WKDVR At least seven people were arrested in downtown Denver during a confrontation between Denver Police and Occupy Denver protesters Saturday afternoon. A police spokesman says the confrontation began when some Occupy Denver protesters tried to “occupy” the state capitol, which is illegal. “I saw the police become brutal for no reason,” said a woman who was at the protest. “I saw them choke a guy, I saw people get tear gassed who weren’t violent.” Witnesses say some in the crowd were throwing objects at police, and that a police officer patrolling the protest on a motorcycle was pushed off his bike. “We did have an officer who was pushed off his motorcycle and we had officers who were kicked,” said Denver Police Lieutenant Matt Murray. “When it escalated to that point we made an all-citywide call for every available officer, and that’s what you’re seeing now.” MORE
THE DENVER CHANNEL: New Denver police chief Robert White has arrived in Colorado to meet with the mayor, city council and the public he’s about to represent. He said when he applied in Denver he searched online to learn about the good and the bad. “If you want to learn about a city from a law enforcement perspective, two things you need to do; you Google the mayor’s name and you Google the chief’s name,” said White.A web search of Denver and police revealed excessive force concerns, especially with multiple arrests caught on camera. White said it doesn’t matter whether or not he believes there’s a perception problem, if the public already thinks there’s one.”To some degree it’s irrelevant if I believe that or not. There is a perception that there is one so that has to be addressed,” said White. “When you talk about the discipline as it relates to the officer, whether it is a reality or whether it is a perception, the bottom line is it’s a problem and it’s a problem that has to be addressed.” MORE