DENVER – A CU Boulder Police Department officer has been placed on administrative leave while the internal affairs department investigates anti-homeless and antisemitic posts on Reddit he is accused of making.
The alleged posts came to light in a Twitter thread made by SAFE: Safe Access for Everyone’s Boulder chapter on Monday claiming the Reddit account /u/BocoRam18 belongs to CUPD Officer Drew Matthews based of similar posts made on that account and Matthews’ Facebook account.
Among the posts the organization highlighted were posts that talked negatively about people experiencing homelessness and Black people, and compared businesses requiring people to wear masks to the “star” that Nazis forced Jewish people to wear during the Nazi occupation.
The Boulder Daily Camera first reported on Matthews being placed on leave.
CUPD said Matthews was placed on administrative leave on Monday and that he “will have no police authority while on leave.” He will be paid while he is on leave, the police chief said.
“The posts highlighted are offensive and reprehensible,” the department said in a statement. “These allegations have been referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and to CUPD’s professional standards unit for investigation.”
Safe Access for Everyone’s post said the Reddit account in question posted regularly to the Boulder, CU Boulder, and ProtectAndServe subreddits – the last of which is a board for law enforcement officers.
CUPD Chief thanked the community for bringing the posts to the department and university’s attention.
“CUPD takes allegations of this nature very seriously,” CUPD Chief Doreen Jokerst said in a statement. “We are taking immediate action to conduct an internal investigation. The officer in questions is being placed on paid administrative leave.”
The department said Matthews has been with the department since 2015. It s asking anyone with more information about any of the alleged context to call the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance at 303-492-2127 or email cureport@colorado.edu. People can also call CUPD internal affairs at 303-492-6666 or submit a report online by clicking here.
