Denver officials got an earful from the public about problems plaguing the Denver Sheriff Department at a recent forum that addressed the need for a culture shift within the troubled law enforcement agency.

Community members rattled off a number of areas of concerns — including how inmates are treated and a perceived lack of transparency at the department — during a city-organized event in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood on Tuesday.

The meeting came on the heels of a sweeping, 300-page independent report released in May that called for systemic changes at the department.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock ordered an independent review after the city paid out millions of dollars in court settlements from misconduct cases at the Denver jail, which is administered by the sheriff’s department.

Officials held the forum to share the findings of the report with the public. The meeting was an opportunity for some frustrated citizens to voice discontent toward a sheriff department that has made headlines in recent years for excessive force and abuse cases.

“We have the civil right to not be abused in custody,” said Caryn Sodaro of Denver. “We all have that right and our civil liberties to be treated well while we are in the custody of you.”

The report — authored by independent contractors Chicago-based Hillard Heintze and Los Angeles-based OIR Group — found egregious, systemic problems within the department.

It makes 277 recommendations aimed at fixing the department, including better training of deputies, a more efficient system to address inmate grievances and new leadership.

“Having that many recommendations on one assessment is unheard of,” said Rob Davis of Hilland Heintze, who detailed the report’s findings for the audience. “But the mayor said, ‘Don’t hold anything back.’ And that’s pretty transparent.”

Public Safety Director Stephanie O’Malley said action teams will work on the recommendations. She said that teams will work to prioritize areas of action, particularly those involving use of force, gaps in staffing and insufficient technology systems that put deputies’ lives at risk.

The long list of recommendations will take some time, perhaps up to two years, to fully implement, she said.

“This is going to be very difficult,” she told the audience. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Implementation is hard.”

O’Malley told reporters after the event she hopes the city’s efforts to engage the community in the process will allow residents to understand the daunting task ahead.

“The public is expecting us to do this in a very deliberate fashion and to get it right, not necessarily fast,” she said. “And we’re going to take our time to do that.”

Use of excessive force inside the Denver jail has topped concerns among community members. The city has had to pay out more than $9 million in settlements and legal fees in cases that involved excessive force.

Audience members raised concerns about the use of chokeholds by deputies. Some also wondered whether it’s even possible to retrain deputies who might be inclined to use force at the onset of a problem.

“Do you think anything is really going to happen as a result of this report?” Sodaro asked Davis.

“Absolutely,” Davis said. “There’s no question in my mind.”

Davis later said he is confident that higher-ups in the city, including the mayor, are eager to see changes made to a department that has long been troubled.

“Make no mistake,” Davis said. “The sentiment coming from within (the department) is telling us we want these changes to go forward. It may not be an easy lift because there’s a whole lot to do with 277 recommendations. But folks, they’re (moving) in the right direction.”

Regina Jones of Denver said after the forum that she has friends and family members who have been in and out of the criminal justice system. She said some of the angst inmates feel has to do with complaints going unanswered.

The report did find that inmate grievances often take a long time to be addressed due to several layers of internal reviews.

“A lot of those things are happening in the jails because the people are anxious,” Jones said. “They don’t know what’s going on. Nobody is talking to them. There is no transparency out here.”

Michael Gennaco of the OIR Group said citizens ought to have access to information about what goes on inside jails to help quell concerns about transparency. He said the public has the right to know when excessive use-of-force complaints are filed by inmates and when Tasers are used inside jails.

Gennaco said the Denver Sheriff’s Department “does a better job than most” departments in areas of transparency, but added that any law enforcement agency can always do better.

“Police departments are very closed communities and sheriff departments are closed even more,” he said. “And we need to open up that information so that the public itself can evaluate what’s going on.”

Some in the audience urged the city to include representatives from community organizations on teams charged with implementing the recommendations.

“I think if you had someone on the implementation team from the community, they would tell you how to get a good turnout for an important forum like this,” said Lisa Calderon of the Colorado Latino Forum, in a nod to the forum’s low turnout.

O’Malley said afterward she understands the concerns expressed by frustrated community members.

“What I’m hearing from the community is what we have heard all along,” she said. “And that is the Denver Sheriff’s Department needs attention. And it needs some attention in a greater way. And so we want to be responsive to that. And going through this assessment has been part of the response to that concern as articulated by the public.”

Meanwhile, others in audience reminded officials that more needs to be done to keep people out of jails in the first place.

Rev. Leon Kelly, executive director for Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, said he appreciates the report’s recommendations, but added, “I don’t want none of my kids to think that going to jail is to be comfortable.”

“I would hope and pray that the same type of emotions toward a broken system is being put in front of these kids; letting them know — don’t go (to jail),” he said.

— Twitter: @VicVela1