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Denver police overwhelmingly expressed deep dissatisfaction with their supervisors in a recent survey.

The survey, conducted for the new independent monitor, found officers distrust both Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s administration and the police department’s command staff.

About 70 percent of the 648 officers responding to the November survey disagreed when asked if the command staff supported officers. Just over 87 percent disagreed when asked if the Hickenlooper administration supported officers.

Only 5 percent of the officers who responded expressed positive views of the Hickenlooper administration.

Hickenlooper, in a prepared statement, said his administration had increased police resources by $22 million to make officers’ jobs safer over the past three years, while other city departments were cut.

“We obviously have not done a great job in communicating that to the police force and will work to improve that communication,” Hickenlooper said.

The survey, conducted by Ohio University professor Joseph De Angelis and Arizona State University professor Aaron Kupchik, delved into how police and citizens feel about the police discipline system. The professors conducted it for $1,500 because it is part of a three-year research project.

Mike Mosco, president of the Police Protective Association, the union that represents police officers, said the union conducted a similar survey in 2002 and found similar distrust by officers.

“In Denver, the morale among police is horribly low because the administration within the police department and within the city is divorced from their employees,” Mosco said. “They don’t view the employees as their most valuable resource.”

Both complainants and police gave the complaint system low marks. Nearly two-thirds of officers said they believed the complaint process is biased in favor of critical citizens.

Meanwhile, almost 90 percent of the complainants who responded said they believed the complaint system was biased toward police. Another 41 percent of those filing a complaint said a police employee tried to discourage them from filing a complaint. The total number of complainants was not given.

“This is a benchmark for improving in the future,” said Rich ard Rosenthal, the city’s new independent police monitor. “We want to look at this and look at ways to maintain the integrity in the system while still improving the satisfaction among complainants and officers.”

Rosenthal released the survey results at a time when the discipline process is undergoing change. A committee of city officials, police and citizens is crafting a new system that will come up with specific punishment guidelines for specific infractions.

Rosenthal also this year unveiled a new system that allows lower-level allegations to be handled informally or through mediation to unclog the system.

Surveys were sent to all complainants who had closed police complaints between Aug. 1, 2003, and Aug. 1, 2005. About 20 percent responded.

Surveys also were sent to all police officers. About 43 percent of the officers returned the surveys. Of officers who participated, 60 percent said they had been the subject of a citizen complaint within the past three years.

Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.