A simmering conflict between Denver sheriff’s deputies and the city’s administration is reaching a boiling point as the rank-and-file claim they do not have their bosses’ support in using force against inmates.
On Wednesday, interim Denver sheriff Elias Diggins wrote a letter to all uniformed deputies assuring them that they still have the authority to use force against inmates.
“You are supported in fulfilling your duty and we will stand with you when using force when it is necessary, reasonable, just and appropriate,” the letter said.
The letter, which also cited the jail’s use-of-force policy, concluded by saying, “We cannot and will not lose control of our jails and we are being counted upon by everyone in this City and community to maintain order and discipline as law enforcement officers. Stand strong, be safe and do your job well!”
The Fraternal Order of Police, which represents deputies in collective bargaining, is holding a rally at 1 p.m. Monday outside the Downtown Detention Center.
In a message posted on the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police website and on a flier printed by the FOP’s Denver Sheriff Department Lodge #27, the union claims there have been recent attacks on deputies by aggressive inmates who have read the negative news reports about the department.
Those inmates are trying to provoke attacks in hopes of creating grounds for lawsuits. And deputies are hesitant to use force because they fear they will be punished, the union says.
The city’s administration has mishandled its response to repeated news reports of deputy misconduct, the state FOP’s website said.
“Instead of dealing with these situations as the isolated incidents that they are and publically addressing them as such, they have waved a heavy hammer over the heads of all employees, and allowed the men and women of our profession to be painted as being unprofessional and commonly engaged in inappropriate use of force,” the website said. “This is far from the truth, and we will stand for it no longer.”
Calls to Deputy Mike Jackson, the president of Lodge #27, and the state FOP’s headquarters were not returned.
Deputies have met with Mayor Michael Hancock and Stephanie O’Malley, executive director of the Denver Department of Public Safety, in recent weeks. Insiders have described the meetings as tense.
However, Daelene Mix, a safety department spokeswoman, said deputies’ concerns have not been ignored.
Deputies and sheriff’s department staff have been included in four task forces that were created to recommend changes within the department.
Jackson, the union president, has been appointed to the mayor’s for department reform.
And Hancock and O’Malley have held meetings for deputies and the department’s command staff just like they held meetings for the general public to give , Mix said.
Ideas from those meetings will be compiled into a report that will be given to the hired to guide reform and search for a new sheriff, Mix said.
“They have been involved in the process,” Mix said. “We have wanted them to be involved because they bring something to the table.”
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
