Interim police chief Stephen Redfearn came to Boulder from Aurora: 'What I would say is, give me a chance.'
Stephen Redfearn, Boulder's new interim police chief, says he's a"big boy" with"thick skin" who can take public criticism about his past."I don't think you can sit in this chair and not," he adds.
"It's really taken me aback," Redfearn says of the criticism over his actions that day in late August 2019 when McClain, a young Black man, was given a lethal dose of ketamine by paramedics after a violent encounter with APD officers during which he was forcibly detained and put in a neck hold for being a"suspicious" person.
His sexuality makes him feel like he can come to a public conversation"with a little bit more of an understanding of what it feels like to be treated differently," he says.."But I can understand what it feels like to be treated differently based upon some personal characteristic. So I think that helps me in a way where I may walk into a meeting in a public place and people don't know my background, my personal story.
But at"about fifteen years old, I did a ride-along with a neighbor who was a deputy in Jefferson County, and I spent the shift with her," Redfearn remembers."I was hooked." "I kind of got outed in a way that wasn't the way I wanted it to be," he explains."It wasn't on my terms, but it was actually the best thing that ever happened. I initially thought, 'You know what, I love this profession, I want to be a cop. It's what I want to do. My personal life will stay my personal life.' But that's not sustainable, nor is it a healthy way to come in and hide things.
"I was not leaving to run away from anything," Redfearn says."There's people saying I left because I was in trouble, that I had some strange agreement in exchange for my testimony. That's all blasphemy. I retired in good standing. I retired as if I was going to go ride off into the sunset. I could have gone and worked at Starbucks."
And that will happen"regardless of who's sitting in chair," Redfearn says."That's the commitment we made to the family and to the community, and nothing's going to change. It's always at the forefront of our minds. It's a horrible tragedy, and we'd love nothing more than to solve the case. So we're going to continue to work it as long as we can, and as long as we have workable leads, we're going to follow those wherever they go.
The plan calls for officers to get out to those locations."We're always trying to figure out ways to get out in the community, and it's usually really well received," Redfearn adds. Although the officers were originally absolved of any culpability by the then-District Attorney Dave Young, over the next year, calls for a renewed investigation increased. Ultimately, Governor Jared Polis asked Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to look into the case, and three police officers as well as two paramedics wound up charged in connection with his death.
His testimony was about integrity, too, he says."If I hadn't done that, I don't think those officers would ever have been charged," he proclaims, referencing his"critical incident" declaration and CAD call change."I'm not trying to toot my horn, but I don't think it was a tough decision. I wasn't doing it thinking, 'Yeah, we're going to do this so we could charge these cops.' But if we had not done the full critical incident call out...
"It's outrageous for Stephen Redfern to create himself as a hero," Landsman responds."It's white-washing."
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