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Greeley Tribune - Greeley,CO,U
28 January 2007

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Greeley Police Department, CO

Greeley police will be ethical

The perception that the Greeley Police Department should not be investigating Tuesday's shooting death of Heather Garraus is misplaced.

This city's department is well-trained and experienced in handling murder cases. And we believe, despite the close connections to the case, Greeley's officers will do so with integrity.

Garraus was the wife of a Greeley police officer, who apparently had an affair with the alleged shooter, Shawna Nelson, the wife of a Weld County Sheriff's deputy.

We understand people's concerns. We had them, too. At first, we questioned the propriety for Greeley's police to investigate Garraus' death because of the absurdity of the connections.

We changed our minds after considering statements by outside attorneys and experts.

Scott Robinson, a legal analyst and criminal defense attorney in Denver, told the Tribune, "It is not inappropriate for them to investigate (the murder) themselves."

In small cities and towns it is likely that law enforcement officials will interact with people they know. In these instances, the officers are expected to observe their ethics and not let personal associations interfere.

Joe Pelle, president of the Board of the Colorado Sheriff's Association, said it is not uncommon for such instances to occur. Usually, he said, outside investigations are requested only if an employee is under investigation or if the jurisdictional agency wants additional expert opinions.

So, in the Garraus murder case, the first point of evaluating propriety is considering who's conducting the investigation and the level of their relationship to the victim or the suspect. Lee Christian, a Fort Collins defense attorney and college instructor of journalism law, said if the victim's husband, Ignacio Garraus, had a higher rank in the Greeley department or was a detective supervisor, then conducting an internal investigation could be more complicated. Police Chief Jerry Garner has stated none of the investigators have immediate ties, professionally or personally, with the victim, the suspect or the families.

Availability of resources is another step to evaluate when getting impartial help. Who would the Greeley Police Department call in to investigate the case? How much would bringing in another agency cost? What logistical problems would occur?

So, after some reflection, we have relaxed our apprehensions and suspicions over the Garraus investigation by the Greeley police. The arguments against requesting an outside investigator make sense to us -- at this time, at least.

We urge caution. Perception has a nasty way of becoming reality, and Chief Garner and his officers must proceed with due diligence to assure the management of this investigation can never be called into question.

Garner has assured us that if a conflict comes up in the future, he will reconsider bringing in an outside agency to do the work. We will hold him to his word.

And, we take him at his word. We have the utmost respect for Garner's management of the city's police department and his awareness of the importance to all aspects of community policing.

However, we still are unsettled by remarks made Wednesday by Weld District Attorney Ken Buck. When the question of bringing in outside investigators came up at a news conference, Buck responded with a patronizing attitude: "I'm the elected district attorney in Weld County, and our office prosecutes all Weld County cases."

This arrogant posturing by our DA is unbecoming. We expect professionalism and understanding of how the Weld community is reacting to a very complex and emotionally charged scenario. Grandstanding has no place here. Residents have a right to question how the investigation is being managed. And authorities have a responsibility to respond accordingly, acknowledging the apparent problems and then outlining policy and procedure that will be followed, much as Chief Garner has done in allaying our initial fears about the ethics of the investigation.

The bottom line is, Buck needs to tone down his rhetoric.

Meanwhile, we support the work of Greeley's law enforcement team. This is, indeed, a difficult situation. Garner knows that, too, but assures us when he says, "We've got the professionalism to do the investigation and grieve for a family member at the same time."

As a community, this is a tragic case. Let us all take the time to grieve and let Greeley's expert investigation team do its job.

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Greeley Tribune - Greeley,CO,U28 January 2007

Greeley police will be ethical

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Greeley Tribune - Greeley,CO,U
28 January 2007