1.1 Prepare, implement, and communicate a comprehensive strategic plan – The Denver Police Department should review and update its one-page strategic framework to align with leading practices for creating a complete and documented strategic plan. This process should follow and document each step of strategic planning, in consecutive order, as discussed in the finding. Once completed, department leadership should communicate the new plan to relevant program leaders to ensure staff understand the department’s goals, planned strategies, and expectations for accomplishing them.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2023
1.2 Develop, document, and implement a comprehensive, strategic community policing plan – The Denver Police Department should develop, document, and implement a comprehensive, strategic community policing plan that details priorities, roles and responsibilities for officers and staff, key activities and milestones, and performance metrics to measure success. This plan should align with policing best practices, such as those from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The plan should also include ways to gain feedback from community members, such as through citywide surveys.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2023
1.3 Communicate the comprehensive, strategic community policing plan – Once Recommendation 1.2 is implemented, the Denver Police Department should effectively communicate its comprehensive, strategic community policing plan with all officers and staff, as well as external stakeholders, to promote clear understanding and support of the department’s vision, in line with policing best practices.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Nov. 3, 2022
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
1.4 Measure the success of community policing efforts – The Denver Police Department should develop and document a method to measure the success of its community policing efforts and conduct community surveys to gather information from the public and gauge the public’s perception of the Denver Police Department. The department should then publish all community survey results.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – April 24, 2023
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
1.5 Review and update the recruitment program – The Denver Police Department should review and update the design of its existing recruitment program to align with leading practices. This review should follow and document each step of program design and performance management, in consecutive order, as discussed in the finding.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Aug. 1, 2023
1.6 Develop communication procedures – The Denver Police Department should develop formal procedures to communicate with relevant stakeholders about how well the recruitment program is working and about any plans to improve the program’s performance in the future.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 26, 2022
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
1.7 Finalize and implement new staffing analysis – The Denver Police Department should finalize, implement, and communicate its new staffing analysis in line with leading practices. This should include:
- Completing a formal, documented staffing analysis that is based on data about officers’ current workloads.
- Reviewing and updating the staffing analysis as necessary on a consistent basis.
- Assessing how best to use civilian staff and alternative response programs to respond to calls for service that could supplement resource needs.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Dec. 1, 2022
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
2.1 Address causes for low retention – The Denver Police Department should develop and document processes to identify the primary causes for low retention. It should then develop and implement effective retention strategies based on policing best practices.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – May 1, 2023
2.2 Improve survey response rates and take meaningful action – The Denver Police Department should work with the Department of Public Safety to choose and implement an effective way to gather feedback from current officers and staff, such as contracting with People Element. Once implemented, department officials should use the information to take meaningful action to enhance retention.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2023
2.3 Develop employee retention strategies – Once the Denver Police Department identifies the primary causes of low retention, as specified in recommendations 2.1 and 2.2, the department should develop and implement employee retention strategies using best practices.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – March 3, 2023
2.4 Review exit survey results – The Denver Police Department should develop, document, and implement a process to regularly review and analyze trends in feedback from departing officers and staff using their responses to the department’s exit survey.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – July 1, 2023
2.5 Develop, document, and implement strategies to improve diversity – As the Denver Police Department develops its comprehensive strategic plan as part of Recommendation 1.2 and its recruiting plan as part of Recommendation 1.4, it should continue to develop, document, and implement diversity goals — including strategies and measures to achieve those goals. These efforts should help ensure the demographics of police officers and staff reflect the Denver communities they serve.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – March 30, 2023
3.1 Expand physical therapy and mental health services – The Denver Police Department should partner with the Department of Public Safety to expand the physical therapy program and develop in-house mental health services for police officers such as through budget requests, grant funding, or other means.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Oct. 1, 2023
3.2 Document and communicate wellness programs departmentwide – The Denver Police Department should formally document the department’s employee wellness programs and ensure they are effectively communicated across the department, including to potential recruits.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – April 17, 2017
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
3.3 Monitor participation in wellness programs – The Denver Police Department should develop and document processes to monitor participation in its employee wellness programs. Information collected should include but not be limited to the number of officers participating in the program and the number of referrals by a supervisor or colleague. Information collected should be used to evaluate the success of the program and make improvements. Information collected could also be used to support funding requests.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – April 1, 2017
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.
4.1 Document and communicate monitoring processes for hours worked – The Denver Police Department should document and communicate its processes in the department’s operations manual, including a formal methodology for reviewing timecards to ensure compliance with work-time requirements. Processes should detail all potential work codes that impact an officer’s compliance with daily and weekly work limits.
Agency Response – Agree, Implementation Date – Jan. 23, 2023
See pages 65-68 for the Auditor’s Addendums.