Update: If you saw the below occur, please contact Dective Kurt Foster BPD at 303-441-4329.
There's something nice about watching someone perform a job, any difficult job, and they do so perfectly. I got to see that up close on the Hill this afternoon.
I'm paying for parking when a cop comes up the sidewalk really quickly. The first thing that went through my mind was did I do anything wrong as he was headed in my general direction. He went up to some guy on the sidewalk, turned him around, and started to frisk him. Pretty straightforward.
And then it got interesting – the guy bolted and dove through the ornamental railing separating the sidewalk from the street. The cop grabbed his shirt and dived through the railing after him. They kept going connected by the t-shirt into the middle of the street. (Note to felons – wear cheap t-shirts that rip apart, not good ones that while they rip, do stay connected enough that you can't get away.) The cop finally got him down in the middle of the street.
This guy was fighting back hard trying to get away. And this cop was working to restrain him but did so in a manner that was gentle (that's the best word to describe it). He was doing his best to restrain him but was not doing anything more. There are a lot of ways to inflict moderate pain so someone focuses on the pain rather than fighting and this cop did nothing like that.
The cop asked for help and a couple of us helped restrain the guy so he could get cuffs on him. About that time a second cop showed up and grabbed hold of the guy from behind. At that point the first cop stood up and stepped away leaving it to the second cop. I'm guessing they figure that after wrestling someone down you're hyped up and better to turn it over to someone who does not have the adrenaline flowing.
I was impressed. The entire event was handled in as gentle a way as possible. And at the same time, there was no way that cop was letting the suspect get away. Very professional in both getting the job done, and doing so effectively with a minimum of violence.
