On August 18, 2020, Chancellor Phil DiStefano and Chief Doreen Jokerst announced the creation of a community safety task force to examine issues or concerns that were expressed students, faculty and staff to Chief Jokerst during the summer.  The task force, composed of representatives from student, faculty, and staff governance as well as members of the CUPD, met on six different occasions during the fall 2020 semester. Individual members of the task force solicited feedback from the constituencies they represented, and a dedicated email was created and publicized to gather additional community feedback.  The task force report recommended the formation of a University of Colorado Boulder Police Department (CUPD) Community Oversight Review Board with the following capacities and responsibilities:  

  • The responsibility to review and provide recommendations to the Chief of Police or the Chief’s designee on any current CUPD policies and protocols including internal affairs processes to ensure they are reflective of current community processes. 
  • The responsibility to review and provide recommendations to the Chief of Police or the Chief’s designee on disciplinary actions taken against officers. The taskforce recommends this should occur at the conclusion of internal affairs processes but prior to actual disciplinary action being taken. 
  • Access to CUPD data that is of interest to the board and the responsibility to advise on that data that is made available to the public. 
  • The responsibility to collect and analyze data from the community on CUPD interactions with the public and general community sentiments toward CUPD to inform the general aims of the board. 
  • The responsibility to actively participate in the hiring and promotional processes for CUPD officers to include participation in oral board interviews.
  • The responsibility to review and provide recommendations on CUPD’s hiring and promotional processes to include recommendations on the composition of the department’s oral boards and assessment processes. 
  • The responsibility to review and provide recommendations on all CUPD training including but not limited to anti-racism and implicit bias training. 
  • The responsibility to review and provide recommendations on CUPD’s community engagement activities. 
  • The ability to provide innovative recommendations independent of existing departmental structures, policies, or practices. 

On February 12, AVC Dan Jones accepted the recommendations.  Additional updates will be posted to this page as the review board is formed and continues its mission.