Denver police officers answer a call at a home minutes after a man beats his wife but the sergeant who has a video camera for interviews is unavailable.
So the officers are stuck at the scene – sometimes for hours – because of a new rule that requires videotaping in all domestic violence cases.
It is one of several policy changes in recent years that can bog down police work, critics say. The domestic violence scenario – played out hundreds of times a year – is one of myriad reasons police are not writing as many traffic tickets or making as many arrests as they did a few years ago, officers say.
“When the officers are waiting for a sergeant to bring the video camera they aren’t on the street where they can observe traffic, panhandling and drunk drivers,” said Mike Mosco, president of the Police Protective Association, the police union.
Understaffing, an overcrowded jail and low morale are other reasons arrests have dropped 35 percent from 65,317 arrests in 1998 to 42,492 arrests in 2004, according to police and city officials.
City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz is heading a task force to investigate the issue. The task force is meeting today.
“It’s something that we’re going to get to the bottom of,” said manager of safety Al LaCabe.
The department also is feeling the funding cuts to the Denver Police Academy in 2002, just as scores of officers were retiring. About 120 veterans are projected to retire this year, and that has left the department short-staffed.
No recruits were trained in 2002, only 30 in 2003 and 119 last year. The department is still 100 officers short of what is authorized, said Margaret Browne, Denver’s finance director.
Police Chief Gerry Whitman recently reported that the department, which has 1,444 officers, will need another 267 officers and 138 civilian support staff.
Mayor John Hickenlooper said with 169 people training to become officers this year and another 135 projected for next year, the department should fill all vacancies.
Aside from declining arrests, officers also wrote 45,000 fewer traffic tickets in 2004 than they did in 1998, a 30 percent drop, according to Denver County Court records.
If there hadn’t been a drop in ticketing, the city would have received $3.9 million more in traffic fines last year, based on the 2004 average ticket cost, which is higher than in 1998. That would fund 54 police officers.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” Browne said. “If you don’t spend money to hire enough officers there won’t be as many officers writing tickets and generating revenue.”
Videotaping in domestic violence cases is one of many new rules that have turned one-hour calls into investigations that take up half an officer’s shift, Mosco said.
LaCabe has heard about the problem. He said the department can work to speed up the process, but the policy will not be eliminated, he said.
He said victims of domestic violence often recant, and having the videotape preserves valuable evidence, including the victim’s statement and pictures of injuries.
“We have to make the procedure work better rather than get rid of it,” he said.
Even when officers take a video statement from witnesses they must also file a written report, according to the new rules, Mosco said.
Because of another new policy, when someone files a complaint against an officer for anything from rudeness to brutality, there are mandatory procedures that chew up time, including multiple interviews with different supervisors, Mosco said.
Low morale is also a factor, some say, fueled by a policy that tracks complaints against officers. The policy, instituted in 2002 by Whitman, tracks all complaints, including unsubstantiated ones.
“Guys are afraid of getting disciplined for minor complaints,” said Al Archuleta, a police union board member.
Officers wonder if making many arrests and the subsequent complaints that come with them are worth risking a promotion, getting a suspension or losing their job, Archuleta said.
Hickenlooper doubts that bad morale would affect the number of arrests or tickets, because the officers are professional and well-paid.
“If they have bad morale, then it is my job to fix it,” he said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
