The Denver Post
Red tape, ink slow cop reforms
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 -
Four months after announcing a major reform of the city's Police Department, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has bumped into political delays, bureaucratic constraints and a budget crunch.
In December, the mayor unveiled a plan that called for an array of training programs and less-lethal equipment - a proposal that aimed to calm rising anger about the Police Department's use of force. The plan is off to a fitful start: Some efforts have been started, others postponed and some are still under review. And the task force that is the highlight of the reform - examining the department's use-of- force policy and a process to include civilian oversight - has asked for a two-week delay in its report. That specially appointed mayoral task force was supposed to release its recommendations today, but the mayor granted it a two-week extension. Hickenlooper's spokeswoman, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, said the mayor is pleased that his administration has made progress on his plan, but he's pushing for the reforms to happen faster. "Coming from the private sector, Mayor Hickenlooper is never satisfied with how long it takes to make change in large government bureaucracy," Lent said. "But within the existing constraints, we believe we've made significant progress on these significant reforms in a few short months." The city's tight budget has tied up some of the police reform efforts. For example, the crisis intervention training ordered for 300 police officers over the next two years has been tied up while Police Chief Gerry Whitman searched for funding. One of the biggest problems is paying overtime to police officers who fill in while other officers are getting training, Whitman said. The classes take 45 hours over five days. "We have to backfill those positions so officers can go to class," Whitman said. About $300,000 of the cost of training is for overtime pay, said Margaret Browne, the city's finance director. To pay for it, Whitman has had to scrounge through the department's 2004 budget. "I'm juggling," Whitman said, adding that some training has started. "It comes down to setting priorities." When Hickenlooper announced the reform program, he said the city found $1.2 million to pay for it. That money had been set aside to pay for outside legal services and to match a federal grant. But the city still fell short of the total $2 million needed and Hickenlooper vowed to find that funding. This month, the city budget office agreed to shift about $825,000 from a radio-replacement fund to help the department pay for its training programs and to buy 100 Taser stun guns. Those Tasers have been purchased. Browne said the money to replace radios will now come from a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But not all the issues affecting the reform efforts are financial. The Police Department faces bureaucratic obstacles to create a mental-health case manager. Whitman said the process of establishing the new post is time- consuming because the city's Career Service Authority must approve a pay scale and advertise for the position. That's because the mental- health case manager will be a civilian, rather than a Police Department employee. To set the pay scale, the authority reviews how other employers set compensation for the job. And that takes time. Whitman said a previous effort to "civilianize" the human resource director of the Police Department took almost two years. Not all hiring decisions are so slow-moving. The city attorney's office has already assigned a lawyer to work full-time with the department on training, tactical and policy issues, City Attorney Cole Finegan said. But other changes recommended by Hickenlooper are still grinding through the political process. Key city leaders are still studying how to "strengthen community relations." Hickenlooper wants the city's Department of Human Rights and Community Relations to lead forums between the Police Department and community groups. Those forums are to focus on cultural sensitivity, racial relations and community policing standards. Lucia Guzman, director of the community relations department, said she has not yet set a schedule for those meetings because she is waiting for Hickenlooper's task force to complete its review of how to handle use-of-force cases. Guzman said her office has interviewed people in Los Angeles and Connecticut who run such programs. The goal is to gather ideas on how to "build bridges of understanding between the community and police." But she said her department was waiting for the task force recommendations and for a decision in the punishment of police officer James Turney, who shot and killed 15-year-old Paul Childs in July. Police were called to the Childs household after a family member called 911 to report that the teen, who was developmentally disabled, was brandishing a knife. Turney shot Childs, who was still holding the knife, after the police officer ordered him to step out from behind a door. Last fall, Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter concluded that Turney didn't commit a crime and declined to press charges. But this month, Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe recommended that Turney be suspended for 10 months without pay for violating department rules. Turney is appealing that decision to the city's Civil Service Commission. At the same time LaCabe announced his decision, he complied with one of Hickenlooper's December recommendations that called on the manager of safety to issue a report whenever a police incident involves use of force and results in a citizen's death or serious bodily injury. Guzman said her department's role is to promote healing for the city, and that's why action needs to wait until the recommendations from the task force are available. "I think we all went into this owning part of the situation," Guzman said. "This is something that belongs to the city. It doesn't just belong to the family of Paul Childs. It doesn't just belong to the police. It doesn't just belong to the mayor. "It is something that has happened that is calling the city to a new place," she said. "It is going to take time to establish the structure to get there, but it belongs to all of us." |