DENVER – The Denver Police Department was ill-equipped to handle the size and scope of the George Floyd demonstrations in the city this summer and failed to follow some of its own policies and other best practices surrounding the police response and recordkeeping requirements, according to a report released Tuesday by the Denver Office of the Independent Monitor.

The report from the independent city office tasked with ensuring transparency and accountability from Denver’s two law enforcement agencies found shortcomings within the police department’s staffing of the demonstrations, use of force against protesters, body-worn camera usage, and planning and coordination with the outside agencies – particularly during the first five days of the protests when most of the action occurred.

While the report says that the demonstrations were “unlike any other in Denver’s history” and acknowledges the difficulties faced by the department and officers on the ground, it points out multiple perceived missteps made by the department during the response. It also makes more than a dozen recommendations about how the department can be better prepared for future demonstrations of such magnitudes and be better in line with its own policies and national best practices in responding to them.

The OIM review also uncovered two dozen more instances of officers’ questionable use of force during the demonstrations that were referred to the department for further investigation. Those come on top of more than 100 complaints that were filed against officers – more than 50 of which whose investigations remain open with internal affairs, according to the report.

The demonstrations in the city further deepened the rift between police officers and some in Colorado, according to the report, but also led lawmakers to pass a sweeping police reform bill in the weeks following the initial – and most virulent – days of protests.