Lakewood, CO city council meetings see outcry for police reform after missing trans woman found dead

Lakewood, CO – The Lakewood city council meeting was packed full of community members on September 8. “There are people here from all across the state, people who canceled their plans, and traveled long distances to be here tonight,” said Jamie Frederick while addressing the city council members, “Trans people deserve to feel safe, feel heard.”

For the better part of the last few months, community members from all parts of the Denver metro area have been continually flooding the bimonthly city council sessions in support of Jax Gratton, a transgender woman who went missing in April of this year under mysterious circumstances, and whose body was found nearly two months later on June 6.

Much about Gratton’s death remains unsolved, from the events that led up to her tragic disappearance to the discovery of her body two months later. The delay means a forensic autopsy is unable to provide crucial details that would, at the very least, provide some closure. The public outcry emanating throughout the city council meetings stems from the lack of concern by the Lakewood city council members, as well as the dismissive manner in which the Lakewood police handled the investigation.

Many believe that, due to Jax Gratton being a trans woman, the Lakewood Police Department did not investigate her disappearance with the same level of urgency as they would have for others.

Family members of Gratton feel that the police dragged their feet and were not fully transparent about the facts of the case. As time goes on, and key questions about Gratton’s death continue to go unanswered, members of the LGBTQ community fear the current rise of transphobia and transphobic violence will not be prioritized by police departments. Kai Martinez, a trans teenager who has been a regular, vocal attendee at these meetings, stated, “I eventually found out what happened to Jax after Jax had been missing for months, and that made me physically scared to leave the house.”

At a past meeting on August 25, Amanda Phillips, reading a letter on behalf of Jax’s mother Cherilynne Gratton-Camis, said, “We need oversight. We need oversight for Jax, we need oversight for trans people. I did not choose to become an advocate, I chose to become a parent.”

Gratton-Camis, though not a resident of Colorado, has been thrust from the role of grieving mother to leading voice for police reform in the state. Gratton’s supporters are demanding independent oversight of the Lakewood police. Their vision of oversight includes the ability for the committee to be independent of law enforcement influence, have actual power to investigate the police, and have unrestricted access to internal documents and records. This committee would, in their view, have placed meaningful pressure on Lakewood PD from the moment the initial missing person’s report was filed to ensure transparency in their investigation.

Gratton-Camis believes that, had the investigation been handled with more care, Jax could have been found sooner, and the police could have had a clearer idea of what happened to her on the night of her disappearance.

Fortunately for the community, their demands did not go unheard, as the Lakewood city council voted unanimously to draft policy in favor of the oversight committee. With the policy being in the very early stages of development, it is not known how many demands will make it into legislation, but it signifies a positive shift in the fight for trans rights and raises the possibility of police oversight.

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