Deputies have a beef, but city must make cuts

Denver Sheriff’s Department deputies might well have every reason not to trust the city of Denver. In hard times, the department seems to be the city’s regular whipping boy. Troubling stories about deputies emerge in the media just as contract talks heat up (silly deputy, Mace is for felons), and when the deputies last made contract concessions they ultimately had to go through costly arbitration proceedings to recoup the money the city said would be reinstated when times got better.

Maybe that’s why the union representing the deputies nixed a recent across-the-board 2 percent reduction in scheduled raises and other concessions aimed at helping the city close a $56 million budget gap.

But after obtaining similar allowances from Denver firefighters and police, that stance resulted in the city deciding it must eliminate 11 positions affecting nine deputies, and ordering the remaining deputies to take 30-hour furloughs over the course of the rest of the year.

It should surprise no one familiar with this strained relationship, then, that the deputies are ready to fight for these jobs even though the city’s steps are both responsible and moderate. Indeed, those targeted are all probationary deputies and officials say they will work to find other – albeit less well-paying – jobs for them in Denver’s workforce.

The deputies’ union – the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27 – plans a lawsuit to challenge the firings, which it characterizes as unfair “retaliation” and a threat to public safety. After a two-day hearing on a preliminary injunction to stop the firings, Denver District Court Judge Robert McGahey ruled Tuesday that the city can proceed with the planned workforce reductions.

Ordinarily, the deputies’ charges of “retaliation” by the city wouldn’t be credible. But given the tense history between the two camps, there could well be an element of that present. On the other hand, a loss of just 11 jobs out of about 750 – a little more than 1 percent – hardly represents a threat to public safety.

And complaints by deputies that firefighter and police concessions are merely deferred while theirs are permanent givebacks don’t hold water. According to Kelly Brough of the mayor’s office, not all of the firefighter and police concessions are fully deferred. Moreover, as Brough also points out, this is a matter of negotiation – something to be hammered out at the bargaining table.

The administration of Mayor John Hickenlooper has carried out a robust program of cost-cutting to address the city’s budget shortfall, a shortfall that could worsen if sales tax returns continue to drop. Every department has felt the chop of the budget ax. The Sheriff’s Department should be no exception.