Pueblo police study finds common traits in officer shootings

The Pueblo Police department is looking for answers on the increasing number of police shootings in their community.

A new study conducted by the department shows common traits among the criminals who work their way to up to threatening police with a weapon. The study was presented Pueblo City Council Monday night and now Chief Troy Davenport hopes it opens the public eyes to a growing problem.

Since 2011, there have been 16 police shootings. Davenport says, “that’s a little over twice the rate for the first 25 years of my career, so we had to figure out what’s going on.”

The report shows all suspects have some sort of criminal record, most of the calls police respond to that result in an officer-involved shooting start as a domestic violence incident, and half of the suspects have been charged with a violent felony involving a weapon, intimidation and/or serious bodily injury.

Chief Davenport said it’s no surprise these criminals got a hold of weapons. “they won’t go away, and if somebody wants a weapon, they can steal one, they can buy one in a black or gray market kind of situation. The bottom line is they have a weapon and shouldn’t,” he said.

With that in mind, Davenport knows his men and women on the street like Officer Derek Wyberg has to be prepared for anything. Wyberg says, “you never want to do that, but it’s happening a lot more,” but admits you can’t always be ready, “you have to handle it like it any other call. I mean you just kinda get that gut feeling that something’s not right. And, you take extra precaution, be a little more on your toes.”

Now that the department has this information, Chief Davenport says he hopes it sparks a larger study done across the state that might lead to some changes.