DENVER — A year ago, a group of female Denver Police Department employees met to discuss sexual harassment and discrimination in the force.
The women, both sworn and civilian staff, listed a series of regularly occurring abuses: a former lieutenant who frequently called drunk at night; the use of gender-based slurs; frequent and unwanted comments about women’s bodies. Others spoke of specific incidents of harassment: open discussion of female employees’ sex lives; a sergeant who touched his employee’s neck and grabbed her leg; being told it would be disloyal to report harassment to human resources.
After listening to her co-workers’ experiences — and reflecting on her own — Sgt. Carla Havard spoke out during the Sept. 27, 2021, meeting and called for an investigation into the allegations.
