Sgt. Carla Havard smiled wide and shook hands with attendees as live music played last month during the Taste of the South festival at the Civic Center in Denver.
“Haven’t seen you in a while!” one woman said as she approached Havard. “Can you tell me how to get inside the festival?” another gentleman asked her. Other civilians stopped to say hello and some jested with dance moves as they walked past.
Dressed in her usual navy blue police uniform, she was doing what she does best while on duty at such events — leading her team of officers to ensure safety and being a friendly, familiar face within the community.
And Havard says she loves her job, which is why filing a whistleblower complaint against the very department she’s grown up in is not only difficult, but at times, painful.
“It pains me to be at this place, certainly in my 24th year,” Havard said. “I’m not anti-police. I consider myself to be an employee that was always hopeful that things would get better and they are, but progress doesn't mean that harm is not being created.”
When female officers are outspoken about harassment, discrimination or other egregious behaviors against them, they face an uphill battle — especially when you’re a Black woman whose calling for systemic changes, Havard said.
She’s spent more than two decades as an officer at the Denver Police Department, rising through the ranks to become a sergeant in 2013. She recently took the first step in filing a lawsuit against the department by...
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