COLORADO -- Boulder police Wednesday released the final findings of the department's internal investigation into the New Year's Day shooting of an elk on Mapleton Hill by two former officers.
The 42-page report concludes no other officers or department employees were involved or aware of the two cops' plans.
Former Boulder officers Sam Carter, 35, and Brent Curnow, 38, are facing nine criminal charges each -- including three felonies -- after prosecutors say text messages between the two show they planned to kill the elk as a trophy.
On Jan 1, Carter, who was on duty, shot the elk near Ninth Street and Mapleton Avenue with a shotgun, and Curnow, who had called in sick, came to haul the carcass away in his pickup truck, according to police.
Carter initially told police the elk was injured and that he felt it needed to be put down. But Carter never reported the shooting to his supervisors, and a necropsy of the elk meat showed no signs the animal had been injured before it was shot.
In addition to the criminal charges, the Boulder Police Department launched an internal investigation into Carter, a six-year veteran, and Curnow, a 14-year veteran. Both resigned in late January before the findings of the investigation were published.
[They shouldn't have let them quit. They should have fired them.]
According to the report, the investigation continued despite their resignation because "a final finding would be beneficial to the department and the community. ... In such a case it is beneficial to complete the investigation to create a formal record and bring some closure to the incident."
Internal investigation reports are typically not made public, but the department made this report public due to the high-profile nature of the case and the fact that the two officers resigned.
According to the report, a 12-member review panel unanimously recommended the allegations against Carter and Curnow be sustained, and Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner agreed with the recommendation and entered the findings into their personnel files.
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| Kappy Strahan uses Christmas greenery to create a memorial to the elk killed by Boulder police along Mountain View Road in Boulder. |
But the report also said no other Boulder police officers were involved with or aware of the plan, and it found that no other officers or employees should be subject to internal discipline.
In addition, the report said, "Members of the department have been subjected to public ridicule about the incident while trying to perform their normal duties. ... After the shooting, the officers who worked with Carter and Curnow were shocked, disappointed, and angry they would do such a thing."
Although the report said some employees overheard comments from the officers about shooting the elk in advance of the killing, "The context in which these statements were made did not lead those employees to believe either officer would illegally or without justification shoot the elk."
According to the report: "Both officers were hunters, as were other members of the department, and would often talk about hunting, so this type of conversation did not seem alarming. Often, job related joking occurs at briefings to start the day, so it is not unusual to hear officers make statements in jest. As one officer put it, Carter was always making brash statements in briefing but never did any of the things he joked about."
One officer told investigators that Carter was "full of bravado," and that things he said needed to be "taken with a grain of salt." Officers also said in some cases Curnow and Carter mentioned killing the elk but did so in front of officers who liked animals as a way to "razz" them.
The exhaustive report details the department's investigation into its officers and chronicles the text-message exchanges -- many of which already have been published -- between the two officers as they planned the kill.
In one text exchange with Curnow on Jan. 2, a Boulder officer asked Curnow, "You got elk meat now?" But an investigation showed that a watch commander had asked the officer to send the text to Curnow because police were still trying to figure out who had shot the elk and were trying to get in contact with officers who were known to be hunters.
The department learned shortly after that text was sent that Carter and Curnow were responsible for the shooting. An officer who said she was friends with Carter heard Carter had put down the elk from a Boulder County sheriff's deputy, Jeff George, the next morning.
George, who was on the scene after the shooting and helped Carter and Curnow load the elk into the truck, said in a separate internal investigation by the Sheriff's Office that he thought the kill was authorized.
Later that day, the Boulder officer was asked by a sergeant if she knew anything about the elk shooting, which is when she told him about Carter. She said she initially did not report it because she assumed the kill was authorized.
The officer said she had seen Carter and Curnow put down animals in legitimate cases, and in one of the cases she drove Curnow's pickup to the scene and helped them load a deer that had been injured.
In the report, officials from Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it is not unusual for members of law enforcement to take home road kill, and it is not illegal as long as the carcass is a legitimate road kill or euthanization and they apply for a permit within 72 hours.
According to the report, Curnow applied for a permit but reported the elk was killed in an accident.
Both men are due in court for case management conferences April 4.
(Daily Camera - March 27 2013)
Related:
- The Boulder Police internal report
- Boulder ex-officers plead not guilty in elk death
- Boulder officers arrested, accused of plotting 'trophy' kill of Mapleton elk
- Boulder police suspend 2 officers over Mapleton elk shooting, sheriff launches probe
- Off-duty Boulder officer in elk shooting had called in sick, operates taxidermy website
- Boulder chief on elk shooting: 'If that officer needs to be fired, I assure you he will be fired'
- Evans: "It's not about the elk"
- Boulder cop's text hours before shooting Mapleton elk: 'He's gonna die'
