HB24-1372 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, April 2nd. The CSPPA sent the following letter to all members of the Committee as well as the Gazette. We also have prepared additional testimony to present in person at the State Capitol on Tuesday. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

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To:                       Members of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee

Regarding:         House Bill (HB) 24-1372, Regulating the Use of Prone Restraint by Law Enforcement

Date:                  March 26, 2024

Dear Members:

If passed, HB24-1372, Regulating the Use of Prone Restraint by Law Enforcement,

will be detrimental to both law enforcement and the public. This bill is poorly written and goes against nationally accepted best practices for law enforcement arrest control techniques. If accepted into law, this bill will end up endangering suspects more so, as it eliminates safe handcuffing techniques and control holds.

Prone positioning, in and of itself, poses no danger to a suspect. When used correctly, a suspect is temporarily placed into a prone position to be handcuffed, then moved from that position once they are under control. Best practices dictate moving suspects from a prone position once handcuffs are applied to avoid positional asphyxiation. By taking this tactic away from law enforcement, it needlessly places officers at risk when confronting combative suspects since it would ban widely used safe techniques. It also unintentionally places the suspect at greater risk, as it removes several safe control holds and techniques from an officer’s skill set.

This legislation does nothing to improve the safety of our communities; it’s just another attempt to stop law enforcement from being effective in their duties. In the overwhelming majority of incidents,  law enforcement’s actions are a direct response to a suspect’s behavior. The suspect generally dictates the outcome of an incident; compliance resulting in minimal to no use of force, or defiance/aggression resulting in necessary force being used to apprehend a criminal. At some point, the government needs to remember their primary duty is to ensure public safety for all citizens, not just the criminal element. This legislation empowers criminals while penalizing law enforcement.

Penalizing law enforcement at every turn, and intentionally opening them up to civil litigation may be a great thing for the willfully criminal citizens, however it is a detriment to the law-abiding citizen that positively contributes to society. These unnecessary increased restrictions on law enforcement create unmotivated officers. Unmotivated officers are more likely to avoid confrontation with criminals to avoid civil litigation or criminal liability. This results in criminals having more leeway to prey upon the good citizens of this state.

As the Executive Board of the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, representing more than 1000 of your stakeholders that are either active or retired employees of the Colorado Springs Police Department, we implore you to reject this bill in its entirety.  It’s time to put the focus back on law abiding citizens and those charged with protecting them. 

Bill Walsh, President                                              Bradley Krause, Secretary

Gerard Bouwmans, Vice President                      Paul Malchow, Sergeant-at-Arms

Mathew Waldera, Treasurer                                   Sherryl Dillon, Executive Director