Appeals ease cop penalties
POLICE DISCIPLINE
Denver officers have won reductions in punishment nearly half the time they
appealed, records show
Christopher N. Osher
Denver Post Staff Writer.
Feb 9, 2006. pg. A.01
Nearly half of Denver police officers who appealed their discipline to the city Civil Service Commission in the
past five years received a lighter punishment than originally recommended, records show.
Those appeals reduced the 1,515 days of suspension levied against 37 officers to 921 days, according to a
review.
But officers involved in more serious offenses were less successful. All eight officers who appealed their firings
failed to prevail. And two officers who tried to reverse demotions also did not succeed.
The analysis by The Denver Post comes as efforts are underway to reform the city's police discipline system,
which has a long- standing rule that restricts the punishment of officers.
That 'comparative discipline' rule doesn't allow an officer's punishment to be worse than the penalty given a
different officer for a similar offense.
'I wouldn't go through all this heartburn of changing the discipline system if I didn't think that there were things
inherently ineffective with the system,' said Al LaCabe, the city's safety manager, who oversees the city's police
officers and firefighters.
Sgt. Mike Mosco, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, thinks the manager of safety could
save himself the heartburn.
'I don't think there's anything wrong with it (the disciplinary system) now because it's a judicial review, and it's
just one more set of eyes looking at everything,' Mosco said. 'I think this is part of the transparency process that
everybody's saying that we need.'
Mosco wasn't aware how many appeals to the Civil Service Commission resulted in reduced penalties. 'That
tells me that the judicial review finds that the punishment being handed out is unfair and not consistent with
what the charter says it should be,' he said.
The system will be on display again March 16 during the city's appeal of a civil service hearing officer's decision
to reduce the 10-month suspension of James Turney, who fatally shot Paul Childs, 15, who was
developmentally disabled, on July 5, 2003.
The city wants to reverse the decision by hearing officer John A. Criswell, who retired from the Colorado Court
of Appeals in 1999. Criswell reduced Turney's punishment to a five-day suspension with a one-day fine.
The analysis by The Post found that since 2000, hearing officers heard 47 cases. Of those, the hearing officers
reduced the punishment levied by the city's safety manager 26 times.
The full Civil Service Commission reversed the hearing officer in five of those cases, reinstating the safety
manager's original punishment.
Another 10 of the cases were settled, with the officer withdrawing the appeal. In those instances, the safety
manager usually agreed to reduce the punishment as part of the settlement.
That is what happened in January when the city settled an appeal by officer Ranjan Ford Jr. and accepted a
50-day suspension. LaCabe originally had recommended a 90-day suspension for Ford in the July 11, 2004,
fatal shooting of Frank Lobato as he lay unarmed in his bed.
The safety manager's punishments were upheld by the hearing officer in 21 cases.
Chris Olson, the president of the civil service board, said each case is decided by individual facts and
circumstances.
'We look at each one individually,' he said.
The commission has four hearing officers, all of whom have law degrees and a background in employeeemployer arbitration issues.
Before the full commission board can hear a case, a hearing officer must offer a decision.
Earl Peterson, executive director of the commission, said the commission's hearing officers were chosen in a
competitive process in which union officials and city managers ranked their preferences.
If the safety manager or an officer disagrees with the decision of the commission, either one can can appeal to
Denver District Court, and then on to the Colorado Court of Appeals. During the five years reviewed, neither the
district or appeals court reversed a commission decision.
In deciding cases, a hearing officer must give 'due weight' to the safety manager's recommended punishment,
but there is no specification as to how that phrase should be interpreted.
In December 2004, LaCabe formed a committee of city officials, neighborhood leaders and police to look at
ways to reform the discipline system. The committee is developing a plan that would set up specific punishment
guidelines for specific department violations.
Currently, few guidelines exist, and the safety manager must make sure his punishment decisions are
consistent with what officers received in the past for similar infractions.