 Good afternoon. My name is Kurt Barnes currently assigned to traffic operations to the city enforcement motorcycle unit last night August 27th, 2019 one of our officers was Pursuing a violator started out to Go after the violator and at that time The vehicle lost control and he sustained serious injuries and was transported to Denver health Main thing we really want to talk about specifically is the safety of our construction zones right now We have the I-70 project that is going on. This is huge the amount of people that are still traveling through this We need to ask the Community to please be aware that this is a construction zone to be aware that There are workers out there 24 hours a day seven days a week And that they're out there doing a job and that we're very concerned for their safety The officer was out there doing speed enforcement Trying to get people to slow down in that construction zone When the crash occurred the officer was Transported to Denver health where he is still there today Because of his injuries He did sustained serious injuries There were multiple fractures and so we're pretty much asking everybody to be aware of these construction zones and also Just traffic safety, you know Reduce your speeds in these construction zones But not only that be aware put your cell phones down You know tight take away any type of distraction that you have But please make sure that you're safe for yourself and also for The community around you and also the construction workers and the officers out there doing flagging The officer is a 15-year veteran with the Denver Police Department He is currently assigned to traffic operations on the afternoon team and he's been with traffic operations for the last few years and is also one of our motorcycle officers There were multiple calls for Assistance for the officer the officer was unable to call for help The investigation is still continuing our traffic investigation unit is Doing a thorough investigation on that to determine not only the causation of the accident but also the vehicle speed and We're hoping that we can actually glean something from that so that these type of accidents don't occur again The big thing about motorcycles is they're extremely Maneuverable You're able to maneuver in and out of traffic very easily the bad thing is not everybody sees them Not everybody is aware that you're out there doing enforcement So we really have to be aware. It's we call it head on the swivel where you're constantly looking at your surroundings making sure That you're safe and that also the other community around you is also safe Motorcycle officers Troll in pairs We are actually considered solo motorcycle officers I tried to ride with a partner anytime I can you open up so much more Availability to see different violations you now you have Two sets of eyes that are actually paying attention and aware of the circumstances But it's also aware of any type of hazard too. That's a big thing if you see something That you can let your partner know but you can also Receive that information from your partner. It's a great opportunity to have a partner, but it's not always available At this point that portion of the investigation is still continuing I'm not sure if they actually made contact with that person. I'm not even sure if that person was even aware that the officer was you know Going after them, you know trying to contact them It was more of a situation that the officer went down and thank goodness that the people who were behind They're the ones who stopped And would you think the witnesses or people that started to kind of rush in? Oh Very much so we're very thankful very thankful that they stopped to help Denver has Officers out at Denver International Airport. We have the Denver Mall unit and then we have traffic operations So we have three different distinct groups Probably close 50 to 75 officers the districts also have the zeros which is the Electric motorcycle so there's even a few of those officers out doing enforcement and also patrolling the areas Yes, I did go down last night I was able to talk to him He's doing Considering the number of fractures that he has he's doing extremely well I really don't you know no information like that that would be something that we would probably get from our statistician or through our traffic investigations unit It's always something that's in the back of your head, you know, you're constantly aware Of your surroundings of the road surface making sure This section of the road was had recently been roto milled That's always a fun proposition on a motorcycle but differing types of roads Everything from, you know concrete to blacktop to roto milled You're always aware of that circumstance and you're trying to do the best you can to control your motorcycle No changes that I can think of nothing that I really see in the near future. I can tell you that Enforcement will probably Increase just because of the fact that we are seeing a need For the enforcement as from this accident there. It's definitely evident that There is an issue and that's what we need to address, you know for the safety of everybody Yeah, is there anything you want to reiterate to drivers especially i-70 that project that's going to be going on for a long time? You know, I would really have to stress most important traffic safety Slow down be aware of your circumstances. The roads are narrowing, you know while they're doing this construction The lanes are changing the lane from when you traveled the same road the week before might be different Make sure that you're aware of that look for the barriers out there look for the construction workers If the construction workers are out there if you see one you're not seeing probably, you know 10 to 15 Additional ones that are supporting them so be aware of that slow down set your phone down No distractions while you're driving, you know that I would say that's probably the most important thing And really stress to our motoring public to be aware that number one that there's Construction going on but secondly that there's workers performing that construction and there might be officers out there doing enforcement in that construction zone This was only the Denver police department Thank you