Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday called for an outside review of the Denver Sheriff Department with a focus on the embattled department’s internal affairs bureau.
Denver safety director Stephanie O’Malley said hiring an independent firm to study the sheriff’s department is her priority as she tries to stop the flow of abuse complaints.
“The question that continues to present itself is, ‘Is there something we’re missing?’ ” O’Malley said. “Perhaps hiring an independent firm to come in and take a look is a good thing.”
Hancock announced the plan to bring an outside look at the agency during an interview with Colorado Public Radio.
“It would be beneficial to get some external eyes,” Hancock said on Colorado Matters.
Hancock’s call comes a week after Gary Wilson stepped down as sheriff amid a growing number of abuse cases.
Also last week, the city reached a tentative $3.25 million settlement with former inmate Jamal Hunter, who had reported being attacked by deputies and also by fellow inmates as a deputy turned his head.
The City Council on Monday gave preliminary approval to a transfer of $3.25 million from the city’s contingency fund to the liability claims fund to cover the Hunter settlement. It will consider approving the measure Aug. 4.
If the city moves forward with an external look into the sheriff department, it would be in addition to several reviews already underway.
The city’s human resources office is assessing the sheriff department’s organization and operations. And Wilson had created four task forces to recommend changes to the polices and procedures within the department.
O’Malley said she is seeking recommendations for an independent review from national sheriff and corrections associations. She hopes to have a deal signed as soon as possible.
As for paying for it, O’Malley was not sure how much a study would cost but said, “The funds would be available because of the priority of getting it done.”
O’Malley said she hopes an independent study would be a top-to-bottom review that covered everything from recruiting to management structure to inmate grievances.
She also said she would ask any firm to look at the amount of overtime worked by deputies and to look at the internal affairs bureau and what qualifications deputies should have to be appointed to it.
The number of internal affairs complaints continues to grow, in part because all inmate grievances now are sent to the bureau. As of last week, there were 147 open internal affairs investigations.
Late last year, the city’s independent monitor, Nick Mitchell, recommended a number of changes to the department’s grievance process after finding dozens of cases that had not been investigated. His findings led to 47 new internal affairs cases being opened.
Hiring an outside consultant to look at a law enforcement agency in Denver is not unprecedented.
In 2008, the Police Assessment Resource Center in Los Angeles completed a report on the Denver Police Department’s use of deadly force.
In that report, the analysts, many of whom had law enforcement backgrounds, looked at 25 instances of officer-involved shootings to help the department improve supervision of officers and avoid unnecessary shootings.
The study found several areas in need of improvement but also reported that Denver police already had been changing their practices — a step in the right direction.
At the time, Denver’s then-independent monitor Richard Rosenthal noted that many cities conduct similar reviews only after they have fallen under scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Thus far, the justice department has not contacted the city about an investigation, Hancock and other city officials have said.
But U.S. District Judge John Kane has urged federal authorities to investigate the sheriff and police departments after he found issues with an internal affairs investigation in the Hunter case.
Community pressure to fix the sheriff department is growing.
On Monday, more than a dozen members of Shorter Community AME Church delivered letters to the mayor, O’Malley, interim Sheriff Elias Diggins and District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to call for justice for Marvin Booker.
Booker was a homeless preacher who died at the Denver County jail in July 2010 after deputies shocked him with a stun gun and put him in a chokehold before he stopped breathing.
Five deputies were cleared of wrongdoing, but the church members believe they should be held accountable, said the Rev. Timothy Tyler, the pastor. The case is scheduled for a civil trial in September.
Tyler said reviews are needed but something needs to be done quickly to change the jails’ culture.
“I’m not sure the mayor and the others in power have come to grips with the fact that there is a broken culture in there,” Tyler said. “There is an immediate and urgent change that needs to happen in that department before someone else dies.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
Staff writer Jon Murray contributed to this report.
