OP Ed - Why opposition to resolution 40-20 and protecting our community is a disgrace to us all

BY DAVE KERBER

In The Villager of July 23rd, Billy Wynne, attacked District Council Member, Dave Bullock, and his support for our police department making numerous unfounded allegations about Mr. Bullock and the City.

Among the many allegations, Wynne claimed that the Resolution was “not about preventing officers from quitting”. How does he know that? Was he there? He does admit that one officer quit but fails to acknowledge the truth that we were facing the resignation of numerous other senior officers with the potential that this was just the beginning. Our officers are willing to accept the consequences of their actions. They are willing to risk losing their employment and careers or even going to jail, but they are not willing to risk their financial well-being and being judged by the likes of Mr. Wynne. Who among us would subject our financial security to the moral judgments of those who depend on the whim of the mob would want to send a message to the “community” at the expense of an innocent officer? They aren’t afraid of accountability. Our officers are afraid of the post-hoc judgments of ambitious politicians willing to destroy our officer's lives for a favorable headline in the press.

Wynne also states that “Resolution 40-20 is not about keeping us safe.”. He then goes on to slander Mr. Bullock by claiming that “he pulled out the old ‘if someone is breaking into your house in the middle of the night’ trick” as if this was a lie. I have news for Mr. Wynne. Last Thursday someone did break into the residence of a Greenwood Village citizen to burglar his apartment while that resident was at home. Our police, sufficiently staffed and supported, responded immediately and the individual was apprehended. Wynne and his allies would put us all at risk.

Radicals throughout the country and in Colorado advocate defunding the police, the only purpose of which is to reduce the number of armed police officers protecting our communities. The legislature has taken to defund the police and reduce their numbers by demoralizing our officers and putting them at financial risk so they quit. This is the same result as defunding the police.

Make no mistake, the effort to convince Greenwood Village to rescind its resolution is not to punish the Greenwood Village