In defense of Denver’s deputies
ADenver Post editorial last month asked if there was anything— anything — the Denver Sheriff Department does well. This is certainly a fair question, given the recent scandals that have rocked the beleaguered agency. News stories present an image of an organization in shambles, a hopelessly incompetent outfit that can’t seem to hire, fire, discipline or even keep overtime costs in check.
A layperson could be forgiven for thinking that every immature, bone-idle bully in the metro area either has been or is currently employed at the jail.
However, those of us who have spent years working with sheriff’s deputies in criminal courtrooms can attest that, yes, they do many things well.
I know two model deputies who will never embarrass the department, who aren’t lazy, corrupt, stupid or cruel. Meet Deputy Rex, a regal Belgian Malinois, and Deputy Taylor, a handsome chocolate Labrador Retriever.
They’re the Sheriff Department’s bomb-sniffing dogs. These two cool canines have their own business cards and ride in marked patrol cars emblazoned with their names. If there’s a bomb threat at the courthouse, they can clear the building far more quickly than human officers ever could.
According to their handlers, both dogs love their work and are very good at it. When they’re out on patrol, they bring a smile to everyone’s face. The K-9 unit is definitely a bright spot in the department.
Something else the deputies do well: The officers who work in Court Services are responsible for getting the right inmates to the right courtrooms at the right time, a challenging assignment on the best of days. Criminal defendants are a tough crowd, and handling them is a tricky task. In their minds, they’re innocent, the charges against them just a pack of lies. They’re mad at the entire legal universe: judges, district attorneys, public defenders and the deputies who shackle them and take them to court.
Yet somehow, year in and year out, inmates do indeed get to the right place at the right time, handle their legal affairs and return to the jail without incident. Now and then, a particularly agitated defendant will scream and curse and try to start a fight in the courtroom, but such drama is rare. This is because the good deputies in Court Services are vigilant and safety-conscious, with a knack for defusing potentially explo- sive situations.
The best of them have a real talent for being firm with inmates but not antagonizing them. Court staff prize these qualities, and we fight fiercely over our favorite deputies.
What else do the deputies do well? (I hear Aretha Franklin singing “RescueMe.”) Yes, deputies have come to my aid more than once over the years. On those rare occasions when a dangerous situation erupts in a courtroom and the alarm bell goes off, there is no sweeter sound than the thunder of deputies’ feet running down the hall, no more welcome sight than uniformed bodies bursting through the doors, armed and ready for action.
Two deputies once delivered a baby on the third floor of the City and County Building. A few years ago, four of them apprehended and arrested a man who had stabbed a woman in the neck with an ice pick just outside the courthouse.
There’s not enough room here for me to list all their good deeds. Clearly, there are some fine deputies in the department, perhaps just not nearly enough of them.