Police
Chief, Safety Manager Announce Changes
DENVER -- Denver’s police chief and safety manager announced changes
to the officer discipline process after several cases of police brutality led
to a prolonged procedure in which the decision to fire or suspend an officer
occurred months, if not years later.
Manager of Safety
Alex Martinez, the civilian head of the police, sheriff, and fire departments,
as well as Police Chief Robert White talked about the changes in an afternoon
news conference at Denver police headquarters.
The Department of
Safety said it plans to streamline the police discipline process by removing
several review layers.
Currently a
complaint would travel through the chain of command at each division before
going to the police chief’s office. With the new procedure, complaints would go
to internal affairs then to the new Conduct Review Commander who would work
with the police chief. The police chief would make a decision, which would be
passed to Martinez, who has the final say.
White said the old
process would include three to four layers of review. Removing them would cut
down in the time it takes to investigate misconduct by about 50 percent.
“I’m very excited
about this,” White said at an afternoon news conference at Denver police
headquarters. It will help show the public “we have the ability to manage
ourselves but also discipline ourselves as well.”
Both Martinez and
White have been working to change the perception that the Denver Police
Department can’t police itself.
Martinez, a former
Colorado Supreme Court justice, took the post in November. He said the police
discipline system is slow and cumbersome. One case involving two officers
accused of beating a man outside a nightclub in 2009 remains unresolved three
years after the incident.
The department is in
the midst of a major reorganization that includes more patrol officers, additional
investigators in the internal affairs department, and changes in leadership in
districts located across the city.
Last month, while
announcing the new head of internal affairs, Martinez touted improvements the
department has made to increase processing times for complaints and the fact
that citizen complaints were down.
The Manager of
Safety’s office also created a new position of Deputy Manager of Police
Discipline and brought in former judge John Vigil to fill the spot.
"We want
institutional changes," Martinez said at the time, "not just
personnel."
"We have
identified a need for a stronger presence in the Denver Police Department, some
eyes and ears on the ground to assure responsiveness with the independent
monitor and to help the police department make the right choices."