LAWYER CALLS POP INVESTIGATION FINDINGS ‘INCORRECT’ AND ‘ILLEGAL’

BY CAITLIN ROCKETT

After months of investigation, a specially appointed lawyer has recommended that a member of Boulder’s Police Oversight Panel (POP) resign, but some in the community are questioning the validity of the findings and the legality of the recommendations.

The City of Boulder hired attorney Clay Douglas in January to investigate five code of conduct complaints, all of which were filed by Boulder residents, related to the appointment of new POP members. The panel is tasked with reviewing police department disciplinary action in cases where officers are accused of wrongdoing. Two of the complaints claimed that POP member

Lisa Sweeney-Miran had made statements online being critical of police, and as such was unable to make impartial decisions on the panel. The complaints also pointed to Sweeney-Miran’s involvement with the ongoing American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Boulder’s camping ban.

Douglas agreed.

“Available evidence of Lisa SweeneyMiran’s ‘real or perceived bias or prejudice’ could undermine public trust in and effectiveness of the Police Oversight Panel,” Douglas wrote in the report released on April 14. “I recommend Council consider requesting Sweeney-Miran’s resignation from the Police Oversight Panel. If she refuses such a request, I recommend Council consider removing her.”

But Sweeny-Miran told Boulder

Weekly she has no plans to resign from the board, and her lawyer, Dan Williams of Hutchinson, Black and Cook, has responded to the findings of the investigation via a letter to Douglas and the city attorney, calling the recommendation for his client to resign or be removed from the panel “illegal,” as neither of the two code of conduct complaints directly accuses Sweeney-Miran of misconduct. One complaint accuses members of the POP selection committee of misconduct by selecting Sweeney-Miran. The second complaint accuses six members of Boulder City Council of misconduct by