Ex-sheriff gets rank restored
Another high-profile punishment given to a Denver Sheriff Department deputy has been overturned by a civilian hearing officer.
This time, Gary Wilson, a former sheriff who was demoted to captain for giving preferential treatment to a boss’ niece, has been reinstated to the rank of division chief.
Bruce Plotkin, a Career Service Board hearing officer, wrote in an order issued Friday that Denver’s Department of Public Safety failed to prove that Wilson’s actions deserved a double demotion.
Instead, Wilson should receive a 30-day suspension because he should not have negotiated the surrender of a criminal suspect, the order said.
“If anyone with a warrant could properly engage in such an amenable arrest, command staff would have little time for their other duties, and arrests by negotiation would render arrest warrants relatively meaningless,” Plotkin wrote.
Plotkin ruled that Wilson’s rank, pay and benefits should be restored. Wilson served as sheriff from 2010 to 2014 but stepped down after multiple excessive-force cases caused a public outcry for reform.
Safety department officials disagreed with Plotkin’s decision.
“We disagree with this decision, which is yet another example of a hearing officer substituting his judgment for that of the department’s,” said Daelene Mix, a safety department spokeswoman. “We stand by our original decision and are in consultation with our legal counsel regarding further appellate options.”
Plotkin rejected Wilson’s claim that the demotion was retaliation against him for registering complaints about changes in management at the department and other alleged mistreatment.
Wilson and his sister, Phazaria Koonce, were demoted in June after officials determined they had provided preferential treatment to a woman who was the niece of Stephanie O’Malley, the executive director of the public safety department, and the granddaughter of former Mayor Wellington Webb. Koonce was demoted from captain to deputy.
When Wilson was demoted in June, safety department officials determined that he had violated four policies, including committing conduct that could erode the good order and discipline at the department, abusing access to the National Crime Information Center database and failing to maintain an impartial attitude in performing his duties.
However, Plotkin, who presided
over a three-day hearing in September and October, disagreed with those findings. He dismissed two of the allegations and then ruled that Wilson’s violations of the other two policies were not as extensive as what had been determined by safety department officials.
Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, 2016, Wilson exchanged 12 phone calls and text messages with Alvertis Simmons, a community activist and relative of the Webb family. Wilson had looked up the granddaughter’s arrest warrant on the NCIC database and passed it along to Simmons. Simmons also called Wilson on the day he planned to bring the Webb family member to the jail, the order said.
Wilson called his sister, Koonce, and asked her to meet Simmons and the suspect in the lobby at the Downtown Detention Center.
Koone and Sgt. Eric Givens escorted the woman through the booking process, skipping security steps that others must undergo such as being handcuffed and searched, the order said. The incident created “widespread gossip in the area about special treatment afforded Webb,” Plotkin wrote.
However, Plotkin determined there was no evidence that Wilson had instructed his sister to allow the woman to bypass booking protocol. Wilson denied doing so during hearings and there was nothing presented that damaged his credibility in testimony, Plotkin said.
“It is more likely Koonce and Givens took it on themselves to expedite Webb’s intake rather than doing so in response to Wilson’s directive,” the order said.
Wilson claimed his demotion was retaliation for his objections to a reorganization within the top ranks of the department. After he stepped down as sheriff, Wilson returned to the rank of division chief. At the time, there were four other people who held that rank.
When Sheriff Patrick Firman took office in November 2015, he placed two chiefs at the top of the command structure and gave them $10,000 pay increases for their added responsibilities. But Wilson argued that created a new rank structure in violation of the city charter and career service rules.
Because of his objections, Wilson claimed that he was treated differently, including being given less favorable performance reviews, being left out of executive meetings, being banished from the downtown office and being given a sedan instead of SUV like the other chiefs.
Wilson also said he had reported misconduct by a sergeant, but his complaint was ignored and the sergeant was promoted.
While Plotkin rejected the whistle-blower claims, he wrote in a footnote that Wilson levied some allegations that raise nonwhistle-blower retaliation claims. Plotkin did not elaborate on that comment.
Now, Firman again must work closely with two former sheriffs.
Last week, the sheriff announced that Elias Diggins, who served as interim sheriff from July 2014 to October 2015, was promoted to chief of operations and given a pay raise after he had been placed in a position overseeing special projects. And Wilson now returns to the rank of chief.
Last month, Plotkin overturned the suspension of two deputies involved in the killing of Michael Marshall, a mentally ill inmate who died in the Downtown Detention Center in November 2015. He determined that neither deputy broke a department rule when they used pressure to restrain Marshall for 11 minutes during a struggle in a secured hallway. Marshall asphyxiated on his vomit and died after a nine-day hospital stay.
That decision also brought criticism from O’Malley’s office, which said Plotkin’s ruling undermined her authority. It also was criticized by the Marshall family and their representatives, who said the reversal lets deputies know they can get away with excessive force and other rule violations.