DENVER — A watchdog group says Denver isn't following every settlement term in lawsuits against the city's police or sheriff's departments.
The Citizen Oversight Board wrote a letter to city leaders on Friday saying they found "multiple instances where the City has either failed to comply with a settlement term or has missed opportunities for real change by only minimally complying with settlement terms."
They're calling for independent oversight of settlements, and requested a meeting with the Department of Public Safety, the City Attorney's Office, the Office of the Independent Monitor, and the City Auditor's Office to discuss possible solutions.
Since this city council was sworn in in July, the members have approved more than $9 million in settlement payouts related to actions by the Denver Police Department. Several of those lawsuits were tied to the protests in 2020.
"Our board administrator took it upon himself to do a little research into these settlements and understand what was typically part of them," said Julia Richman, Chair of the Citizen Oversight Board.
Her group saw city council approving quite a few payouts. Richman said they decided to review terms not related to money. Lawsuits often include non-monetary deliverables, such as a department promising to make changes related to an issue raised in a lawsuit.
The board focused on three higher-profile cases with the Denver Sheriff's Department, noting full terms of settlement agreements are not usually made public. In these three cases, two inmates died and one inmate said a deputy assaulted him.
Even with limited data, the board felt a review of these settlements was sufficient for them to conclude a "measure of independent oversight of settlements is warranted—not just for legal reasons, but for the welfare of the Denver community as well," according to the letter.
Richman said after the review, the board feels there isn't a defined process for accountability to make sure the city is complying with the terms of a settlement.
"Somebody died or was critically hurt and the city should learn something from that and not repeat the mistake. That is all we are asking for, and accountability that they are doing what it takes to avoid that in the future," Richman said.
The nine-member board also said the city hasn't taken advantage of opportunities to build trust by sharing its compliance with non-monetary settlement terms.
Richman shared an email Council President Jamie Torres sent her in response to the letter. Part of Torres' message said, "the matter the COB has raised have been some of the very concerns members of City Council, including myself, have raised."
9NEWS reached out to the Department of Public Safety for a response to the concerns.
"The Department of Public Safety meets regularly with the Citizen Oversight Board and always make ourselves available to address their concerns," Executive Director Armando Saldate said in a statement. "While the COB may hold opinions that the settlement agreements should have been negotiated differently, the department has complied with the terms that were agreed upon and will continue to be transparent and share improvements with the public to enhance trust in public safety."
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