Denver police are more quickly resolving complaints about officer behavior and performance, but some cases — including some high-profile incidents — are still taking too long, according to a newly released report.
In the report, reviewed by The Denver Post in advance of its release today, Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal recommends the department evaluate its disciplinary process to reduce the time needed to impose discipline.
“Timeliness in the imposition of discipline for the DPD continues to be a challenge,” Rosenthal said in a summary of his report.
In 2010, 89 percent of the 134 excessive-force complaints filed about officers were closed within 150 days — a goal set by Rosenthal, who reviews investigations into alleged police misconduct, with input from the department. It was an improvement over the 68 percent closed in the same time frame in 2006, according to the report.
Deputy Chief John Lamb said the department is working to trim the lag.
“When we have a case that drags on too long, it is a disservice to the community,” Lamb said.
Nine cases, five involving excessive force, have dragged on for more than a year, Rosenthal said in the report. Delays are not always the responsibility of the Police Department, which investigates cases internally but then submits them for both internal and external review before they are resolved.
The report doesn’t identify any of the parties involved in the cases, though in some of them the synopsis clearly points to a certain case.
Among the nine is the video-captured beating of Michael DeHerrera in Lower Downtown. That case and another were reopened after then-Manager of Safety Ron Perea issued disciplinary decisions in each. He rescinded his decisions when Rosenthal and others objected they were too lenient. Then he resigned from his job.
Perea’s decisions added time to cases that already had gone well beyond the 150-day time frame.
Rosenthal also found that the Denver Sheriff Department completed reviews of only 54 percent of 326 complaints filed in 2010 within 85 days — the goal for that department.
He attributed most of that lag to a reduction in staffing at the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. “The manager expects that timeliness will improve in 2011 due to increased staffing in Internal Affairs,” according to the report.
In his report, Rosenthal noted that Denver police responded to 465,511 calls last year, while receiving only 601 complaints about officers, roughly one complaint for every 775 calls.
