DENVER (AP) - Denver's manager
of safety says a decision to reinstate an officer fired for driving 88 mph hour
over the 55 mph limit while intoxicated disrespects the efforts of police
"to maintain high standards of professionalism."
Safety Manager Alex Martinez is
appealing Tuesday's decision by a three-member Civil Service panel. The Denver
Post reports (http://goo.gl/Gf0Ra ) that Martinez says the "decision
completely misrepresents the disciplinary code" and that the city would
never hire someone "who had engaged in this behavior."
The panel says Martinez acted
outside the realm of the discipline matrix and did not account for personal
trauma that officer Derrick Saunders was going through at the time of the
incident on June 17, 2010. Saunders
argued his firing was excessive.