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New Denver Police Chief Aims for Community Collaborations – Yellow Scene Magazine

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New Denver Police Chief Aims for Community Collaborations – Yellow Scene Magazine


By Michael Renee Giles
Denver City Spectrum (through AP Storyshare)

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. Photograph by Michael Renee Giles

Regardless of the numerous tales printed nationwide concerning the misuse of jurisdiction and pressure in dealing with citizen encounters in Denver, Colorado, a brand new feeling of hope accompanies the swearing in of Ron Thomas as the brand new Denver police chief. The occasion passed off on October 18, someday after the Denver Metropolis Council consented to Mayor Michael Hancock’s nomination.

Thomas replaces former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, whose retirement was efficient Oct. 15 after a 28-year profession with the division.

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Thomas hopes to alter the narrative of what it means to be a police officer and public servant for the neighborhood.

“I believe it’s most essential for us to grasp that we’re public servants, we work for the neighborhood, and I need each resident of the town of Denver to grasp that we work for them,” Thomas declares.

The longtime Denver resident has served 33 years with the Denver Police Division (DPD), beginning his academy coaching in 1989. He was impressed by his mother and father to proceed their legacy of being public servants. With a mom working in social providers and a father as a mail service, he wished to someday discover his distinctive path to assist his neighborhood. The inspiration led to his exceptional success and contribution to defending the Denver metro space with the DPD.

Thomas was lucky sufficient to intern with the DPD as a public security cadet throughout his time on the College of Colorado Denver the place he majored in felony justice whereas minoring in sociology and psychology.

He shares, “That chance actually introduced me nearer to seeing what law enforcement officials really do and the influence that law enforcement officials can have on their neighborhood and people that they interact with on a day-to-day foundation, and that narrowed my focus to wanting to make use of the police division which is the place I needed to supply service to the neighborhood.”

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The brand new chief hopes to emphasise simply what it means to be a public servant after a number of backlash protests in opposition to the division’s misuse of pressure when coping with particular calls.

“I imagine proper now that there are some communities on the market who don’t imagine that the DPD works for them, and that’s not true, however I do know that we have to do a greater job of constructing positive that everybody understands that,” he explains.

Thomas hopes to deal with many points locally involving the re-establishment of belief inside numerous Denver communities, reducing the crime fee general, and interesting with extra neighborhood companions limiting police-citizen contact for low-level incidents.

“There are a variety of points that I wish to deal with; one is crime is considerably increased than it has been in years previous, so I actually wish to decrease that. I do know that there are a number of hotspots the place nearly all of crimes (particularly violent crimes) happen, so focusing particularly on these hotspots utilizing quite a lot of techniques and partnering with neighborhood organizations and different metropolis companions to deal with the infrastructure and different social correlates that relate to crimes in these communities,” says Thomas.

He goes on to say, “Second factor is looking in any respect of our calls and seeing which of the calls don’t essentially want an officer to reply and tackle that decision. There are plenty of requires service that may be dealt with over the telephone or on-line so working with our companions of Denver 9-1-1 to teach people after they’re contacting them on the telephone that there are further choices that they’ve for reporting crime somewhat than having officers present up at their door.”

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The DPD has a sturdy co-responder system with 40 co-responding psychological well being clinicians obtainable to assist reply to calls involving acute psychological well being crises or drug addictions. He factors to the Help Crew Assisted Response (STAR) program.

“It’s a bunch of psychological well being clinicians and paramedics that seem in a van and reply to calls that don’t have any violent element. It’s normally somebody that’s having some sort of drug dependancy or psychological well being problem. There are not any officers concerned in that,” says Thomas, who underscores that by making use of the specialists to these specific points, police are allowed to extra keenly deal with violent crime.

On the notice of reestablishing belief inside the neighborhood, Thomas acknowledges that he has supplied a response to the 112 suggestions that got here from the Reimagining Public Security Committee that’s dedicated to working with the police division as members of society expressing the wants and requests inside the neighborhood for advancing public security.

“That’s a committee that bought collectively and talked about how they actually needed to see public security in a kind that was extra aware of neighborhood wants, notably deprived neighborhood wants, so we’ve already applied in all probability 74% of these suggestions. There are only a few suggestions that we’ve not but adopted or are planning to undertake.

“The handful that we’ve elected to not undertake, there’s actually extra of a authorized element to it, or it’s actually exterior of our scope as a way to actually make a change there, however I’m hoping that that’s going to be useful in getting people to grasp that we actually do work for them as a result of it is a community-led job pressure that supplied suggestions that we largely assist.”

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Most suggestions from the committee deal with community-based policing, the place officers are much less concerned in bodily interactions with residents. Thomas hopes to prioritize the optimization of expertise, together with speedometers and cameras in addition to neighborhood crash report technicians, to implement the regulation whereas limiting the quantity of police-individual interplay in response to a number of the 112 requests by the committee.

“The committee advised we take away law enforcement officials from making contact with residents for visitors and different justifications. In response, we’ve employed 36 crash report technicians. These are civilians that exit and reply to visitors accidents and take the studies, so there’s no police involvement in that in any respect,” says Thomas. “We additionally deploy picture radar vans to allow them to concern tickets to individuals which can be dashing, and no police intervention there. There are additionally red-light cameras and issues like that, so we’re offering security with out having to introduce a uniform police officer. There are methods to implement some legal guidelines with out having to introduce a uniform police officer.”

The DPD veteran additionally addresses the efforts made in sensitivity coaching for Denver Cops, stating, “Each one among our officers has gone by way of what we name ABLE coaching – Lively Bystandership for Legislation Enforcement, and actually it’s an early intervention program, so it teaches officers the way to sort of step in when a state of affairs appears to be going within the flawed path.”

The division has additionally adopted the nationwide Integrating Communication, Evaluation and Techniques (ICAT) coaching to assist officers extra in profitable de-escalation practices.

He describes it as “a nationwide greatest observe de-escalation idea that teaches the way to use tactical placement in addition to continuous evaluation of a state of affairs and distinctive communication expertise to resolve issues with out having to make the most of pressure. It’s only a higher de-escalation idea that has confirmed in areas the place it’s been deployed throughout the nation to have important reductions in bodily utilization of pressure by officers and accidents to members of the neighborhood.”

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As Thomas enters the position of the brand new Denver police chief, he says, “I plan to do extra collaborations. There have been plenty of improvements that Chief Pazen initiated, and I wish to proceed with these issues that have been optimistic, and I wish to be a fair larger collaborator with the neighborhood than he was.”.





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Jamal Murray scores in clutch again as Nuggets pull off 17-point comeback to beat Pelicans in overtime

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Jamal Murray scores in clutch again as Nuggets pull off 17-point comeback to beat Pelicans in overtime


Every Nuggets comeback needs a stroke of inspiration, and this one fittingly occurred without Nikola Jokic on the floor. With 9:18 remaining in a game Denver trailed 100-90, Julian Strawther was barreled over away from the ball while Jamal Murray buried a corner 3-pointer.

A flagrant foul. A free throw for Strawther. A lob from Russell Westbrook to DeAndre Jordan. A six-point possession.

And eventually, an improbable and unnecessarily strenuous 132-129 overtime win over the Pelicans on Sunday night.

The Nuggets (15-11) have won five games this season after trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter. They were down 17 in this one, late in the third frame. But Jokic finally came alive late, and Murray punctuated his 27-point, eight-rebound game with another clutch shot, on one leg with eight seconds remaining to force overtime.

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Closing lineup change

Michael Malone learned from last time. On Thursday in Portland, the Trail Blazers took a timeout to set up their last shot after Jokic tied it with 15 seconds to go. Denver’s lineup for the defensive possession: Murray, Westbrook, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jokic. The result: Anfernee Simons blew by Westbrook and a notable lack of help defense for a layup at the buzzer.

With eight seconds to go in New Orleans, Murray’s 20-footer deadlocked the Nuggets and Pelicans at 119. Timeout, New Orleans.

Denver’s lineup for the defensive possession: Westbrook, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Gordon and Jokic.

Porter had already been excised from the closing lineup after a poor performance at both ends. But Malone made room for both Watson and Braun by trading out Murray as well — in no way an indictment on the star guard’s play, but rather a sensible deployment of two impressive young perimeter defenders. Braun and Watson joined forces, with vital help from Westbrook, to get C.J. McCollum into a tough shot at the buzzer.

Malone stuck with Westbrook and Braun in overtime, while Porter remained on the bench. Braun played just shy of 39 minutes (the second-most on the team). Murray also contributed three steals, including a crucial one in the last minute of overtime.

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Jokic largely to blame this time

There’s a valid school of thought that to depend on Jokic too much is dangerous for the long-term prosperity of the Nuggets. That too many minutes, too many touches and too many stats in December are cause for wariness, not celebration.

Even if that interpretation is accurate, there’s a baseline standard of aggressiveness for any team’s best player that Jokic didn’t come close to meeting on Sunday.

Especially against the centers New Orleans was throwing at him.

Until it was almost too late.

Jokic finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, after not imposing himself on Yves Missi and Daniel Theis in a way that should’ve seemed obvious for most of the night. He missed a couple of chances at the rim in a scoreless first quarter. Then in the second and third combined, only two of his seven field goal attempts were inside of 10 feet. The other five were all jumpers from 13 or more feet out. He only attempted five free throws.

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At the defensive end — where Jokic is intuitive and often impactful, despite the general perception of him — he was a major part of the problem as the Pelicans won the paint 14-6 in the third quarter. They stretched their lead to 91-74 at the 1:32 mark, blowing by perimeter players and never feeling Jokic’s presence at the level of screens or near the rim.

As appropriate as it was that Denver found its spark without him, Jokic still turned out to be essential to the completion of the comeback. Once he committed to posting up, it was a one-sided game. He put up seven points in a two-minute stretch as Denver took the lead, then he added six easy points to get the Pelicans on their heels at the beginning of overtime.

Getting back on defense

The Nuggets had no excuse for appearing fatigued in New Orleans after their recent schedule, which included only three games in the last 13 days. But running the floor after live-ball changes of possession continued to be a bewildering topic.

They entered the game averaging 18.2 fast-break points allowed, the fourth-worst number in the NBA. They allowed 15 to the Pelicans by halftime. It wasn’t all turnovers this time, though Denver did commit 22 throughout the night. Players got caught in-between on 50-50 balls. Porter had an opportunity to rebound his own missed 3-pointer at one point in the second quarter, but as the long rebound bounced toward him, he turned and half-heartedly made his way toward the defensive end instead. An opponent seized the ball and sprinted past him for a layup.

The Pelicans finished the night with 23 transition points and a 56% clip from 2-point range. The Nuggets might have escaped with another win, but their flaws aren’t going away.

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‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury

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‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury


Amarius Mims thinks he’ll be ready for the biggest game of the Cincinnati Bengals’ season.

In Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, Mims, an offensive tackle, was hampered by an ankle injury. He was in and out of the game as he battled the injury.

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With a make-or-break home game against the Denver Broncos coming Saturday, Mims told The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway he anticipated playing in the game.

“No, I’m good,” Mims told The Enquirer in the Bengals’ locker room post-game.

Absent Mims, the Bengals would be thin at tackle. That would make for less than ideal circumstances for quarterback Joe Burrow in a game of real significance.

After dropping to 4-8 on Dec. 1, the Bengals have played their way back to 7-8 and are attempting to overtake several teams including the Broncos for the final AFC Wild Card spot.

Saturday’s game against Denver is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on NFL Network.

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Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

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Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets


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The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.

The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.

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It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.

Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.

A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.

Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.

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What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.

The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.

Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.

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Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns

The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.

Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.

Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.

Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

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Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT

In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.

Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.

Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.

Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.

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Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns

Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.

Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.

The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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