A bill that would give Colorado police officers who report misconduct in their office more protection from retaliation passed a House committee on Tuesday, nearly a year after a similar bill failed in the face of law enforcement opposition.
House Bill 25-1031 would allow officers to sue their employers if they face retaliation for reporting a danger to public safety or an alleged crime by another officer. It would clarify that there is whistleblower protection for local law enforcement.
“If someone wants to come forward because there has been a violation of law or policy, they should be protected in doing so,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat sponsoring the bill.
The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on a 9-2 vote. Republican Reps. Ryan Armagost of Berthoud and Jarvis Caldwell of Colorado Springs voted against it.
Bacon also ran last year’s bill alongside former Rep. Leslie Herod, another Denver Democrat. That bill would have required investigations of reported misconduct and criminalized a failure to report, and was inspired by a former Edgewater police officer who told lawmakers she was retaliated against after she reported a supervising sergeant for sexual assault.
That bill, which was introduced and debated in the final weeks of the legislative session, faced heated opposition from Republicans and law enforcement groups,...
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