Black woman finally wins her struggle to be a Denver cop

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
August 1, 2003

Twelve years after starting her quest to become a Denver cop, an area black woman has finally graduated from the police academy and wears the uniform with pride.

In the drawn-out battle, Melinda Carney applied three times to be an academy recruit - and was rejected twice. She filed complaints with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the Equal Opportunity Commission. And she finally filed a federal discrimation lawsuit: That ruling went her way.

But the conflict also shed light on how the department's 1998 class of recruits was selected, as well as on the candidates themselves.
Carney and others were bypassed for candidates with lower rankings and, in some cases, questionable backgrounds.

One of the candidates accepted to the class was James Turney, the officer now embroiled in controversy over the fatal shooting last month of a developmentally disabled 15- year-old, Paul Childs.

Turney ranked last among the 158 candidates considered eligible for the 1998 fall academy.

Another recruit accepted into the academy had admitted to previously selling cocaine, according to federal court papers.

Melinda Carney ranked 123rd among the 158 candidates. But she ranked third among black applicants. And, under a federal mandate called the Hogue decree, the city was directed to achieve diversity in the police department.

In considering Carney's 2000 lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Edward W. Nottingham wrote the city "treated similarly situated non-African American applicants more favorably than (it did Carney)."

As part of an out-of-court settlement, Carney was accepted into the academy this year, graduated in June and is now a Denver police officer.

Lawsuit claimed prejudice

In her suit, Carney claimed her 1998 application was denied because she is black. Carney, who was married to a white policeman, Sgt. Clifford Carney, had filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Divisionn 1990 after the first of three applications was rejected.

"If I didn't think this was a travesty, I wouldn't have taken the case," said Gregory A. Eurich, Carney's lawyer, who represented her for free. "This was a highly qualified woman who should have been hired."

According to federal court records, Nottingham issued scathing criticism of former Manager of Safety Butch Montoya's reasoning in rejecting Carney.

Although she had been certified by the city's Civil Service Commission in 1998, city attorneys cited several reasons that Carney's application was rejected: adverse job references; an alleged physical confrontation with her pastor; several brushes with the law; dismissal from Colorado State University for starting a fire in her dorm; a suicide attempt; an indication in her psychological evaluation that she might have trouble accepting authority; alleged use of marijuana; and inconsistencies in information she provided during the hiring process.

Nottingham said Montoya's "evidence of the plaintiff's criminal history was ... second-hand information and weak at best." The judge also said Montoya was mindful of the 1990 discrimination charge that Carney had filed against the city.

Montoya could not be reached for comment.

However, Earl E. Peterson, the commission's current executive director, said he finds it hard to believe that a safety manager would reject an applicant for prejudicial or retaliatory reasons.

"It would be arbitrary and capricious to do that," Peterson said.

Or, Montoya may have disqualified candidates simply because he thought there were problems with them or their applications, said Brian S. Kellogg, the commission's senior personnel analyst.

But former Commission Director Paul Torres said Carney should have been offered a position with the police department and called her psychological report a "powerful statement," according to court documents.

The psychologist said, in part:. "Rarely have I found a candidate who is so thoroughly well-balanced in both professional and personal life aspirations."

Under the Hogue decree, the Civil Service Commission was mandated to certify three black applicants in the fall 1998 class of 32, or 9 percent.

Turney admitted as Asian

Of the other two black applicants, one was a female who scored third among all applicants. The commission certified her for two previous academies, but Montoya rejected her all three times.

Montoya also denied the third black applicant, who ranked 115th. Demetrius Dixon had graduated from the law enforcement academy at the Community College of Aurora and already had been offered a position with the Adams County Sheriff's Office.

Dixon, now 33, and still an Adams County deputy, said he wanted to be a Denver cop and was told by the commission that he was a virtual shoe-in.

"I passed all physical tests - every test they gave me I passed," Dixon said. "I couldn't think of any reason why they excluded me. They just told me, 'The rule of three.'"

The so-called rule of three gives broad-based power to the safety director to reject applicants for a variety of reasons.
"I have no desire to apply with them now," said Dixon. "I thought they treated me very unfairly."

Ultimately, Montoya did hire three black applicants - all of whom scored below Carney. One of those officers was terminated while on probation, and another resigned in 1999.

Turney was offered a place in the academy in part because he's Asian. Under the Hogue degree, if any of the Asian candidates were qualified, the city was required to hire at least one of them.

Variety of checkered pasts

The city asked Nottingham to throw out Carney's 2000 discrimination suit. But after reviewing the evidence, the judge sided with Carney.

In making his ruling, Nottingham compared her background with other recruits. He then cited several examples of applicants with questionable histories but who ultimately were offered jobs, including:

One who used cocaine within 10 years of filing his application.

One who smoked marijuana at least 10 times within 10 years of his application, ingested speed within eight years and smoked hashish once.

One who stole money from a previous employer.

One who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol within six years of submitting his application.

Eurich, Carney's lawyer, noted in court papers that Montoya also offered a job to someone who sold drugs.

"Indeed, Montoya acknowledged that he might hire an applicant who had admitted to selling cocaine and he in fact did so," Eurich wrote.

Ultimately, Nottingham noted that the only conviction on Carney's record occurred when she was a minor, more than 10 years previous to her application. She had illegally hooked up a cable line to her college dorm room and received a deferred judgment, he wrote.

"In conclusion, (Carney's) background investigation revealed a clean record for at least eight years," Nottingham wrote. "(Carney) passed all of the written and oral examinations, and received a strong recommendation from the psychologist who examined her."

After the judge's decision, the city and Carney agreed to settle the case out of court. The city agreed to pay Carney $65,000 and permit her to apply for the third time to the police academy.

'I was more than qualified'

Assistant City Attorney Jack Wesoky said his office was disappointed with Nottingham's decision.

Wesoky said the judge incorrectly analyzed the less favorable background attributes of some of the applicants who were offered jobs.

"If it's only one (bad) thing, then the decision-maker took into account great references, steady employment and a good educational background," Wesoky said. "When looking at the whole picture, taking money from an employer doesn't represent the true picture of an individual."

Carney will not talk about the 1998 class, except to say she respected the recruits and felt they were entitled to be given the opportunity to be a part of the Denver Police Department.

When she donned the department's navy blue uniform in June, Carney said she had accomplished her goals.Of her dogged pursuit for the job, Carney said recently, "I wanted to be in an occupation where I could help people the most."

She said she felt compelled to file the suit "to prove I was more than qualified."

"I don't want to be treated like a victim," she emphasized.

Carney recently graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver with a bachelor's degree in biology. She said her new goal is to use her science background to work for the department's crime lab.

Carney strongly defends the police department in which she now serves. Considering that the department has about 1,400 officers, incidents of police misconduct are few and far between, she said. "They do a great job and a credible job, and people don't acknowledge that."

But, after all this time and work, Carney still can't be in the field - at least for now. She broke her ankle during academy training and has a desk job until she heals.

gutierrezh@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5204. News staff writer Sarah Huntley contributed to this report.

Copyright 2003, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.