Denver jail’s average daily population grew by about 10 percent last year, largely due to the city’s growing population and a rise in felony arrests, according to the Denver Sheriff’s Department ’s annual report.

The report, a snapshot of the department in 2016, showed last year’s average daily inmate population was 2,221, compared to 2,017 in 2015. The department booked 36,328 inmates into the Denver jail system, reaching 95 percent capacity in 2016. Overcrowding issues have long plagued the Denver jail system and has resulted in an increase in assaults between inmates and jail staff and inmates and inmates.

“It’s something we are very conscious of and are tracking closely,” department representative Simon Crittle said of an overcrowded jail system.

“The reality we are dealing with is the population of Denver is growing,” Crittle said. “We have police officers out there doing their job and making arrests. That puts pressure on the jail system. I don’t think that’s a problem unique to Denver.”

Crittle pointed to expansion efforts, including a $5.1 million women’s housing unit, and a recent proposal to change sentencing for minor offenses, though the ordinance is geared toward helping immigrants avoid deportation, as ways the city is trying to address an overwhelmed jail system.

The report says when housing units at the Downtown Detention Center exceeds capacity, more deputies are assigned. The department is hoping to buck the trend of an increasing population through initiatives like drug court, homeless court and the co-responder program, according to the report.

“An important part of managing the population is working to ensure that people who shouldn’t be in jail in the first place don’t end up there,” the report said.

The annual report detailed other Denver Sheriff’s Department statistics in 2016 including: 741 gang members identified, 7,892 subpoenas served; 1,624 evictions carried out; 12,471 car impounded, with $5.6 million in revenue gained from fees, auctioning and selling of cars; 1,869 feet of graffiti removed and 214 internal affairs cases opened.

In the fall of 2015, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock appointed Patrick Firman to the helm at the Denver Sheriff’s Department to reform the city’s jail following a consultant’s review of the department which found deep excessive force and mismanagement problems.

A new use-of-force policy was part of a slew of recommendations — a policy the department says emphasizes deescalating potentially dangerous situations when possible.  Under the old policy, sergeants determined whether deputies’ use-of-force was justified without conducting witness interviews or looking at video footage.

Crittle said under the new policy, deputies are required to try to deescalate a situation, even if they would legally be able to use force. He pointed to numbers that showed the department had three closed internal affairs cases for excessive use-of-force in 2016, out of 214 total cases.

“There’s a big distinction between use-of-force and excessive force,” Crittle said.

Additionally, the entire force has completed crisis intervention training, with 313 deputies going through the training in 2016.

“While there is still work to be done, the department is now better positioned to run more efficiently, to provide a safer and more secure environment, and to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of those it is charged with safeguarding,” Mayor Michael Hancock wrote in the report.

The Denver Sheriff’s Department hired some 200 more deputies and more than 400 recommendations for improvement were made in 2016, according to the report.

The report also detailed the department’s efforts on community engagement, recruitment and staffing improvements, department restructuring, gender equity, inmate re-entry programs and employee well-being and outreach.

— adam@coloradostatesman.com