Family of Christian Glass to receive $19 million in settlement over son’s 2021 police shooting death

The state of Colorado and three local law enforcement agencies agreed to a record $19 million settlement in the death of Christian Glass, a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by police in June in Silver Plume after he crashed his car and called 911 for help.

The settlement is the largest involving police misconduct in Colorado history, surpassing the $15 million paid in 2021 to the family of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of Aurora police officers and paramedics during a violent 2019 arrest.

Along with the financial agreement, the state of Colorado and the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office have agreed to non-financial concessions that include using Glass’s death in police training scenarios to teach the importance of de-escalation, the creation of a crisis response team in Clear Creek County and an agreement that Glass’s parents can participate in law enforcement training by speaking about the loss of their son.

Three law enforcement agencies issued statements saying Glass’s death was unnecessary and preventable while pledging to do better for people in crisis in the future. And Clear Creek County Sheriff Rick Albers apologized for Glass’s killing. That apology was mandated in the settlement agreement, according to documents provided to The Denver Post by the Glass family’s lawyers.

“The Sheriff acknowledges that his officers failed to meet expectations in their response to Christian Glass when he called for assistance,” the sheriff’s statement said. “The events that transpired the night of June 10-11, 2022, that ended in Christian’s death, continue to be disturbing.”

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Clear Creek County also will dedicate a park in Glass’s name, and Colorado will place three pieces of his artwork in state buildings with Gov. Jared Polis holding a commemoration ceremony on Wednesday.

Read more from Noelle Phillips in The Denver Post.