The director of town company tasked with screening recruits for the Denver police and fireplace departments on Tuesday accused Mayor Mike Johnston of pressuring that company to decrease its requirements so the mayor can meet his promise to rent 167 new law enforcement officials this 12 months.
Niecy Murray is the chief director of the Denver Civil Service Fee, an unbiased metropolis company tasked with working hand-in-hand with an appointed board of 5 commissioners to set and apply requirements for hiring, promotions and disciple inside the ranks of town’s police and fireplace departments.
Initially a fee member appointed by then-Mayor Michael Hancock in 2018, Murray on Tuesday issued a information launch in coordination with Metropolis Council members Shontel Lewis, Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez that immediately accused Johnston of interfering within the fee’s work.
The accusations embody strain to cut back requirements for brand new police recruits searching for admittance to the division’s coaching academy to the purpose of outright ignoring a psychological analysis that might have disqualified an applicant from transferring ahead.
“The general public’s belief is positioned in us to make sure requirements for security are being met,” Murray stated throughout a quick information convention in entrance of the Denver Metropolis and County Constructing on Tuesday morning. “The position of the Civil Service Fee is much too essential to be diminished to 1 which is strictly performative.”
Murray didn’t take questions on the information convention. The three council members who joined her in calling out the mayor and his public security leaders say Murray’s issues have been raised internally and Murray popping out publicly was a final resort.
The mayor’s workplace and the Division of Public Security didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday morning.
This can be a creating story and will likely be up to date.
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