Governor, AG review call for state investigation
Gov. John Hickenlooper says he will not add his voice to those calling for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s resignation over sexually harassing text messages the mayor sent in 2012 to a police detective who was assigned to his security detail.
Also on Tuesday, the state attorney general’s office said it is reviewing a Colorado Fraternal Order of Police request for an investigation into corruption at the city’s police and sheriff’s departments on the heels of the scandal involving Hancock and the police officer.
Jacque Montgomery, the governor’s spokeswoman, said the staff has received a letter from the FOP but has not reviewed it.
On Tuesday, the governor told Denver Channel 7 in an interview that it wasn’t his place to ask the mayor to resign. Montgomery confirmed Hickenlooper’s comments, saying the governor does not have the authority to strip the mayor of his office. Hickenlooper and the mayor have not spoken about the situation, but their staff members have communicated about it, Montgomery said.
Annie Skinner, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, said that office also was reviewing the FOP’s request.
Meanwhile, community activists, many of whom are frequent Hancock critics, plan to keep the heat on the mayor by staging a “Time’s Up Hancock” rally at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday outside the City and County Building. They are calling for the mayor’s resignation.
The FOP, which is the largest police union in Colorado, sent a letter dated March 3 to Hickenlooper to request the appointment of a special commission, under the direction of the state attorney general, to investigate the police and sheriff’s departments. The letter includes a list of grievances within the public safety department. The union also called for Hancock’s resignation.
In Denver, the FOP represents rank-and-file Denver Sheriff Department’s deputies, but it does not represent the majority of the Denver Police Department’s officers. The FOP has been highly critical of the Hancock administration’s handling of law enforcement and public safety, particularly an ongoing reform at the sheriff’s department.
The Denver Police Protective Association, which represents more than 1,300 officers including the detective who received Hancock’s inappropriate texts, issued a statement last week calling for Hancock to be held accountable. It stopped short of asking for a resignation.