Denver Seeks $11 Million Boost To Cover Police Overtime And Staffing Strains

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette

The Denver Police Department is short $11 million and is asking the city to pick up the tab for unplanned and unfunded overtime tied to numerous protests and officer-involved shootings this year.

Part of the request would also cover shortfalls in DPD separation payouts.

The money, if approved by the City Council, would come from a supplemental general fund appropriation from the city’s contingency fund.

Members of the council’s Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to advance the request, and others to claw back $13.9 million from the current general fund contingency, authorizing it as a supplemental appropriation for various general fund agencies and special revenue funds.

“This is something that, around this time of year, we typically do to ensure that agencies are able to stay within budget,” Justin Sykes, director of the city’s budget office, said.  

City officials point to DPD’s increased workload surrounding events and public protests, such as this year’s “No Kings” events, as contributing to a marked increase in police overtime.

Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas stated that, as of Oct. 31, the city has had 38 major demonstrations, including the No Kings rallies.

“I think there were actually two or three of those that had thousands of folks that we had to manage,” Thomas said. “And also, to date, we’ve had 11 officer-involved shooting incidents, which is another driver of calling people in or holding people over to manage those scenes and to manage those investigations.”

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