Denver’s Police Accountability Crisis: When Departments Police Themselves, Communities Pay the Price
Denver Justice Project | June 2026
Denver is in a crisis of police accountability — and it’s one that’s being manufactured from the inside.
Over the past year, the Denver Police Department and Denver Sheriff Department have quietly moved to reduce discipline for officer misconduct, lower the standards governing Taser use, and accept mass surveillance drones from a technology corporation — all while bypassing the independent oversight systems that exist precisely to prevent this kind of unchecked power.
This is not a series of isolated missteps. This is a pattern.
What Oversight Is Supposed to Look Like
The Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) was created because Denver communities demanded accountability after a long history of police violence. For over two decades, Denver ordinance has required the Denver Police Department to give the OIM notice and a meaningful opportunity to provide recommendations before implementing major policy changes.
The OIM reviews misconduct investigations, monitors disciplinary decisions, recommends policy improvements, and works to protect public trust. Its purpose is not to serve as a rubber stamp. It exists because the police cannot — and should not — police themselves.
That principle is now under direct attack.
Four Ways Denver Police and Sheriff Are Dismantling Accountability
1. A New Sheriff’s Directive That Reduces Discipline (May 2026)
In May 2026, Executive Director of Denver’s Department of Public Safety Al Gardner implemented a new directive allowing misconduct allegations against sheriff’s deputies to be handled informally by supervisors, rather than through the traditional disciplinary process. There is no peer-reviewed evidence, no community surveys, no audits, and no reports that support this change. The OIM opposed it and was not given the opportunity to provide feedback before it was implemented. The department moved forward anyway.
2. Surveillance Drones Accepted Without Public Knowledge (October 2025)
Denver Police quietly launched a “Drone as First Responder” pilot program in October 2025 using Skydio surveillance drones — accepted through a zero-dollar agreement with a mass surveillance technology corporation. Because the drones were gifted rather than purchased, the department bypassed the standard review processes that would have involved City Council and the public. The program ran for months before many city officials and community members even knew it existed. No public engagement. No transparency. No clear oversight protections.
3. A Taser Policy That Expands When Officers Can Use Force (April 2026)
In April 2026, Denver Police changed its Taser policy to permit officers to deploy Tasers against people showing “defensive resistance” — a significantly lower threshold than the previous standard of “active aggression,” which required that officers actually face a threat of harm. The OIM reviewed the department’s own disciplinary history and found that officers had previously received serious discipline for Taser uses that would now be fully permitted under this new policy. The OIM warned that the change will increase harm to community members. The department implemented it before the OIM’s review period had even concluded.
4. Education-Based Development: Training in Place of Discipline (Since 2025)
Since 2025, Denver Police Chief Thomas has pushed for Education-Based Development (EBD), a policy that allows officers accused of misconduct to attend classroom training instead of facing traditional discipline — no reprimands, no suspensions. The OIM, the Citizen Oversight Board, and community members have repeatedly and consistently opposed EBD. The OIM has been clear: there is no evidence that EBD is a best practice for law enforcement accountability, and weakening discipline weakens public trust. The department has pressed forward regardless, without providing the OIM adequate notice as required under Denver Revised Municipal Code §2-390(d).
This Is What Bypassing Oversight Looks Like
Denver law isn’t ambiguous. Denver Revised Municipal Code §2-390(d) requires the department to provide reasonable notice before implementing substantive policy changes affecting the OIM. In every one of these cases — EBD, the Taser policy, the Sheriff’s directive, the drone program — that requirement was either ignored or circumvented.
The departments didn’t just fail to follow the rules. In some cases, they structured their decisions specifically to avoid triggering the oversight processes that exist for the public’s protection. The drone program avoided City Council review because the drones were accepted for free. The Taser policy was implemented before the OIM could finish its review.
This is not administrative oversight. This is a pattern and practice of bypassing accountability.
Why This Matters
Civilian oversight of police exists because communities have experienced what happens without it. Denver has been there before. The OIM, the Citizen Oversight Board, and the ordinances that give them authority didn’t materialize from nowhere — they came from community members demanding something different after experiencing the real consequences of unchecked police power.
Now, while use-of-force incidents and community complaints have increased, the departments responsible for enforcing the law are expanding their authority to use force, shielding officers from discipline, and bringing surveillance technology into our communities without our knowledge or consent.
Oversight only works when departments are required to follow it. When they aren’t — or when they find ways around it — communities are left with no meaningful check on police power at all.
What You Can Do
The Denver Justice Project is calling on community members to show up, speak out, and defend independent oversight.
Attend the Citizen Oversight Board Meeting and make your voice heard directly.
Sign the petition rejecting Education-Based Development and demand that the Denver Police Department follow the law.
The fight for accountability isn’t abstract. It’s happening right now, in policy meetings and directive memos and zero-dollar agreements. We have to be in those rooms — and we have to be loud.
Sources: Denver7, Denverite, DenverGov.org, Denver Citizen Oversight Board Office of the Independent Monitor: denvergov.org Citizen Oversight Board: youtube.com/@Denver_COB
