Fired Denver jail chief sues city, safety manager

A former Denver Sheriff Department division chief fired in 2015 is accusing the city and Stephanie O’Malley, the safety department’s executive director, of retaliating Gale against

him because he was an outspoken union representative who often was critical of his bosses.

Frank Gale’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver, asks for an unspecified amount in damages. It cites First Amendment violations, claiming that Gale’s criticism of the department and its ongoing reform effort was protected because of his Fraternal Order of Police membership.

The lawsuit offers five examples where Gale’s words during public meetings, disciplinary hearings or internal meetings contradicted the views of his boss, O’Malley.

“The termination of Gale was intended to create a chilling effect on the FOP and send a clear message to the members of FOP Lodge 27 as to what will happen to any member who may provide truthful testimony under oath against defendants, advocate against defendants for collective bargaining rights, or advance other political speech adverse to the interest of defendants,” the lawsuit said.

Gale was fired in January 2015 for giving preferential treatment to a sheriff ’s captain who had been arrested on a domestic violence charge and then denying it by blaming an internal affairs sergeant. At the time, Gale was a captain but serving as chief of the Downtown Detention Center.

The controversy surrounding his firing came during a troubling time at the department. It had been on the losing end of three high-profile lawsuits over excessive force that had cost the city millions in settlements. As a result, city officials were hungry to reform it.

Gale unsuccessfully appealed his termination, and, during one of his hearings, aired a secretly recorded phone conversation between him and onetime interim Sheriff Elias Diggins.

The lawsuit reveals new details about the phone call, which led Diggins to issue a public apology and ultimately to take a low-profile job at the department.

According to a transcript, Diggins did not want to fire Gale and argued against it to O’Malley and others who decide disciplinary matters in her office. The phone call is intended to support Gale’s theory that officials were out for him.

During the December 2014 legislative meeting, Gale blamed distrust between citizens and police on political appointees who oversee law enforcement agencies. Those appointees make decisions based on politics rather than sound law enforcement practices, he said.

“Gale further stated at the community forum that these political appointees lack any prior public safety experience and are unlikely to fully understand or bring real solutions to the problems facing law enforcement and the community,” the lawsuit said. “Finally, Gale publicly stated that there were no real or meaningful community engagement efforts in Denver by the Department of Safety and that the efforts being put forward were mostly window dressing.”

O’Malley, who was appointed by Mayor Michael Hancock and is the daughter of former Mayor Wellington Webb, attended the forum and was visibly angry, the lawsuit said.

Efforts to reach O’Malley for comment were unsuccessful.