Denver’s Manager of Safety Alex Martinez, who frequently clashed with the police union over disciplinary matters in less than two years on the job, announced Tuesday he is leaving that post to become the general counsel for Denver Public Schools.
Martinez, , said the new job arose after conversations with schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg about who should replace former attorney John Kechriotis Kechriotis left about a month ago to manage a Denver-based business office for the Walton family, the founders of Walmart.
Martinez will step down Oct. 2, and Ashley Kilroy, a deputy safety manager will take his place in the interim. He is the second person to leave Mayor Michael Hancock’s cabinet.
Martinez, who moved from the state Supreme Court to take the manager’s position, came with a mandate from Hancock to change the culture of a department that had been roiled by charges of police brutality.
“He did exactly what I asked him to do,” Hancock said, noting that the department investigates formal complaints against officers twice as quickly as it did two years ago.
Martinez and Chief Robert White, whom he helped to select, made changes that quickened the process by which officers are disciplined, in part by hiring a deputy manager specifically to oversee those cases. He also championed changes to the civil service rules governing the way disciplinary appeals are handled, so that officers must show the manager’s punishment was unwarranted.
The Denver Police Protective Association opposed those changes, and the two frequently found themselves on different sides of the fence when it came to matters of police discipline. Union president Nick Rogers on Tuesday said only, “We had our differences, and I wish him the best of luck in his new job.”
Martinez’s sudden departure means Hancock must select a replacement. He offered no hints about whom he would consider.
“We will move quickly to find the best candidate, but the emphasis will be to do this right, not fast,” Hancock’s spokeswoman Amber Miller said, adding that the search would “not be limited by geography.”
Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, sgurman@denverpost.com or twitter.com/sgurman
