By John C. Ensslin
Rocky Mountain News
DENVER - Denver police officers are more satisfied with the department’s complaint and disciplinary process than they were two years ago, according to a report released Thursday.
A survey conducted for the city’s Office of the Independent Monitor found that the percentage of officers who said they were either generally satisfied or neutral with the complaint process had increased from 36 percent to 70 percent, compared with a similar survey conducted in 2005.
The report states that most officers also believed that the complaint process had improved during that time.
Officer morale also improved during that same period, the report said. The percentage of officers who reported their morale level as either average or high increased to 57 percent from 40 percent.
The survey report was prepared by professors from Ohio University and Delaware University. Anonymous mailed surveys first were sent to the department in fall 2005. A follow- up survey was mailed in September 2006.
A total of 439 officers responded to the most recent survey, a response rate of 29 percent. That’s a lower response than the 43 percent the original survey drew.
While officers indicated overall improved satisfaction with the process, other areas did not change substantially.
Nearly 49 percent of the respondents said they believe that Internal Affairs is biased against certain officers, compared with 52 percent in the earlier survey.
Nearly 37 percent believed that Internal Affairs is biased toward the resident filing a complaint, compared with nearly 39 percent in 2005.
But when asked to compare the Office of Independent Monitor with its civilian-review predecessor - the Public Safety Review Commission - nearly 38 percent believed that the new agency is an improvement, compared with 10 percent who thought the commission was an improvement in 2005.
Copyright 2007 Denver Publishing Company