By Vanessa Michel
The City of Colorado Springs has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Colorado alleging that three Colorado Springs police officers engaged in racially biased policing when they targeted Corey Barnes, a Black resident of the Springs, and detained him without cause, handcuffed him without justification and searched him illegally. Along with monetary compensation, the Colorado Springs Police Department has agreed to train all active police officers on the legal authority governing so-called “stop and frisk” encounters with civilians.
“What Corey Barnes endured is just one example of unconstitutional racial profiling and humiliation that Black individuals face on a daily basis in Colorado Springs,” said ACLU of Colorado cooperating attorney Faisal Salahuddin of the Salahuddin Law Firm. “City officials ultimately did the right thing by agreeing to fair compensation and additional training for officers.”
The federal court lawsuit alleged that on May 15, 2018, police arrived at a multi-building apartment complex, where they searched for a juvenile suspect. Police communications identified that suspect as a light-skinned, fifteen-year-old Black male, with a long brown afro haircut, wearing a zippered hoodie, who had ducked into a specific area of the complex. Despite having heard that description, officers detained, handcuffed and searched Mr. Barnes, who was 29, not 15; had very short hair, not an afro; was wearing a t-shirt, not a hoodie; and had departed from a different building than the one the suspect had reportedly entered. Even after a fellow officer advised the three officers that Mr. Barnes was not the suspect, they failed to release him. Instead, they kept Mr. Barnes handcuffed, illegally searched his pockets and wallet, and called in a warrants check. They also wrote deliberately misleading reports falsely suggesting they released Mr. Barnes when they learned he was not the suspect.
“Police had no grounds to detain and handcuff Mr. Barnes,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director. “Although the City argued that Mr. Barnes ‘matched the description,’ the only match was skin color. Police unjustifiably accosted Mr. Barnes because he is Black.”
Mr. Barnes promptly submitted an internal affairs complaint. The resulting investigation did not criticize the unlawful detention or the unjustified handcuffing or the illegal search, though one officer received minor discipline for searching a civilian of the opposite sex.
“This settlement is a step in the right direction to help end racial profiling not just in Colorado Springs but throughout our state and beyond,” said Deborah Richardson, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director. “It is on all of us to create a world where people of color — all people — can move freely and without fear.”
The ACLU lawsuit alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable detention, handcuffing, and searches, as well as the Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits racial discrimination. Defendants were the City of Colorado Springs and officers Carlotta Rivera, Katelyn Burke, and William Watson.
Vanessa Michel is Director of Communications, ACLU of Colorado.