What is Boulder Police Department's policy for screening, employing, and monitoring individuals wih post traumatic stress disorder - recruits with combat history or officers who deploy and come home? What is the department's liabilty? What priority does public safety have in the equation?
Of course, PTSD is not an excuse for calculated, repeated, and ominous criminal behavior. And serving in the Middle East is not a waiver on being unfit for duty.
Excerpts from recent news:
"The Boulder police officer facing felony stalking and harassment charges is accused of retrieving two of his own guns from work while on medical leave, then threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends - both police dispatchers - before shooting himself... When the victim called police, they told her he had checked out his guns and that she was in imminent danger. They instructed her to go to the Broomfield police department immediately for her own protection... McCracken then told his roommate -- a fellow Boulder police officer -- that he was going to shoot the male dispatcher in front of his ex-girlfriend, kill her and then go up into the mountains to commit suicide. The roommate convinced McCracken to go to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette to be evaluated... The woman informed investigators that McCracken told her that he had stalked and plotted to kill his ex-wife after their break-up several years earlier..."
KUDOS for the interventions by police,
the roommate, and in this instance,
McCracken himself - by his agreeing
to go to the hospital instead of
kill people.
Yet worrisome.
Still lethal.
Hopefully police would have also notified
a non-dispatcher victim to take refuge
in a near-by police station too.
the roommate, and in this instance,
McCracken himself - by his agreeing
to go to the hospital instead of
kill people.
Yet worrisome.
Still lethal.
Hopefully police would have also notified
a non-dispatcher victim to take refuge
in a near-by police station too.
Prayers are lifted
for EVERYone's safety.
Note:
Differing media spell the officer's name as McCracken and McKracken. His Facebook page shows McCracken.
RECENT NEWS:
POLICE: BOULDER COP CHRISTIAN MCCRACKEN THREATENED TO KILL EX-GIRLFRIEND, 2ND DISPATCHER, SELF: Officer on medical leave being held on $100,000 bond in stalking case [LINK]
The Denver Post
By Mitchell Byars
05/01/2012
The Boulder police officer facing felony stalking and harassment charges is accused of retrieving two of his own guns from work while on medical leave, then threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends - both police dispatchers - before shooting himself, according to a police report released today.
Broomfield police arrested Officer Christian Dale McCracken, 32, of Frederick, on suspicion of stalking, a class 5 felony, and harassment, a class 3 misdemeanor, just after midnight Saturday after being alerted by the Boulder Police Department.
The ex-girlfriend, a 27-year-old Boulder police dispatcher who lives in Broomfield, also went to investigators Friday. She and McCracken had been friends for several years and occasionally dated during that time. More recently, she helped care for McCracken while he was on inactive duty due to a head injury.
According to the report, she told police McCracken recently began to behave erratically and appeared "disconnected from reality."
Reached this afternoon, the woman declined to comment.
Last August, McCracken suffered a concussion after being assaulted by a suspect he was trying to apprehend on the University Hill. Treven Hunter, 23, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on a peace officer, and is scheduled to be sentenced in Boulder on Thursday.
In March, the dispatcher told police she received a call from McCracken asking to end their relationship. A short time later, though, he began calling her to try and get back together. Despite telling him she did not want to resume the relationship, the woman told investigators she received five to six phone calls or 10 to 20 text messages a day from McCracken, as well as Facebook posts.
In April, she began receiving messages from McCracken that led her to believe he was following her, according to the report. He would make comments about where she had been with a friend -- also a Boulder police dispatcher -- and the nature of their relationship.
Last Thursday, the woman said, McCracken began pounding on her door while she and the other dispatcher were inside after going out to dinner. He accused her of cheating on him with the other dispatcher, and later called her and told her that her friend "better watch his back," according to the report.
Several other Boulder police dispatchers and officers then began telling the woman that McCracken often would ask them questions about her whereabouts and that they saw him hanging around the police station. Several also said McCracken accused them of conspiring against him.
On Friday, Boulder police called the woman to tell her that McCracken had retrieved two of his own guns that he kept at the police station while on medical leave, according to the report. McCracken then told his roommate -- a fellow Boulder police officer -- that he was going to shoot the male dispatcher in front of his ex-girlfriend, kill her and then go up into the mountains to commit suicide.
The roommate convinced McCracken to go to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette to be evaluated. Broomfield police, having been contacted both by Boulder police and the ex-girlfriend, arrived at the hospital to arrest McCracken on Friday night.
The woman informed investigators that McCracken told her that he had stalked and plotted to kill his ex-wife after their break-up several years earlier. He also told her he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a tour in the Middle East while in the Marine Corps.
She said he told her both these things before his head injury.
Speaking generally, Melissa Wolack, a speech and language pathologist at Boulder Community Hospital's Mapleton Rehabilitation Center, said concussions can cause changes in mood and behavior. They also can cause people to misjudge situations and fail to see the consequences of their actions.
"It can also impair their problem-solving ability," she said. "They misconstrue situations or fail to properly assess situations. They can be impulsive, and they don't behave rationally."
Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner on Monday said Boulder police conduct internal investigations whenever an officer is charged criminally. Internal discipline is not dependent on a criminal conviction. McCracken is on suspension, but he has not been on active duty as a police officer since his injury last summer.
Beckner had declined to discuss the allegations against McCracken.
McCracken remains in custody in Broomfield on $100,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Mitchell Byars at 303-473-1329 or by email.
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BOULDER POLICE OFFICER ARRESTED FOR STALKING FORMER GIRLFRIEND [LINK]
KWGN.com
May 1, 2012
Boulder Police Officer Christian Dale McKracken was under arrest Tuesday accused of stalking his former girlfriend.
The woman lives in a condo complex in Broomfield and told police last Thursday he was banging on her front door making threats.
The next day he checked both of guns out of the Boulder Police Department.
The woman’s windows are covered in cardboard at her home. She told police McKracken had been watching her and her new boyfriend inside her home shortly before he was arrested.
According to the affidavit for his arrest, McKracken admitted to following his former girlfriend that night to a dispatcher at Boulder 911 where the victim works.
The victim told police the relationship began to unravel after McKracken was assaulted at a popular Boulder restaurant last year while he was on duty. She told police he suffered a “traumatic brain injury” and that he was “disconnected from reality.”
When reached for comment, Boulder police confirm McKracken was on medical disability for the restaurant incident.
The victim says McKracken became violent and threatening in the following months and that when she tried to end the relationship he began to harass her by phone and text.
She claims when she started dating, McKracken then began following her and threatening her and her new boyfriend.
The threats culminated last week when he showed up at her home and peered inside her window. When the victim called police, they told her he had checked out his guns and that she was in imminent danger.
They instructed her to go to the Broomfield police department immediately for her own protection.
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BOULDER POLICE OFFICER ARRESTED FOR STALKING FORMER GIRLFRIEND [LINK]
KDVR
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012,
BOULDER, Colo. – Boulder Police Officer Christian Dale McKracken was under arrest Tuesday accused of stalking his former girlfriend.
The woman lives in a condo complex in Broomfield and told police last Thursday he was banging on her front door making threats.
The next day he checked both of guns out of the Boulder Police Department.
The woman’s windows are covered in cardboard at her home. She told police McKracken had been watching her and her new boyfriend inside her home shortly before he was arrested.
According to the affidavit for his arrest, McKracken admitted to following his former girlfriend that night to a dispatcher at Boulder 911 where the victim works.
The victim told police the relationship began to unravel after McKracken was assaulted at a popular Boulder restaurant last year while he was on duty. She told police he suffered a “traumatic brain injury” and that he was “disconnected from reality.”
When reached for comment, Boulder police confirm McKracken was on medical disability for the restaurant incident.
The victim says McKracken became violent and threatening in the following months and that when she tried to end the relationship he began to harass her by phone and text.
She claims when she started dating, McKracken then began following her and threatening her and her new boyfriend.
The threats culminated last week when he showed up at her home and peered inside her window. When the victim called police, they told her he had checked out his guns and that she was in imminent danger.
They instructed her to go to the Broomfield police department immediately for her own protection.
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EXCERTPS FROM NEWS ON TREVEN HUNTER, ASSAILANT OF OFFICER MCCRACKEN
BOULDER POLICE: MAN ASSAULTED COP AFTER REFUSING TO PAY $3 BAR TAB
Boulder Daily Camera
By Mitchell Byars
08/10/2011
[Excerpts] A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a Boulder police officer after the suspect got into a fight with a University Hill restaurant manager over a $3 bar tab... [Full article here]
BOULDER DA SEEKS RE-ARREST OF COP-ASSAULT SUSPECT RELEASED ON $500 BOND
By Erica Meltzer
08/11/2011
[Excerpts] The Boulder County District Attorney's Office is seeking to re-arrest a man who was accused of assaulting a police officer and then released on a $500 bond, now that prosecutors have learned he already was on probation for another alcohol-related offense and appears to have left the state... [Treven] Hunter faces charges of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer in connection with a Friday night incident that left Officer Christian McCracken hospitalized for several days... Officer McCracken tried to take Hunter into custody on the street, but Hunter was uncooperative, according to police, and began assaulting McCracken, hitting him several times in the head, causing him to black out. According to court records, McCracken reported a headache and nausea shortly after the fight and was having trouble remembering parts of the incident. Fellow officers noticed McCracken was responding strangely to their questions and was not making sense. McCracken was hospitalized with what appears to be a serious head injury. "He has suffered a brain injury that has caused him to not remember the events from that evening and has caused other memory loss," prosecutors wrote in a motion filed Tuesday objecting to the $500 bond. "Officer McCracken is not oriented to time, place or his personal circumstances." By Thursday afternoon, McCracken had been released from the hospital. Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel said McCracken has asked for privacy, and the department is honoring that request. According to court records, prosecutors did not learn how serious McCracken's injuries were until Monday morning. By that time, Hunter already had bonded out of jail... [Full article here]
ARREST WARRANT WITH $10,000 BOND ISSUED FOR BOULDER COP-ASSAULT SUSPECT
Boulder Daily Camera
By Erica Meltzer
08/12/2011
[Excerpts] An arrest warrant with a $10,000 bond has been issued for Treven Hunter, the University of Colorado student accused of assaulting a police officer who responded to a fight on University Hill on Friday... Hunter was released on a $500 bond late Sunday night. No prosecutors or defense attorneys were present when the bond was set Sunday afternoon. The Boulder County District Attorney's Office has since filed a motion objecting to the low bond... Officer McCracken tried to take Hunter into custody on the street, but Hunter was uncooperative, according to police, and began assaulting McCracken, hitting him several times in the head, causing him to black out. According to court records, McCracken reported a headache and nausea shortly after the fight and was having trouble remembering parts of the incident. Fellow officers noticed McCracken was responding strangely to their questions and was not making sense. According to court documents, Hunter already was out of jail by the time prosecutors learned that McCracken's injuries were considered serious and that Hunter already was on probation for driving while ability impaired. Hunter is believed to have left the state, in violation of his bond condition... [Full article here]
COP-ASSAULT SUSPECT TREVEN HUNTER RETURNS TO BOULDER
Boulder Daily Camera
08/17/2011
[Excerpts] A University of Colorado student accused of assaulting a police officer and then leaving the state in violation of his bond conditions has returned to Boulder. Treven Hunter, 23, returned from California Tuesday and was booked into the Boulder County Jail. He almost immediately posted a $10,000 bond and left the jail... Hunter is accused of hitting Officer Christian McCracken repeatedly in the head when McCracken responded to a report of a fight at The Sink, 1165 13th St., on University Hill, on Aug. 5. McCracken was hospitalized for several days... [Full article here]
TREVEN HUNTER PLEADS GUILTY IN ASSAULT ON BOULDER POLICE OFFICER
Boulder Daily Camera
By Mitchell Byars
03/02/2012
[Excerpts] A University of Colorado student pleaded guilty Friday... Treven Hunter, 23, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on a peace officer, which carries a mandatory prison sentence of two to four years... Hunter is scheduled for sentencing May 3. [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal suicidal ptsd sprialing colorado state politicsCop on dispatcher domestic violence cop on cop]
BOULDER COP CHRISTIAN MCCRACKEN FACES ATTEMPTED-MURDER CHARGE IN STALKING CASE: McCracken accused of plotting to kill ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend
ReplyDeleteLongmont Daily Times-Call
By Mitchell Byars
05/03/2012
[Excerpts] A Boulder police officer [Christian McCracken] on leave since suffering a brain injury in an assault last summer was formally charged Thursday in Broomfield with two counts of felony stalking just hours after he learned he'll face a far more serious charge: attempted first-degree murder... Thursday, Boulder police announced they had opened their own investigation into McCracken after investigators came to believe he "may have planned and taken a significant step toward committing a homicide against the new boyfriend"... Dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, a stoic McCracken appeared briefly in a Broomfield courtroom Thursday afternoon to be charged with the stalking counts. He is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on those charges May 24. Earlier in the day, at the Broomfield County Jail, McCracken was arrested on the new charges: one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of stalking and one count of harassment. His bond was increased from $100,000 to $600,000, and he is expected to appear in Boulder District Court next week to face the new charges. McCracken remained in custody late Thursday.... [Full article here]