Mayor Michael Hancock’s nationwide search for Denver’s next police chief landed on a candidate whose promises of accountability and communication offer a refreshing change of course.
When he took the job as Chief of Police in Louisville, Ky., in 2003, Robert White was charged with melding two police forces into one and also faced the task of rebuilding trust with community interests, notably African-Americans.
By most accounts, he demonstrated himself to be a “bridge-builder” and a no-nonsense leader. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, he fired 28 officers; and in 25 other cases, cops who were under investigation retired or resigned.
The former mayor of Louisville said White faced an “audacious challenge” there and “succeeded on all fronts.”
White, if approved by the City Council, would be Denver’s first African-American chief and only the second leader hired from outside its ranks.
Before approving White for the job, however, City Council members need him to better account for his actions in several concerning episodes reported Monday.
As The Post’s Tom McGhee noted, White’s 39-year career in law enforcement is not blemish-free. He was involved in a controversial drug testing incident while working as a cop in Washington, D.C.; he reportedly stepped in when his son was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence in North Carolina; and he has had to address questions about uneven punishment in his current job.
While White was not found culpable of wrongdoing in any of the cases, Denverites deserve explanations and honest answers from their would-be chief about those incidents.
Coming off a series of high-profile excessive-force complaints, the last thing the department needs is a public-relations fiasco caused by a less-than-thorough vetting process.
What it needs is someone to lead it forward.
White has vowed to “change the culture” of the department and build a collaborative relationship with residents. Those are laudable steps.
And Denver’s department is not without reasons to be proud already.
The force has embraced community policing and the “broken windows” model. The DPD crime lab is among the nation’s best. Crime has gone down even as the economy has soured and the city’s population has grown. And a new discipline matrix should ensure that punishment for officers who break the rules is fair and predictable.
As we have said before, the vast majority of officers are high-minded and take seriously the mission of providing “high-quality public safety.”
But we have also said changes are needed.
At first blush, White strikes us as able to deliver them. But the decision to hire him should be based on more than a first impression.
