An independent review of the police investigation of an interaction between an officer and a black Naropa University student concluded the investigation “met or exceeded” standards and was right in finding no evidence of racial profiling.

The investigation was conducted by former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer along with Michael Rankin and Robert Evans, both of Bluestone Investigative and Risk Solutions.

In their report, released today, the investigators backed the findings of the Boulder Police Department internal affairs investigation into Officer John Smyly and his interaction on March 1 with Naropa student Zayd Atkinson.

Smyly resigned after the investigation found him in violation of department policy, but the department did not find any evidence his interaction with Atkinson was a result of racial profiling.

“The (Professional Standards Unit) investigation resulted in a complete, thorough, impartial report package,” the independent report reads. “Tunnel vision is a common affliction in internal investigations, especially when it conveniently allows police departments to avoid severe allegations like racism. Here, the PSU sergeant and command staff did not succumb to it.”

‘Pivotal mistakes’

Smyly contacted Atkinson March 1 outside Naropa student housing at 2333 Arapahoe Ave. as Atkinson was picking up trash with a long metal claw.

According to the police report, Smyly asked Atkinson if he lived there and Atkinson said he did, and provided his Naropa student ID.

“Up to this point, Mr. Atkinson had been polite but surprised by Officer Smyly’s presence,” the independent report read. “Officer Smyly too had been polite. But with the question about which specific unit he lived in, Mr. Atkinson paused, looked around, and began to become exasperated.”

When Smyly asked for more information, Atkinson refused and walked away. Smyly called in for a cover car and told Atkinson he was obstructing a police officer and was detaining him and investigating him for trespass. Smyly drew his stun gun and then his handgun as he felt “threatened” by the trash grabber Atkinson was using.

Other officers arrived on scene and a standoff ensued. A Naropa employee eventually arrived on scene and verified Atkinson’s identity, and Atkinson was released with no charges.

“During the 16-minute standoff, multiple officers politely and calmly asked Mr. Atkinson to drop the trash grabber and sit down so they could talk,” the report read. “However, none of the officers explained why they wanted him to sit down. That lack of explanation solidified Mr. Atkinson’s perception that he was not being treated honestly and fairly, which increased his agitation and heightened his berating of the officers.”

The police internal investigation concluded Smyly violated department policy during the encounter with Atkinson, and the independent report backed those conclusions, saying Smyly made some “pivotal mistakes” including asking for Atkinson’s date of birth when he was not entitled to that information and mistakenly believing he had reasonable suspicion that a crime was occurring.

“Had Officer Smyly understood the law, the contact would have ended without trauma,” the report read.

Smyly, a 14-year veteran of the department, resigned from active duty on May 16. Under a settlement with the city, Smyly will remain on Boulder’s payroll until February 2020.

The other officers were cleared of wrongdoing, with the report noting that none of them pointed any weapons at Atkinson.

The independent report also echoed the Boulder police report conclusion that there was no evidence of racial bias on the part of Smyly. Smyly had told the department he contacted Atkinson because of recent crime in the area but did not see what race he was when he first saw him.

While the report said Atkinson was “justified in his confusion and frustration,” it said “at no point in the entire incident did anyone use racial language, slurs or innuendo.”

‘If it ain’t broke’

In the wake of the incident, Boulder City Council formed a committee to explore a police oversight committee.

But Troyer’s report went on to recommend that Boulder not make any changes to its process.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the report read. “The process and its application in this particular case strongly indicate that internal affairs at BPD ain’t broke. We also know from our experience that reliable, impartial internal affairs processes can be hard to come by. They are precious, and they are very hard to repair once broken. We offer these observations so that the city does not take action that inadvertently and irretrievably breaks a system that did not need fixing.”

The report notes Boulder police Chief Greg Testa got the first complaint about the incident on March 3 from Atkinson’s mother, and referred the matter to internal affairs on March 4.

The report also lauded the internal affairs sergeant for thoroughness, including checking Smyly’s stop data.

“The (Professional Standards Unit) sergeant hand-searched each of Officer Smyly’s stops and looked for any disparities based on the race of the individual contacted,” the report read. “He found none. In our review of (the sergeant’s) work, we did the same and confirmed there were no apparent racial disparities reflected in Officer Smyly’s number of stops, duration of stops, types of stops, reasons for stops, results of stops, use of (body-worn camera) during stops, or searches of people he stopped.”

While the report recommended Boulder not change its internal investigation process, it did “strongly recommend” the police department create an official staff position to support the Professional Standards Unit sergeant.

“The staff person would be trained and specialized in the (Professional Standards Unit) process, forms and administrative functions, and should do other duties secondarily, rather than vice versa,” the report read. “Though the (Professional Standards Unit) only investigates about three Class 1 cases a year, those cases will be handled under much less stress, and the risk of error due to time pressure and workload will be reduced, if trained support staff is ready when needed.”

Troyer also is investigating a separate incident in which a police officer arrested a black man with a cane who was filming officers interacting with homeless people.