1 in 3 land lighter disciplinary action

By Brian D. Crecente, Rocky Mountain News
May 1, 2004

One of every three Denver police officers who appealed a disciplinary action to the city's Civil Service Commission in the last five years received lighter punishment, according to city records.

None of the cases resulted in a harsher punishment in those years, records show.

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The commission will soon weigh the penalty for James Turney, whose shooting of a developmentally disabled teenager last July has become the most closely watched police discipline case in years.

The civilian board oversees discipline of police officers and firefighters as well as the hiring policies for both groups.

Turney's 10-month suspension from duty could be reduced, upheld or increased, though records show the commission has never decided on a harsher punishment for any police officer that came before it in the last five years.

But board President Chris Olson said each case turns on its individual facts and the record cannot be used to predict what outcome Turney is likely to face.

"When we make a decision, we tend to view it as separate from the ones made in the past," Olson said.

Turney filed his appeal to the Civil Service Commission on April 23. The first person to review the case will be hearing officer John A. Criswell, who retired from the Colorado Court of Appeals in 1999 after serving 13 years.

The commission has four hearing officers, all with law degrees and a background in employee-employer arbitration.

A hearing officer hears a case before it can go before the board as a whole.

Since 1999 the commission's hearing officers have heard 58 cases. In 21 of those cases the hearing officer reduced the punishment levied by the manager of safety.

The appeals in another 21 cases were withdrawn by the officer after an agreement was reached - typically that meant the punishment was reduced by the manager of safety.

The punishment in 16 cases was sustained by hearing officers.

While deciding the cases, hearing officers were directed to "give due weight" to the chief of police's recommended discipline - an admittedly ambiguous rule that was left open to interpretation by the hearing officers, officials say.

That rule was changed last year to direct hearing officers to give due weight to the manager of safety's decision.

Olson couldn't say whether the rule change would have any direct impact on the final outcome of a case.

"It's hard to say if that does change things," he said. "The bottom line is that it's open to interpretation" by the hearing officer.

That interpretation could have a big impact on the final outcome of Turney's discipline. Police Chief Gerry Whitman initially recommended Turney be suspended for 20 days. LaCabe later bumped that up to a 10-month suspension.

The commission has been blamed in the past for making it impossible to fire "rogue cops."

In a controversial 1996 case, an officer who was convicted of assaulting a woman and was fired by the police chief got his job back after the Civil Service Commission overturned the chief's ruling.

Former Mayor Wellington Webb tried to end comparative discipline to make it easier to fire or discipline an officer, but failed to do so.

Civil service commissions are common in major metropolitan cities and typically take the form of the one present in Denver. Aurora has one.

In Denver, once a hearing officer has ruled in a case, either the manager of safety or the officer can appeal the decision to the Denver District Court or to the full Civil Service Commission.

The commission has only agreed to hear a dozen cases in the last five years. In three of those cases, the hearing officer's decision was reversed and in five it was upheld. Four are pending.

"Our goal is to review each case as an independent entity and go from there," Olson said. "The commission reviews each case on an individual basis. We are not just a rubber stamp for (the manager of safety) or the (police officer)."

If either the manager of safety or officer is unhappy with the commissioners' decision, either side can appeal to the Denver District Court, which in turn can lead to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

District and appeals courts upheld the commission in all of the cases reviewed in the past five years.

crecenteb@RockyMountain News.com or 303-892-2811

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