Denver to Address Jailer Misconduct

the Denver Post

Denver Deputy Sheriff Joseph Cleveland was found to have kept a terminally ill cancer patient locked in a holding cell, despite a judge's order that the man be released, freeing him only after the man said he suffered a seizure.

Deputy Sharmaine Norman-Curry racked up punishment in multiple cases involving unnecessary use of force, lying to internal affairs, disobeying orders and using inappropriate language to inmates before finally getting fired.

And three deputies failed to make their required rounds on the night that Emily Rae Rice, 24, died in the Denver jail from internal injuries suffered in a car accident — and then lied or falsified reports regarding their actions.

Those incidents and others have prompted the city of Denver to look at cracking down on its jailers.

Safety Manager Al LaCabe, who oversees the Denver sheriff and police departments, has formed a task force to reform how the city treats deputy misconduct. LaCabe, who last year led an overhaul of the Police Department's "comparative discipline" system, wants to take a similar approach for the Sheriff Department. He expects to have a new discipline system in place within 18 months.

LaCabe said comparative discipline is flawed because the punishment meted out in the past occurred under more lenient administrations or at a time when society did not hold officers as accountable as they do now.

Police have instituted a new system that spells out in advance what type of punishment they can expect for misconduct. Officers now get a handbook that specifies presumptive penalties. For instance, the handbook warns that the city probably will fire an officer found to have lied under oath or to an investigator.

Now LaCabe wants the 100-person task force, which includes city officials, citizens and union leaders, to help him create a similar handbook for the Sheriff Department, which has about 900 employees.