DPD audit looks at department's staffing challenges and strategies

DENVER — Like many police departments around the country, the Denver Police Department (DPD) has ongoing staffing challenges that make it harder to keep the community safe and keep officers healthy enough to do their job.

That's according to a new audit looking at the department's staffing and operations.

According to a letter published this week from Denver City Auditor Timothy O’Brien, his office audited DPD operations and staffing “to evaluate the effectiveness of the department’s recruitment and retention practices and to assess its use of data to ensure effective operations.”

There were four key findings:

1. The Denver Police Department lacks comprehensive, strategic policies and documented guidance to ensure effective operations.
2. The Denver Police Department does not have effective strategies to understand and address low retention.
3.  The Denver Police Department should improve officers’ access to in-house physical therapy and mental health services.
4. The Denver Police Department has inconsistent processes to monitor officers’ time worked.

“By implementing recommendations for stronger strategic guidance, staffing analyses, processes to monitor and address low retention, more accessible wellness programs, and policies for monitoring officers’ time worked, the police department will be better able to ensure it has the staff needed to adequately perform necessary services for the communities it serves,” reads the Auditor’s Letter. 

It says DPD has agreed to implement all 16 of the Auditor’s Office recommendations.

In his written response to the Auditor’s Office, DPD Chief Ron Thomas pointed out he is still new to the job and this audit happened during his transition. But he acknowledged the auditor’s findings and “opportunities for continued growth.”

“… it is affirming to know the items I have prioritized as the Chief are some of the items you identified in the operations audit,” Chief Thomas wrote in a letter dated May 3, 2023.

“In the first six months, I have used data to better inform our operations to reduce 911 response times, taken a multipronged approach to reducing auto theft, improved transparency with public-facing dashboards, and held community meetings on crime trends with residents to improve engagement, to name just a few. To ensure long-term success, the department will continue our focus on evidence-based strategies to address public safety, improving the resources and training we provide our officers, and work to build current and cultivate new community partnerships.”

Chief Thomas addressed each individual finding and recommendation throughout that same letter, as well as during an hour-plus long meeting with the auditor's office, recorded on video here.

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