Mark Beckner

Photos: BolderBOULDER increased security measures in wake of Boston Marathon bombing

Following the Boston Marathon bombing, runners looking forward to participating in this year's BolderBOULDER quickly spoke out about participating despite increased fears about terrorism and "soft targets." Nonetheless, security for the event has been beefed up. CU-Boulder Police spokesman Ryan Hu ... More >>

Samuel Carter and Brent Curnow: Boulder cops charged in elk shooting resign

Update: Earlier today, we shared the arrest affidavit naming Samuel Carter, one of two Boulder cops charged in the shooting of a Mapleton neighborhood elk on New Year's Day; see our previous coverage below. Now, the City of Boulder has announced that Carter and cohort Brent Curnow, who also faces cr ... More >>

Boulder elk shooting: Suspended cop has taxidermy business

Update: The shooting of an elk in Boulder by an on-duty police officer has stirred controversy and prompted a candlelight vigil; get more information from our previous coverage, on view below. The latest developments: Boulder police chief Mark Beckner addressed concerned community members at a meeti ... More >>

CU Buff after Airsoft gun police stop: "Go ahead! Shoot me, motherf*cker!"

At first blush, an incident in which several CU Buffs football players weren't charged with a crime doesn't seem all that newsworthy. But a police stop that took place this past weekend continues to ripple through the program, with one player quitting after contributing to a minor panic over an Airs ... More >>

JonBenet Ramsey investigator's new book rejects intruder theory in child's death

The 1996 Boulder murder of JonBenét Ramsey was one of the biggest stories in the country for years, and questions about the unsolved case continue to be asked, albeit at a lower volume than was heard a decade and a half ago. Note that former detective A. James Kolar's Foreign Faction: Who Really Ki ... More >>

Christian McCracken, head-injured Boulder cop, allegedly kept narcotics in Skittles bag

Update: The troubles faced by head-injured Boulder Police officer Christian McCracken continue to mount. Now, in addition to charges (including attempted first-degree murder) related to his alleged stalking of a Boulder dispatcher, he's facing drug allegations related to Schedule III narcotics conc ... More >>

Kevin McGregor: 1st degree murder charge in Todd Walker case, death penalty on table? (62)

Big pic below.​Update: Kevin McGregor has now been charged with first-degree murder in relation to the shooting of University of New Hampshire football player Todd Walker this past Friday -- and the case is on a very fast track, with a preliminary hearing slated for April 25. In the meantime, ... More >>

Girl Scouts won't be arrested for selling door to door in Boulder, 'cause sheriff needs Thin Mints

Flickr​Earlier this week, local Girl Scouts of Colorado troop leaders received an e-mail warning that anyone who doesn't get approval in Boulder to sell cookies door to door or from a booth "will be arrested." If Boulderites see cops slapping cuffs on six-year-old Brownies, the Pearl Street M ... More >>

Naked Pumpkin Run, Boulder Mall Crawl: Cops ready if they make a Halloween comeback

2005 Pumpkin Run.​Last year at this time, Boulder Police were on high alert for fear that the annual Naked Pumpkin Run and a revival of the Boulder Mall Crawl on Halloween would lead to chaos. Two Mall Crawl organizers even received a personal visit from Boulder's police chief. In the end, th ... More >>

JonBenét Ramsey case: New interviews sought but cops not saying with whom (like Burke?)

JonBenét & Burke.​Last week, we told you about conflicting stories regarding a reported new interview with Burke Ramsey about the 1996 murder of his younger sister, JonBenét Ramsey. Now, Boulder Police says such interviews are being sought -- but it's not confirming the identity of Burke or ... More >>

Zachrey Harris busted in Joseph Owen Coy case of alleged racial attack on CU's Olubiyi Ogundipe

Zachrey Harris.​On Saturday, Joseph Owen Coy was accused of a racially motivated attack on Olubiyi Ogundipe for allegedly punching the Nigeria-born CU student amid slurs about monkeys and worse -- but Boulder Police didn't know if Coy's two companions would face similar charges. Now, one of th ... More >>

Boulder Fourmile Canyon fire update: Will deadly California blaze cut into resources?

From SF ABC7San Bruno blaze.​Last night, the high winds that hit the Fourmile Canyon fire burn area near Boulder didn't exacerbate the situation as feared. As Boulder County public information officer Mike Banuelos says this morning, "Firefighters held the line." But will some of them be sent ... More >>

JonBenét Ramsey murder solved?: It's not on the CBI's new cold case database

JonBenét Ramsey.​The 1996 killing of young JonBenét Ramsey is arguably Colorado's most famous (and infamous) unsolved murder. So how could it not be included in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's new and much touted cold-case database?

Bare nipples at Boulder city council meeting: David Lane takes on Seth Brigham's cause

Seth Brigham being arrested.​To protest an ordinance that might have criminalized women who publicly bare their nipples, Boulder's Seth Brigham stripped to his boxers at a February city council meeting -- and was promptly arrested. Four months later, David Lane, fresh from winning a $5.9 mill ... More >>

Sean Griffin and Staci Griffin, Nos. 1 & 2: Rob Montgomery ID'd as shooter in Boulder Stove & Flooring murder-suicide

Staci Griffin and her husband died together yesterday.​On May 17, 2009, Westword launched Mile High Murder, a blog category tracking homicide in the seven-county Denver/Boulder metro area. Over the next year, we wrote about ninety different murders -- all of them shocking in their own way. On ... More >>

Nudity ordinance a war on fun in Boulder, says ACLU

Naked Pumpkin Run participants in 2005 showed a lot of cheek.​Last night, the Boulder City Council passed a controversial nudity ordinance banning anyone over the age of ten from exposing their genitals in public -- a response to concerns about annual events such as the World Naked Bike Ride a ... More >>

Should exposing the areola of a nipple be illegal in Boulder? The ACLU says "no"

Last month, Boulder district attorney Stan Garnett (who weighs in today about medical marijuana) argued that the Boulder City Council should pass what he called "a simple public-nudity ordinance" regarding participants in events like the World Naked Bike Ride and the Naked Pumpkin Run. That way, sco ... More >>

Boulder cops thrilled with low-key Mall Crawl, Naked Pumpkin Run

"Thank you for not arresting us!"​In the weeks leading up to Halloween, the Boulder Police Department worked overtime to prevent a chaotic revival of the Mall Crawl tradition that peaked in the late '80s and early '90s, and warned possible participants in the annual Naked Pumpkin Run that they ... More >>

The Naked Pumpkin Run turns into the Not-Quite-Naked Pumpkin Stroll

The caption on this photo from the "Don't Taze Me, Br09" Facebook page reads: "Ladies and Germs, I give you the destroyer of the Naked Pumpkin Run, Mr Mark Beckner, our lovely Chief of Police :)"​Over the past few years, no one had to wonder if Boulder's Naked Pumpkin Run had taken place -- bu ... More >>

The Boulder police try to unfriend a Boulder Mall Crawl Facebook page

Boulder police still worried that Halloween on the Pearl Street Mall will crawl with problems

Will the Pearl Street Mall crawl like this again?​ Ever since word surfaced about a Facebook campaign to resurrect the once-wild (and long-dormant) Boulder Mall Crawl, the Boulder Police Department has attempted to dial down the prospect of a too-huge throng celebrating on the Pearl Street Mal ... More >>

Boulder Police on why they want to reign in the Mall Crawl and Naked Pumpkin Run

Once upon a time on Halloween, the Pearl Street Mall crawled like this.​The Facebook campaign to resurrect the Boulder Mall Crawl, a Halloween tradition that was put down in 1991 because crowds in the tens of thousands got a wee bit too rowdy, is dead -- if it was ever alive. On Wednesday, Rya ... More >>

Boulder Police Chief finds no wrongdoing in July tasering of mentally impaired man

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner.​In late July, Judd Golden, chair of the Boulder branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote a letter to the Boulder Police Department complaining about the July 19 tasering of what he described as "an unarmed and apparently mentally impaired man." He ... More >>

Boulder cops threaten (totally) Naked Bike Ride participants with registration as sex offenders

This Saturday, June 13, plenty of Boulder residents will take part in the World Naked Bike Ride -- and if they're anything like the ones who wheeled around during the 2007 Denver event seen in the video above, a lot of them will actually be, well, naked. But this year, those who take the name of t ... More >>

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner goes national with his pitch to lower the drinking age

Watch CBS Videos Online Remember the burst of publicity that accompanied word that Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner had supported lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 during an interview with 60 Minutes? If not, don't feel bad -- because the flare-up occurred in March 2008, as documented by thi ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, February 23 edition

Wigging out at the Beerdrinker of the Year contest. Welcome back. Today in Cafe Society: • Beerdrinker of the Year: A judge's tale. • Sexy Pizza's sexy facelift. • It's Denver Cupcake Week for Lovely Confections Bakery. • Room for one Pho. • Oodles of noodles and more news from Jet Enter ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: JonBenét Ramsey and 1990s nostalgia

As the awful economic news keeps pouring out (Agile Group, anyone?), you can understand the urge to look back at the good old days. Even the bad crimes of the good old days. And so yesterday, the new Boulder District Attorney and the old Boulder Police Chief held a joint press conference to announ ... More >>

Girl Trouble

When CU students take the Delta Delta Delta pledge, they take it very seriously.

Sing, You Sinners!

The sounds of silence at CU.

Throw Away the Key

Boulder County slams the door on a group of juvenile homes that won't lock theirs.

The Truth Hurts

A roundup of the civil cases surrounding the Ramseys.

Blinded by Science

Boulder throws another Barbie on the fire.

Office Politics

The race is on for Boulder County District Attorney.

Justice, Boulder Style

The county will soon have its first new DA in 28 years. But in order for justice to be done, former cop Steve Thomas thinks the office needs a complete overhaul.

Off Limits

Happy trails for the Broncos' mascot.

The Accidental Jurist

Leonard Peltier. Stephen Miles. Now the witness who might break the Ramsey case. It’s no wonder Lee Hill thinks he needs to pack a pistol.

Acess Denied

Boulder Community TV is at war with one of its flakiest producers. Guess who's winning?

Off Limits

Stood up...

The Spin Crowd

The Mom Squad

For this group of online sleuths, death makes a holiday

Off Limits

FIGHTING IT OUT IN BOULDER

STREET PEOPLE IN THE COLLEGE TOWN ENLIST HELP IN THEIR BATTLE AGAINST THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.