charged with police obstruction and set to go to trial in October

A Boulder County judge on Tuesday allowed the criminal case to go forward against the man charged with police obstruction after he livestreamed the 2021 mass shooting at the Table Mesa King Soopers grocery store.

Dean Schiller, 44, had argued his actions were protected by the First Amendment, but Judge Zachary Malkinson on Tuesday declined to take up that argument, saying it was outside of his authority to consider at this point in the case.

He agreed, however, to hear additional debate on Schiller’s argument that he never should have been prosecuted under the state’s obstruction law, which specifically prohibits anyone from being charged with obstruction of a police officer merely because the person “stated a verbal opposition to an order by a government official.”

“This amounts to a retaliatory and selective prosecution that is not in comport with the clear legislative intent of the obstruction statute,” Schiller’s attorney, Tiffany Drahota, wrote in a motion to dismiss the charge. “Throughout Mr. Schiller’s three hours of filming the police, there is not a single example of Mr. Schiller getting in the police officers’ way, impairing them or hindering law enforcement from doing their job.”

https://www.denverpost.com/2022/09/14/dean-schiller-king-soopers-livestream-prosecution/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-denverpost&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social