Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen will retire in October after nearly 30 years with the department and four years at the helm, the city announced Wednesday.

Pazen’s tenure as chief saw two-and-a-half years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide struggle to recruit and retain police officers, historic protests in Denver mirroring others sparked by George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, and the expansion of programs intended to provide an alternative response to police.

The State of the Streets: A conversation with Police Chief Pazen

“It’s been an honor to serve the people of this city, and I couldn’t be prouder to have done it alongside these dedicated women and men of the department who’ve answered the call to protect the residents of Denver no matter the circumstance,” Pazen said in a statement. “It’s important to me that the next police chief take the reins at this time so the department and our officers are well positioned for the future of policing in our community.”

Pazen will retire Oct. 15. Hancock has nominated Patrol Division Chief Ron Thomas to take his place, who will take over in an acting role Sept. 6. His nomination requires City Council’s approval.

Pazen took over in June 2018 after former Chief Robert White’s retirement, having served as the commander of the Police Department’s District One. He also served in the Marines for five years.

“Chief Pazen has had a distinguished career with the Denver Police Department, and over his nearly three decades in law enforcement, he has served the residents of our city at nearly every level of the department, including its highest rank, with integrity and a community-focused approach to policing,” Mayor Michael Hancock said in a news release.

Since Pazen — long rumored as a potential mayoral candidate next spring — took over the department, Denver has faced public safety challenges both distinctive to the city and mirroring broader trends. Denver has struggled with a spike in homicides, which have ticked up since 2019, and the agency has prioritized taking illegally possessed guns off the streets.

Pazen launched a controversial initiative last year nicknamed “hot spot policing” that targets department resources in areas police say have made up a disproportionate share of Denver’s homicides and shootings. The effort has drawn criticism from people who say it leads to over-policing of poor communities and people of color.

Community relationship building focus of forum with Denver police chief

But Denver has received praise for the Support Team Assisted Response program launched in 2020 that sends pairs of mental health clinicians and paramedics to low-level, non-violent calls instead of police. After initially being operated by the Department of Safety, the program’s operations transitioned to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment last year.

STAR has been viewed as a success for reducing the need for police in circumstances involving people in crisis better suited for a behavioral health response, though the city has received criticism that it has sidelined input in the program from communities most impacted by policing and police violence.

Council President Jamie Torres, reached by email, thanked Pazen for his years in the Denver Police Department and said she respects his decision and its timing.

“This isn’t a decision that came lightly, I’m sure, and done with knowledge that there is leadership within the department to step up. I look forward to seeing Chief Ron Thomas come in as interim and come before us on council for confirmation. No matter how much time is left in a mayoral administration, our departments deserve strong leadership.”

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann praised Pazen as a “dedicated public servant” who oversaw the launch of programs such as STAR and Law Enforcement-Assisted Diversion that “serve the people of Denver well.”

“He was committed to improving relationships between the police and the community,” McCann said. “My office has enjoyed working with him for the last several years. On behalf of the Denver DA’s Office, I thank him for his dedication and leadership and stand ready to support Division Chief Ron Thomas once he is confirmed.”

But not everyone looks on Pazen’s legacy favorably. Earlier this year the city lost a $13.75 million trial judgment in a landmark federal excessive force lawsuit over how the police department handled 2020’s racial justice protests. District 9 Councilmember Candi CdeBaca, a staunch critic of the outgoing chief, said the court loss is proof Pazen has been “a huge cost to taxpayers” and said the settlements are “directly linked to his failures” as a police chief. The department lacked proper training for officers and transparency, she said. 

Pazen has frequently criticized state policies concerning pretrial release, supervision and sentencing reforms, which he believes are too lenient. A Denver Gazette investigation earlier this year found nearly half of the people arrested for homicides in Denver in 2020 and 2021 were under some kind of pretrial supervision at the time. 

RTD swears in new Chief of Police

“I would be absolutely outraged if a family member of mine was killed by a felon in possession of a gun, who is on supervision,” Pazen said during an interview with The Denver Gazette last year. “Like, how does that happen? How do we allow that to happen? If we keep going down this path, we’re going to have more and more people dying in our streets, and it should not happen.”

But CdeBaca said Pazen spent too much time blaming the public safety challenges Denver experiences on reform efforts at the Capitol and focused on the symptoms of societal issues rather than root causes.

Sweeps of homeless encampments were a waste of city funds, and the city has “criminalized poverty,” she said.

“His tenure overlapping with 2020 and probably the most critical opportunity we’ve ever had to reimagine policing was totally squandered,” CdeBaca said. “His legacy was squandered.”

More recently, the agency faces a grand jury investigation initiated by McCann for an incident in LoDo when police injured six bystanders during a confrontation with a Black man whom they say pointed a gun at officers. Officers shot the man, Jordan Waddy, several times. 

This is a developing story. Stay with denvergazette.com for updates.