2 BOCNEWS.com JUNE 2017 1. JAMES FORTUNE - DEAR FUTURE ME 2. GOSPEL 4 - GET MY BUSINESS STRAIGHT 3. BEN TANKARD - FULL TANK 3 4. WILLIAMS SINGERS - IN REAL TIME 5. KENNY LEWIS - REFOCUS 6. PREASHEA HILLIARD - THE GLORY EXPERIENCE 7. ERIC WADDELL - THE CHURCH SOUND 8. MANDISA - OUT OF THE DARK 9. SHERWIN GARDNER - GREATER 10 JACI VELASQUEZ - TRUST The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance (GMDMA) and the Colorado Latino Forum (CLF) denounces the decision of Sheriff Patrick Firman to demote African American Chief Gary Wilson to Captain, an unjust outcome supported by Safety Director Stephanie O’Malley and Mayor Michael Hancock. The coalition of community leaders also objects to Sheriff Firman’s exclusion of people of color from leadership roles in the Denver Sheriff Department (DSD), and his ongoing leadership fail- ures to adequately address jail overcrowding and rising assaults. Even though African Americans and Latinos com- prise a large percentage of both inmates and staff, Blacks have been systematically excluded from the Sheriff’s executive leadership team, and Latinos are under-represented. Of the eight people on Sheriff Firman’s executive leadership team, zero are African American, and only two are Latinos. It is in this context that Gary Wilson, Denver’s first African American Sheriff, a committed public ser- vant who served with distinction for 25 years without any disciplinary infractions, was demoted over an alleged administrative violation in a highly unusual process that did not allow for an independent out- side investigation as is standard procedure for high ranking officials. Wilson is accused of providing information to facilitate the safe surrender of a wanted person, the niece of Stephanie O’Malley. Community leaders have question whether the harsh treatment of Wilson was to deflect attention from O’Malley and ultimately Mayor Hancock to preserve their politi- cal integrity. To be clear, it is a regular practice for commu- nity people to call upon familiar DSD staff to ask for information about the jailing process. Black and Latino officers with close community ties are more likely to be called upon given that peo- ple of color are overrepresented in the justice system. The harsh treatment of Wilson, who has a long history of being accessible to community mem- bers and known as hands-on administrator, is already having a chilling effect on whether com- munity members can make such inquires in the future. By contrast, Sheriff Firman operates at arm’s length from the community that he serves, and is frequently criticized by deputies and community leaders for being disconnected from them. By holding Gary Wilson to a higher standard than those in both the Sheriff and Denver Police Departments (DPD), including those whose actions resulted in harm to civilians, and those accused of engaging in acts of deception, the mes- sage being sent to deputies and inmates is that if Chief Wilson can be sacrificed for the sake of protecting political careers, so can they. Therefore, GMDMA and CLF have put in a formal request for a meeting with Sheriff Firman to discuss the following demands: 1. Reinstate Gary Wilson to the rank of Chief. 2. Diversify DSD’s executive leadership team to culturally reflect the staff and inmate pop- ulation; and include officers that have actual experience operat- ing over-crowded jails. 3. Set-up regular meetings with critics of DSD, rather than just those hand-picked for advice. 4. Increase interaction with deputies to address their issues of stress and fatigue that can lead to tense conditions with inmates. 5. Attend community events with staff who have authentic relationships with people of color com- munities. 6. Develop a plan with key stakeholders to reduce the jail population and assaults, and take owner- ship for these issues rather than deferring to other agencies. 7. Engage in a healing process for DSD staff and the community – an initiative that former Chief Wilson began but received little support for. 8. Create more humane conditions for inmates by expanding mental health, medical, educational and reentry services. 9. Give community justice reform advocates credit for pushing for systems change, rather than coopt- ing ideas. 10. Advocate for proportional discipline practices with the Director of Safety so that an administrative infraction doesn’t get a more severe consequence than killing a person. Start HERE from cover... POLITICS Chief's Demotion aThreat to Justice Advocate for proportional discipline practices with the Director of Safety so that an administrative infraction doesn’t get a more severe consequence than killing a person By Terrence Hughes Former Chief Gary Wilson photo / YouTube