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And the Pueblo Police Department is on board.
It was recently accepted into the ABLE project, joining more than 70 other law enforcement agencies and regional training academies across the country, including two other Colorado agencies in Denver and Golden.
The project provides training to encourage peer intervention in law enforcement by giving officers tools to confidently intervene if their colleagues or even their superiors use excessive force or defy departmental guidelines.
Its goal is to prevent harm by teaching officers how to step in and create a culture within the department that supports and sustains successful peer intervention.
Capt. Jim Martin oversees the Pueblo Police Department’s internal affairs division as well as its police training academy and said Pueblo officers have long had a duty to intervene if they see their colleagues acting inappropriately on the job.
A Travis County grand jury has indicted two Austin police officers on felony assault charges in connection with the violent arrest of a Black man nearly two years ago that had been cleared in a department investigation with no findings of wrongdoing against the officers.
The indictments of officers Chance Bretches and Gregory Gentry on aggravated assault by a public servant charges highlight a disparity in how Chief Brian Manley and his administration viewed the case and how new Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza and grand jurors evaluated it. Holding law enforcement officers accountable when they break the law is critical to rebuilding community trust, and also to the safety of our community, Garza said Friday.