Story Archive

Elder Abuse

Philip White of Eagle, Colo., who is blind, was at the Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Denver trying to get home, but he was told the bus he wanted to board was full, and he not only had to get off, he had to leave the station entirely. A bus station security guard called 911, complaining White was “trespassing.” The responding officer, Kyllion Chafin, found White on the phone — to 911, trying to get police help. White asked if he could touch Chafin’s badge — a common way for the blind to confirm someone is an officer. Chafin refused, grabbed White, and slammed his head into the ticket counter, leaving him bloodied. White, then 77 years old, was handcuffed and held for eight hours, and never charged with any crime. Now, three years later, a federal jury has awarded him $400,000 in an excessive force case, but Chafin wasn’t fired. “We reviewed the case,” a department spokesman said. “We didn’t find any violations of policy.” (RC/Denver Post) ...Denver taxpayers are not comforted to learn the department doesn’t have a policy against excessive force.