A former Independent Monitor who oversaw Denver’s public safety agencies for nearly a decade said Wednesday he expects Denver Fire Department Command staff to face discipline after an independent investigation found them misusing their comp time and vacation time.
“Based on my experience,” said Nicholas Mitchell, “I probably would be pretty surprised if there was no discipline flowing from this. I think they probably should have known better.”
Mitchell’s comments to CBS News Colorado came after the Tuesday release of an independent investigation into how Denver’s Fire Chief and his command staff misused compensatory time for years, which Mayor Michael Johnston called “A troubling and systemic misuse of Flex time.”
Denver’s Manager of Safety, Armando Saldate, said he is deciding whether to pursue discipline against the top fire department officials, but no decision has been made yet.
Mitchell served as Denver’s Independent Monitor from 2012 until 2021, providing oversight of Denver’s public safety agencies and participating in thousands of investigations. He is now a public safety consultant. After reviewing the 26 page report, Mitchell said Denver’s fire chief and his colleagues “Probably should have known better,” that what they were doing with comp time and vacation time was questionable.