Growing up in East Denver, Paul Lopez was scared of the cops.

Now, as the Denver City Councilman representing District 3, Lopez doesn’t want city residents to experience the same feelings or worries. To that end, Lopez headed up an effort to ask city voters to make a city oversight agency permanent and on par with those departments and others, like parks and recreation and public works.

“When I grew up in East Denver, I always distrusted and disrespected folks in uniform,” Lopez added. “I didn’t like that, but that’s how I felt, and I don’t want to see things continue that way.”

Lopez saw his efforts take one big step forward Monday, Aug. 15, when he and eight of his council colleagues unanimously approved placing a city charter amendment on the Nov. 8 general election ballot concerning the Office of the Independent Monitor. Three of four absent council members contacted by The Colorado Statesman said they also support the amendment – which would make the office as permanent as the police or sheriff’s department – as well. Councilwoman Deborah Ortega could not be reached for comment.

The office monitors and participates in Denver police and sheriff’s investigations and makes recommendations on employee discipline and broader policy issues. A seven-member citizen oversight board evaluates the office; makes policy recommendations to the public safety manager on discipline, use of force and other issues; addresses community concerns; and reviews and makes recommendations on some closed internal affairs investigations.

Denver’s police, sheriff’s and fire departments are required to provide “complete and timely” information to the office, unless there is a legal reason to withhold it.

The 14-employee office, headed by Nicholas Mitchell, includes seven monitors, primarily attorneys; a policy director, two research analysts, a community relations ombudsman and youth project coordinator, an office manager and case manager.

Lopez said he thinks Mitchell and staff are doing a good job.

“I was on the hiring committee and we were all impressed at what a stellar person he was and is,” Lopez said. “He’s not the kind of person that would be a cowboy or go rogue. He’s done a great job.”

As the amendment was under development, Lopez said it would have given Mitchell and the office more authority.

“He said no, leave it as it is,” Lopez added. “At the end of the day, we want the best person in this position, not a political person.”

Lopez said he became involved in law enforcement accountability and trust issues in 2007, shortly after he was elected to Council. As a Council member for the last nine years, Lopez, 38, is the senior member in terms of service. He chairs the council’s safety committee, where a lot of the work on the amendment took place.

Ready for any personal fallout

Politically, Lopez is not concerned his strong support for changing the charter could hurt him.

“I act for what’s best for my district and the city of Denver,” Lopez said. “It’s not a question of popularity or politics. My duty is to be a legislator and address problems and issues. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”

While the change admittedly could be politically charged, Lopez said “my role as a councilman does not exempt me from controversy.”

The politics, culture and tense relationships between community members and law enforcement forced the city to create the office in 2015, to have stronger civilian oversight, Lopez said.

“But we need the independent monitor to be just as important as the police chief, the sheriff, our parks and recreation director,” Lopez added. “In the 21st Century, governance needs to include independent oversight, especially of public safety. It needs to exist, it needs to be smart, efficient and robust.”

While the office was born in an environment of use-of-force issues, Lopez said, it is also proactive and looks at best law enforcement practices in making recommendations.

“I look at it like a kind of coach,” he said. “Imagine if all professions had something like that, where we get advice on how to do our jobs better. That’s why it’s been frustrating to have the police union (Denver Police Protective Association) opposed” to the charter amendment.

An inquiry to the union regarding their concerns about the amendment was not immediately returned.

Lopez called their stance “politically antiquated,” and said it appears the union is more focused on the politics of the situation instead of the practicality.

“They (law enforcement officers) are all acting on behalf of the public, their salaries are paid by the public, so is their retirement,” he added.

Lopez and other council backers have stressed the amendment should not be viewed – nor was intended – as anti-police. The amendment supports police officers and sheriff’s deputies, Lopez said, by helping create an environment for “the best officers and honest officers to thrive.”

“I want to see an environment and a culture where dysfunction in the ranks is not acceptable,” he added. “I want to see whistle-blowers rewarded, not punished. There have been a lot of issues, some pretty high-profile, where I have had officers tell me the culture in law enforcement is not the best. That’s a big part of why the independent monitor needs to have a stable role in making recommendations to change things like that, with strong civilian oversight.”

“There are officers in our city who grew up with the same reservations and attitude I had,” Lopez continued. “They want to change that, too, and I want to support them. That’s what this would do, give us another tool in the tool box to bring change. We don’t want fear and anger to be the main factors, we need to look deeper.”

Lopez also praised Police Chief Robert White for the changes he has made since being hired.

“I don’t think the policy should have been to be able to fire into a vehicle unless you are fired upon first,” Lopez said of a past contentious policy that White changed. “He’s a good chief, he’s put more cops on the beat and there’s more accountability. Even though he was an outsider when we brought him on board, which some people were worried about. But that’s what we needed at the time.”

City partly to blame for distrust, disrespect

Part of the core reason for distrust and disrespect of Denver police officers stems from a lack of enough officers, Lopez noted.

“When you have only one officer per car out on patrol, he tends to be overworked and then can get fearful when tough situations arise,” he said. “That’s a big part of what led to all these issues we see today. How do you develop a relationship with a community when you spend all your time responding to one call after another, by yourself?”

City councils – past and present – take a big part of the blame for that situation, Lopez admitted.

“That created an environment based on fear, on both sides,” he said. “Then you get a lack of understanding and dysfunction thrives.”

When officers patrol in pairs as they do now, Lopez said it helps creates accountability, and officers are less likely to act or react out of fear.

“It’s the same thing when we have a jail with so many inmates but not enough deputies,” he added.

Lopez said he did not vote for Denver’s most recent new jail project, wanting to see the money directed to more “front end” uses.

“I don’t think we need to build a jail for what I call status crimes,” he stated. “Pot arrests, things like that. Do we really need to be arresting the homeless just because they slept in a park overnight?”

Lopez noted the amendment was also part of a recommendation from two consultants hired by the city to review its law enforcement policies and procedures.

“This is a great opportunity to make that recommendation reality,” Lopez said. “We need to take advantage of this opportunity and move forward so we can make Denver an even better place to live.”