Update: Loveland Officers Who Arrested Karen Garner “No Longer With the Department”

The three officers seen in bodycam footage roughing up and injuring 73-year-old Karen Garner last year are “no longer with the Loveland Police Department,” according to Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer.

Calling the development a “personnel matter,” Ticer declined to say whether officers Austin Hopp, Daria Jalali and community service officer Tyler Blackett had resigned or were fired. The family of Karen Garner has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the department and the involved officers.

Sgt. Philip Metzler has been placed on administrative leave. He had responded to the scene of Garner’s arrest. Sgt. Antolina Hill, another defendant in the civil lawsuit, has been reassigned. A criminal investigation has been launched by 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin to determine if any laws were violated in the arrest of Garner, who reportedly suffers from dementia.

See our prior coverage here.

See the Loveland Police Department’s press conference here (starts around 12:30 into the livestream):

It comes as no surprise that offending officers are “disappeared” – that is, reassigned, removed, or put on leave until public outrage cools down. Police departments suffer from the same institutional rot as most government organizations, where it is notoriously hard to fire, hire, promote or demote on the basis of merit or truly punish bad behavior.