A Denver Sheriff deputy works at the Denver County Jail on Oct. 8. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)
Re: “Overtime costs soar to record heights for Denver Sheriff Department,” Nov. 7 news story.
Itap disingenuous for Denver City Council members to act surprised and outraged by the overtime issues at the Denver Sheriff Department. Mayor Michael Hancock, the City Council, public safety management and everyone down the line have known of the worsening troubles at the sheriff’s department for many years and have done little even as more and more horrendous stories were reported by this newspaper.
For city leadership to allow the sheriff’s department staffing to fall below a safe level and now need 89 deputies to get to a safe and manageable level is reprehensible.
Mayor Hancock stated the issues at the sheriff’s department are due to “a few bad apples” in the department. City leadership should check their apples and understand they share some of the responsibility.
Jeff Dorrell, Denver
This letter was published in the Nov. 10 edition.
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