On Sept. 27, Chrisanna Elser greeted an unexpected visitor at her home in south Denver’s Fort Logan neighborhood.
It was Sgt. Jamie Milliman, a police officer with the Columbine Valley Police Department who covers the town of Bow Mar, which begins just south of Elser’s home.
Her first thought, she said, was to see how she could help him.
But he had a warning for her instead.
“You know we have cameras in that jurisdiction and you can’t get a breath of fresh air, in or out of that place, without us knowing, correct?” he said.
“OK?” Elser, a financial planner in her 40s, responded in a video captured by her smart doorbell and viewed by Denverite.
“Just as an example … you’ve … driven through 20 times the last month,” the sergeant responded.
Bow Mar, with a population just under 1,000, is one of dozens of Colorado towns and cities that use Flock Safety cameras to track vehicles as they pass through town. By reading license plates, the cameras allow officers to see where — and when — a vehicle was.
The cameras have raised significant surveillance and privacy concerns, but police say they’re a game-changing tool for criminal investigations.
In this case, Milliman was convinced that Bow Mar’s cameras had given him a break in a rather small case: the theft of a package from someone’s doorstep.
But Elser had her own trove of video evidence, convincing the local police chief to drop the allegation — while still leaving her feeling shaken and uncertain about the growing use of surveillance in local policing.
A conversation that left her shaken
Milliman quickly unpacked the facts of his case as he stood on Elser’s porch.
“There was a theft of a package on Tuesday. Like I said, we have cameras everywhere in that town,” Milliman said.
The sergeant later revealed that Bow Mar’s cameras showed she was in town from “11:52 until 12:09 exactly,” which is apparently when the package — total value $25 — was stolen. Bow Mar has positioned cameras at the town’s entrance for more than five years, and also has provided Ring cameras at a discount, CBS Colorado reported earlier.
“Like I said, nothing gets in or out of the town without us knowing,” the sergeant told Elser.
Besides the data from the surveillance cameras, the sergeant also said he had footage from the theft victim’s own security camera, which he claimed identified Elser as the thief.
But the video shows Milliman refusing to show the evidence to Elser — since, according to him, she wouldn't admit her own guilt.
“If you're going to deny it, I'm not going to give you any courtesy. If you're going to lie to me, I'm not going to give you any courtesy,” he said.
The sergeant left her with a ticket for petty theft, a December court date and a gnawing feeling in her gut.
Proving her innocence
Over the coming weeks, Elser said, she went “on the war path” to prove her innocence.
“From then on, I made it a mission every single day,” she said. “I couldn’t believe, [that this was] holding over my head until December, and my bosses and my work — to be worried and also to waste everybody’s time on this.”
She had, in fact, driven through Bow Mar on Sept. 22 — but only to visit her tailor for a 12 p.m. gown fitting ahead of a charity event.
She got surveillance images from the tailor showing her exiting and arriving, and secured the tailor’s commitment to give a statement.
She also had footage from the cameras on her and her husband’s vehicle, a Rivian electric truck. The video, reviewed by Denverite, showed her making two trips through Bow Mar without stopping.
“We were … more than a quarter mile away at all times,” said her husband, Michael Graybill. “So it wasn't even like we drove by the residence on the way to the tailor or anything like that.”
Data embedded in the videos matches the exact time and date that the sergeant had named — seeming to prove with little question that she was only driving through the area. She also compiled the truck’s GPS records and her own phone’s GPS tracking information.
According to Elser, it seemed that the sergeant had only connected her to the case because her vehicle was in the area. It’s unclear who took the package or who was shown in the victim’s doorbell video.
The accusation was deadly serious, Elser said, since a theft allegation could damage or derail her career in financial services.
The allegation was dropped, but she’s still waiting for an apology.
It proved difficult to get anyone to listen. When Elser and her husband, Michael Graybill, eventually visited the police department, they were told they’d be waiting a long time to see the chief, she said.
She spoke to the mayor of Bow Mar, she said, with no luck. Same with the town administrator.
Elser eventually compiled her evidence into a voluminous Google Drive folder and drafted a 7-page affidavit.
“This incident has caused me significant emotional distress, financial burden, and professional concern,” she wrote in her notes.
Eventually, on Oct. 11, she sent all the evidence to the chief.
“After reviewing the evidence you have provided (nicely done btw), we have voided the summons that was issued,” Bret Cottrell wrote her on Oct. 15, according to documents provided to Denverite by Elser.
But there was no apology or explanation from anyone at the department, she said. She’s considering suing. And even with the ticket dropped, she’s left unnerved by the prospect of being wrongfully accused on the basis of circumstantial evidence from a mass surveillance system.
Ultimately, it’s left her convinced she needs to keep her own cameras running.
“We were thinking … if we're always under surveillance, we can always prove where we are. Well, lo and behold, here's a situation where we needed to prove where we were,” she said. “And I feel so concerned for the individuals out there that couldn't do that.”
Cottrell did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment on Monday. Milliman did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn.
Want to share your own experience with surveillance in Colorado? Email me.
