uberxThe Denver Police Department has established a new training program for its officers following an incident involving an officer who told a Seattle man that the Uber ride he was taking was illegal.

In a letter written to Dave Cook last week, the Denver PD apologized — again — to the Seattleite for “inappropriate” actions taken by an officer whose actions were “well short of what is expected,” according to the Denver PD.

Back in July, Cook documented his frustrating experience on GeekWire after his UberX vehicle was pulled over on the left side of an offramp about a mile from the airport.

denverpoliceThe officer, who cited the UberX driver for speeding, asked Cook if he was paying for his ride to the airport. When Cook — the brother of GeekWire co-founder John Cook — responded yes, the officer said he was going to educate Cook and the driver in Colorado state law, saying that Uber was illegal in the state.

However, as Cook learned when he quickly researched the issue on his phone during the traffic stop, Colorado recently became the first state to legalize services like UberX and Lyft, which let drivers use their own cars to transport paying passengers.

The Denver PD issued a public apology three days after the incident and opened an internal investigation into the matter. Last week, it wrote to Cook and noted that while there was “some ambiguity in the law that is currently being addressed,” the officer involved was counseled by his supervisor in regard to his actions. The officer also had “documentation of his misconduct” added to his permanent employee file, according to the letter.

In addition, the department is now educating its officers on the state’s regulations for Uber and Lyft.

“Training has been established to ensure that all officer are aware of current regulations regarding Uber, Lyft and other legal means of transport,” the letter noted.

Cook said on Tuesday that he appreciated the follow-up and follow-through by the Denver PD.

“I’m also happy to see that Denver PD has instigated officer training around the ride-share law,” Cook added.

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