Boulder police Officer S. Carter poses with the elk that was shot late Tuesday night at Ninth and Mapleton in Boulder. (Photo courtesy Roger Koenig)
It was pretty clear that the mysterious details of the Boulder elk killing episode were going to emerge eventually. And now that the cone of silence has begun to crack it’s apparent the Boulder Police Department has a lot of explaining to do.
What started out as an odd story has turned into something more serious.
The incident revolves around a large bull elk that apparently had been known to roam the Mapleton Hill area of Boulder for several consecutive winters. There were reports that the animal had become aggressive, and had trapped a mail carrier on a porch.
That was all prelude for what happened Tuesday night. The animal was shot dead, and residents said police killed it. However, Boulder police said they had no record of their officers having killed the animal.
On Thursday, the details began to leak out. Boulder police revealed that an officer had, in fact, killed the animal but failed to report it. The officer said the elk was injured. Then, he gave the dead elk to another officer, one who was off-duty, who took the animal to be processed for meat.
Boulder Police apologized “for the confusion” but frankly, that’s not going to be enough.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is investigating. There is potential for a poaching charge since the elk is a large trophy animal and the hunting of them is closely regulated. The fine for the illegal taking of a six-point elk or bigger is $10,000. Also, hunting is not allowed in city limits.
And then there is the internal investigation to be dealt with. Did the Boulder police officer who shot the animal at any point lie about it or deviate from procedure? Why was parks and wildlife apparently not notified in advance of the killing of the animal?
The incident has garnered quite a bit of attention, for understandable reasons, and it’s incumbent upon Boulder police to be forthcoming about what happened and take appropriate steps in disciplining any personnel found to have engaged in wrongdoing.