Denver sheriff. Nearly 400 reforms completed.

The Denver Sheriff Department announced Monday that it has completed nearly all of the 400 reform recommendations made three years ago by consultants, community groups and the city’s independent monitor.

While critics remain skeptical that the department truly has changed, Sheriff Patrick Firman said that is why he made it clear during Monday’s announcement that his department would continue to evolve.

“We are committed to being a department that focuses on improvement,” Firman said. “We are committed to moving forward.”

Mayor Michael Hancock, who ordered the reform in 2014 after a series of excessive-force cases cost the city millions in legal settlements, was on hand to praise the department’s achievements. In May 2015, the consulting groups Hilliard Heintze and OIR Group released a scathing report that offered 277 suggestions for change. That report came on the heels of critiques and additional recommendations from the independent monitor, the city’s auditor and task forces made of community members and deputies that were established to review the department.

“It was not easy to go under this microscope,” Hancock said.

During a 20-minute news conference, Firman noted accomplishments such as an employee wellness program, an improved internal affairs bureau, an inspections unit that makes sure the department is following its own policies and changes to the inmate grievance process.

Other changes over the years have included Firman’s hiring after consultants suggested city leadership look outside the department for a new sheriff and the rewriting of the department’s use of force policy.

Still, a huge piece of the reform is missing — a new computerized jail-management system. The department has been working to install a system for years, but it is not in place.

As the sheriff’s department prepared for its big announcement at the McNichols Building in the Civic Center, its union criticized the celebration on Twitter. A series of tweets mentioned a failing computer system that has not been replaced as well as under-staffing among deputies while the jails are overcrowded.

Mike Jackson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Denver Sheriff’s Lodge #27, said the changes have not improved safety for the deputies or the inmates. The city’s two jails continue to suffer from overcrowding, assaults and high turnover among deputies.

“We’re worried about someone getting killed in the facilities and they’re walking around saying, ‘Hooray, we did this,'” Jackson said.