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Internal affairs investigation launched after Boulder officer detains man cleaning outside his home

Posted at 6:17 AM, Mar 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-05 18:58:53-05

BOULDER, Colo. — The Boulder Police Department has launched an internal affairs investigation after an officer detained a black man cleaning up trash outside his home.

On Friday at 8:30 a.m., a Boulder officer saw a man sitting in a partially enclosed patio area behind a private property sign on the 2300 block of Arapahoe Avenue. He asked the man if he was allowed to be there, and the man said he worked and lived in the building.

He gave the officer his school identification card.

The officer detained the man to investigate further and made a request over the radio for additional assistance, indicating that the man was uncooperative and unwilling to put down a blunt object.

Several other officers and a supervisor responded to that call. They found that the man was holding a device used to pick up trash.

The officers determined that the man had the right to be on the property, returned his identification card and left the area.

The police department started looking into this incident on Friday. Early Monday morning, it launched an official internal affairs investigation. Once that is complete, the Professional Standards Review Panel — which is made of six community members and six members of the police department — will review the findings and provide a recommendation to the chief of police of any further action.

The man’s and officer’s names were not released.