If he takes the job as Denver’s police monitor, one of Richard Rosenthal’s first acts is likely to be a feather-ruffling outside audit of the Police Department’s officer shootings.
But it’s not yet clear whether he will take the position offered to him Wednesday by Mayor John Hickenlooper. Rosenthal said he was discussing the job with the mayor but declined to disclose further details.
And Portland, Ore., is fighting to keep him.
“We don’t want to lose him. He’s done a great job,” said Portland Auditor Gary Blackmer, who is Rosenthal’s boss. “He is on the fence right now.”
Blackmer has gone to the city’s human-resources department and City Council asking for an exception to the $91,000 cap for Rosenthal’s position.
“It looks promising,” Blackmer said.
The Hickenlooper administration, which didn’t disclose the amount it offered to Rosenthal, has said the position would pay roughly between $74,000 and $118,000.
Hickenlooper’s office said conversations with Rosenthal, 43, were ongoing but that no official deadline had been set.
“We don’t expect a definitive answer before Monday, but it could be sooner,” said mayoral spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent.
As Portland’s police review director, Rosenthal commissioned an audit of police officer shootings and counts it as his most significant achievement in that job. It was also one of his major selling points to the mayor and City Council members.
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The audit, by the Police Assessment Resource Center, contained 89 recommendations for policy changes, many of which Portland adopted or is considering. Chief among them was to shift the focus of shooting investigations to the events and tactics leading up to the event rather than the shooting itself.
Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth on Wednesday lauded the PARC recommendations.
“Overall, it was painful at first for the organization, but it was good,” he said. “It pushed us to change. Sometimes, you need that outside audit from someone with a fresh perspective looking at the organization.”
Rosenthal told Denver City Council members during an interview Friday that he favors PARC’s systemic approach. But Portland Detective Robert King, president of that city’s Police Association, said the rush by Portland’s elected officials to embrace the PARC recommendations causes the union concern.
“So, essentially, PARC is managing the police bureau in a way that we don’t feel is best for the city, the citizens or officers,” King said.
The reception Rosenthal will get from Denver police officers is unknown.
Denver Sgt. Mike Mosco, president of the Police Protective Association, declined to comment Wednesday until the process is completed.
Staff writer Karen E. Crummy can be reached at 303-820- 1594.
