Al LaCabe retiring as Denver's safety chief - The Denver Post

Al LaCabe retiring as Denver's safety chief - The Denver Post

Al LaCabe, Denver's safety manager, plans to retire from his job overseeing the city's police, fire and sheriff's departments by the middle of 2010.
Eric Brown, spokesman for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, confirmed that LaCabe had informed the administration of his plans.
"It's still too early for details on a search process for a replacement," Brown said. "But we appreciate the notice he has given us."
Speculation on possible replacements has centered on Tracie Keesee, the division chief of Research, Training and Technology in the Police Department, and Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal, who reviews and oversees police discipline decisions.
The decision on who ends up as the next safety manager will ultimately rest with Hickenlooper because the position is an appointee of the mayor.
Rosenthal could not be reached.
"I'm just working here," Keesee said. "That's a new one on me."
LaCabe, who for the past six years has been in charge of formulating the city's safety policies, declined to comment.
LaCabe runs the agency responsible for spending nearly half of the city's operating budget. His duties range from deciding how to punish police officers who violate protocols to preparing budgets for agencies where life-and-death decisions are made.
During his tenure, LaCabe overhauled the way police were disciplined. He replaced a decades-old system that relied on past punishments to guide discipline decisions with a new harder-line system that spelled out specific punishments. Before his successful effort, city officials had seen six other attempts to change the department's old system fail.