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A new report on the Denver Sheriff Department reform effort shows that the consulting firms hired to review the department have their work cut out.
The 49-page report, released Friday, is a compilation of complaints and ideas gathered through various task forces, committees and public meetings. The report shows an escalating number of complaints from inmates, with 260 pending complaints in the department’s internal affairs bureau. In June, there were 196 complaints.
The report also shows that deputies are resistant to change and that there is a wide gap between what they see as problems and what outside groups have identified as issues.
DOCUMENT: Read the complete status report on reform efforts for the Denver Sheriff Department.
For example, the department’s Taser policy was revised in July upon an outside recommendation, but deputies say the change is hampering their ability to maintain control.
The report was distributed Thursday to representatives from the consultants Hillard Heintze and OIR Group, who this week began their review of the department.
Stephanie O’Malley, executive director of the Denver Department of Public Safety, said everyone with a stake in the sheriff’s department must be ready to compromise.
“Let’s manage expectations,” O’Malley said. “Everybody involved in this experience isn’t going to get everything they want out of it. Let’s consider what is in the best of interest of the Denver Sheriff Department and this community.”
Some portions of the report, including recommendations from four task forces organized in the spring, already have been released.
But the report offers the first glimpse of what was said during closed-door meetings between the sheriff’s uniformed officers and city officials. In all, about 177 of the department’s 730 sworn officers attended the September meetings, which have been described as heated by some who attended.
One comment from the department’s command staff criticized the city for taking too long to pay attention.
“They are asking city leaders to listen before it is critical,” the report said. “Problems could have been headed off if help was provided.”
Deputies expressed frustration over the city’s handling of recent controversies, including two lawsuits that resulted in large payouts to former inmates and a string of excessive-force cases that led to the resignation of a sheriff. No one has done anything to improve the department’s image, they said.
The deputies’ comments also illustrated a long-simmering feeling that the sheriff’s department is an afterthought in the city’s law enforcement community. That led to worry among deputies about the possibility of being merged with the Denver Police Department.
The department has long been short-staffed, forcing a high turnover rate and fatigue among deputies, the report said.
Commanders and deputies said they need help in dealing with mentally ill inmates.
The rank-and-file complained that the command staff was not available for mentoring or proper supervision and that higher-ranking officers were not held to the same levels of accountability as front-line deputies.
The deputies also said inmates were becoming more aggressive and trying to take control because of the negative reports coming out of the department.
“There are more fights and no officer safety,” the report said. “Deputies are too scared to do their jobs.”
Inmate complaints about deputies have been on the rise, but O’Malley said recent multimillion-dollar payouts to former inmates are fueling that trend.
But the department sends every inmate complaint to internal affairs, and everyone must be vetted, she said. Currently there are 189 open internal affairs investigations, compared to 114 in June.
“There’s a process, and we’re not going to buck that process,” O’Malley said.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
Highlights
Key points from the latest report on the Denver Sheriff Department reform effort:
The department’s internal affairs bureau has 260 pending complaints.
One city team found security risks while assessing the jails.
The merits of merging the sheriff’s department with the Denver Police Department will be considered.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally it incorrectly compared complaints pending at the Denver Sheriff Department’s internal affairs bureau to open investigations.
