Murphy Robinson, who steps down next month as Denver’s public safety director, has presided over the city’s law enforcement agencies at an extraordinarily tough time. He inherited a skyrocketing crime rate ushered in by weak-willed elected officials amid a lapse in political support for cops nationwide. Yet, he strived to win back confidence in Denver’s police from a public rightly fearful of rising crime – and tired of politicians’ cop-bashing rhetoric.

At times, it must have seemed like a lonely job. He has had to answer for a police department that has been accused of civil-rights violations like many police forces, and that, reasonably or otherwise, continues to be mistrusted in some quarters. At the same time, he has had to address mounting crime that ranges from the drug abuse and petty offenses that proliferate in the squalor of drifters’ illegal “camps” – to spiraling homicides citywide.

He rose to the occasion in both regards. He has promised greater accountability by law enforcement; he oversaw creation of his department’s Transformation and Policy Division for criminal justice reform. And he commendably has pushed back at the soft-on-crime culture that has infected policy making at the state and local levels in Colorado.

Robinson was already steeled for the challenge when he took the helm at the Department of Public Safety in 2020. No one could accuse him of turning a blind eye toward racial injustice or other abuses by the justice system. After all, he brought to law enforcement the singular perspective of a black American who has been on both sides of the thin blue line. Once, as a young cop in Ohio – off duty and driving some friends to the airport to pick up his sister – he was pulled over by police. Four times, on the flimsiest of pretexts. After he explained he, too, was a law officer – and asked for probable cause – his badge-wearing tormentors backed off.

So, when Robinson withdrew Denver police from participation earlier this year in a task force formed to “reimagine policing” following summer 2020’s racial strife, it certainly wasn’t for lack of a commitment to racial justice. It was because he saw the peril of a supposed citizens committee being hijacked and politicized in order to hamstring police and prevent them from doing their job. Robinson is the kind of law enforcement leader who understands police not only must scrupulously safeguard the public’s civil rights, regardless of race, but also protect the same public from the criminal element that threatens us all.

Robinson realizes that a general culture of lawlessness undermines the quality of life for an entire community, even for those who aren’t crime’s immediate victims. Hence his commitment to carrying out sweeps of tent camps pitched by street dwellers.

His boss, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, had high praise for Robinson when he announced earlier this month that he would move on. Hancock called him “a rising leader who never shied away from a challenge.”

“In the four years since he first joined my administration, Murphy has proven to be not only an outstanding public servant, but also a true asset to our city and our residents,” the mayor said.

Denver owes Robinson thanks for his good work, in his concurrent role, too, as deputy mayor. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors, which we hope includes further public service.

Denver Gazette editorial board