Boulder Police Department

The Boulder Police Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for the investigation of the Ramsey case.

By April 2001, the BPD had interviewed more than 600 people (many more than once) in 17 states, investigated 140 possible suspects, consulted more than 60 outside experts, logged 1400 pieces of evidence, received 5200 phone tips and more than 3500 letters.

Background
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Day One
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Investigation of Suspected Intruders
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Investigation of the Ramsey family
John and Patsy Ramsey were at this time refusing to participate in formal interviews. They were living out of state and in February 1997 were out of the country, vacationing in Spain. Specific questions about the events of Christmas day, the family dynamics and the state of the home remained unanswered.

Arndt fax. Burke interview (January 7, 1997).

JANUARY 1997 ATLANTA TRIP

In their CNN interview, Patsy Ramsey had said "whatever anyone wants we will cooperate". However, when police flew to Atlanta to try to meet with them, the Ramseys flew out of Atlanta on their private jet.

In Atlanta, police instead spoke to Patsy's mother Nedra Paugh and John's ex-wife Lucinda Johnson, and attempted to interview other people who knew the family.

1997
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1999
Several Boulder Police officers reportedly testified before the Grand Jury.

2000
Four BPD officers, along with the three Grand Jury prosecutors, traveled to Atlanta to talk to the Ramseys, in interviews which Mike Kane eventually described as a "big publicity stunt" by the Ramseys' lawyers.

Mark Beckner, Tom Trujillo, Jane Harmer and Tom Wickman.

Operational Decisions on Day One
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Leniency to the Ramseys

 * The failure to separate the Ramseys for questioning immediately after the body was found in their home
 * The decision to give John Ramsey the benefit of the doubt when asked "just give us a day", a decision which resulted in four months of non-communication with the Ramseys
 * The specific order from Commander John Eller to treat the Ramseys as "victims" rather than "suspects" because they were "an influential family".
 * The decision to allow

Linda Arndt:

When discussing "members of the Boulder Police Department on the investigative team on the Ramsey case" in 2000, former detective Linda Arndt noted:


 * "a lot of leniency and unusual concerns shown towards the Ramseys. And there were supervisors and people in positions of authority who seemed unable or unwilling to make decisions. There was no clear command structure."

"Witch hunt" against the Ramseys
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Defenses of the Boulder Police Department
Some have argued that it is in the Ramseys' interests to blame the Boulder Police for "bungling the case". For example, in a 1998 letter to the Denver Post, Fleet White said:


 * The district attorney and Ramsey defense attorneys started early in the investigation to condition the public to believe that these delays and the lack of a prosecution have resulted almost entirely from initial police bungling of the case.