by Luke Schmaltz
Seven Officers who hold this badge may soon be left empty handed.
An embattled Denver Police Department is learning firsthand what it means to operate under a mayor who insists on politicizing a private medical issue.
On August 2, 2021, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock issued an edict declaring that all city employees as well as some key private sector workers had until September 30 to get vaccinated for Covid-19. This, of course, includes police officers — seven of whom have refused to comply with the vaccination order. The group is currently taking legal action against the mayor’s office while facing disciplinary measures as well as termination of their employment.
Thinning Out A Skeleton Crew
Court documents show an injunction filed against the city by officers Dewayne Rodgers, Les Tucker, David Curtis, Bart Stark, Jonathan Christian, Nick Elliot, and Rich Ziegler. The suit was an 11th-hour attempt to dispute the vaccine mandate which, if not complied with, will result in 10-day unpaid suspensions followed by dismissal if not followed by the end of that time. At a time when theft, vandalism, assault, break-ins, drug trafficking, and trespassing have reached a fever pitch in the downtown area — it seems rather counterintuitive to sanction the wholesale termination of police officers who are making a choice which they consider to be a private medical matter.
Attorney Randy Corporon, PC represents the seven Denver cops disputing the vaccine mandate.
Attorney Randy Corporon, PC, represents this group of police officers. He moved to block the mandate before District Court Judge Shelley Gilman on Wednesday, September 29. Judge Gilman dismissed the case, however, stating that the court had no authority over the issue because the officers did not exhaust all of their administrative remedies before taking the matter to court. Specifically, this would have been to first petition to the Denver Department of Public Health to overturn the mandate.
Red Tape Blues
In the meantime, Corporon has filed an administrative complaint with the Denver Department of Public Health (DDPH), and he is currently awaiting notice of a hearing being set. “The only thing they told us,” he begins, “is that they will set a hearing and they will let us know 10 days before that hearing.” Corporon feels that DDPH is deliberately hindering the appeal in order to goad the defiant officers into compliance. “The mystery of their process is whether they will expedite this or drag their feet,” Corporon explains. “The thing about these government entities and these big companies is that the longer they drag it out, the more people will just cave and get the shot.” Corporon explains why he took the matter to court before all administrative remedies were exhausted. “We believed that we had legal exceptions based on the exigency and the urgency, [as well as] the futility of going through that petition process first, but the judge disagreed.”
The immediate, blaring, disconcerting issue is the loss of qualified, able-bodied police officers at a time when the circumstances call for all hands on deck. When asked if he thinks the mandate will spur a mass-migration of police officers from the DPD, Corporon explains, “As much as I hate the practical result of it, I hope so. I don’t see any [other] way to stop this incredible, omnipotent, growing government power grab unless people don’t bite the bullet, accept the consequences and move on,” he says. “Some of these police officers are great cops with tons of experience and I’m sure they would be welcomed in other places like Texas or Florida or in cities that don’t try and force an untested treatment into people’s bodies.”
No Pain No Gain
Many contend that the COVID vaccines are experimental drugs which can cause adverse reactions.
Corporon further explains why resistance from the people in the trenches is the best way to counteract government overreach. “The short-term pain will be worth the long-term gain if more and more people stand up,” he says. He then goes on to explain the collective concerns among his colleagues and clientele about the vaccines, “I worry about the long-term effects. If somebody has the vaccine and new strains of the virus come on, is their body going to react improperly? We have heard about risks to reproductive systems, and for people who are giving this to their kids … God almighty,” he attests. “I have cases in my office now where divorced parents and even parents who are still together are fighting legally whether to vaccinate their kids as young as 10 years old.”
Corporon goes on to express his outrage about the wholesale public adoption of these untested treatments. “I am baffled by the media propaganda, the fear and the blind trust in unelected bureaucrats and so-called scientists who change their own positions constantly,” he says “I just had a news crew over here interviewing me about the Eric Coomer defamation case. Of course, they show up masked and they wouldn’t come inside my building because they found out I was unvaccinated. I’m not sick, plus, they have masks on, and we are maintaining a distance of six feet apart. OK — we can stay out here in the rain, it’s fine with me.”
While the charge to overturn the mandate seems daunting, Corporon maintains that a positive outcome for his Denver police officer clients is not out of the realm of possibility. “The best outcome would be an agreement that the orders were issued in error and that they would be rescinded. Of course, you can’t un-vaccinate people but, at the very least, you could restore cops who’ve lost their jobs and you could restore their pay.”
The counterproductivity of the issue is typical of Denver politics where counterintuitive policies and backward thinking are the order of the day. It would seem that in an effort to “protect” citizens from harm by mandating vaccination for police officers, the populace is being left even more exposed to danger by firing the cops who want to be there to serve and protect.