A training video used for the last five years has been pulled by the Denver Sheriff’s Department after a 7NEWS Investigation questioned its effectiveness.
Eight years ago, 24-year-old Emily Rice bled to death in the Denver jail, her cries for help ignored.
As part of a $7 million dollar settlement, the Denver Sheriff’s Department was required to create a training video to tell the story of what went wrong that night and to train deputies to prevent another inmate from suffering Emily’s fate.
Yet Emily’s parents, Sue Garber and Roy Rice, are outraged after they watched the training video obtained by 7NEWS reporter Jennifer Kovaleski. They say the video offers no training and they wonder if what they were promised by city leaders was a lie.
“That’s not a training video, that’s a whitewash,” said Rice.
Darold Killmer, the family’s attorney in Emily’s case, said the video directs the blame at Denver Health nurses and doctors, instead of deputies.
The video highlights at least six deputies by showing their photos, and claims they all went into the area where Emily was held the night she died.
The narrator says, “At least six different officers went into the north cluster on at least 25 occasions where Emily was held.”
The video makes no mention of the four deputies disciplined after an investigation by the city’s Independent Monitor in 2008 found they had falsified records to cover up their failure to make rounds on the night of Emily’s death.
Two years after her death, her parents won a $7 million settlement from Denver Health and the city, but for the family it was about more than the money. Implementing policy changes, known as “Emily’s Protocols,” in the Denver jail and “Emily’s Rights” at Denver Health were a key part of the settlement.
7NEWS obtained a copy of the video after a brutality lawsuit, filed by former inmate Jamal Hunter, appeared to show Emily’s Protocols weren’t being followed.