DENVER – The Denver Civil Service Commission announced the firing of Executive Director Niecy Murray Tuesday evening, mere hours after she accused Mayor Mike Johnston (D) and city leadership of interfering in her staff’s work of vetting applicants for public safety positions, according to reports.
Murray said during a news conference earlier in the day that under the Johnston administration, her independent agency had faced political pressure to lower standards and ignore red flags. Consequently, it would be forced to compromise quality and pass more applicants so the city could fill recruiting classes for public safety departments, the Denver Post reported.
In her role as executive director of Denver’s Civil Service Commission, Murray was responsible for evaluating the qualifications of entry level first responder candidates.
Murray claimed she was targeted and unfairly dismissed after sounding the alarm that the city was cutting corners to hire unqualified applicants due to a quota placed on the city by Johnston’s office.
Murray said the minimum score that police and fire recruits must meet was lowered in 2020 and that she was again told to lower it in order to get more recruits into the process. When she refused, she was suddenly out of work, reported the Washington Examiner.
Johnston’s critics believe he is pushing to keep a campaign promise, which included hiring 167 police officers. However, in doing so, it could mean that a new class of recruits is not as qualified to handle the rigors of the profession.
“Placing unqualified people in a public safety position is a nightmare scenario,” said retired police lieutenant Jim McNeff, the managing editor at Law Officer. “The expectations are difficult enough for individuals with the physical and mental acuity to handle the expectations, yet those who are deficient will put themselves, their partners, and the public at risk. Hiring a candidate who cannot meet minimum standards creates far more problems than running short.”
Murray said she has recently felt pressure to disregard “red flags.”
“I’ve really felt, especially in the last several months, that there has been a push to ignore some red flags, to give opportunity to try to figure out later whether these individuals will be successful,” Murray noted. “From where I sit, that’s not the way that we go about it.”
According to Axios, the Denver Police Department has been struggling to fill recruitment classes for years. Last year, the department was budgeted for 188 recruits but only hired 124.
In 2019, the minimum exam score for an entry-level police candidate was 70%. It was dropped to 65% in 2023. Now Murray said the mayor’s administration asked officials to drop the minimum exam score to 60%, the Washington Examiner reported.
Police academy staff have shared their frustrations over hiring less qualified people, according to Murray.
“If you show up with a pulse, you’re in there,” she said.
Council members Shontel Lewis, Sarah Parady, and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, said they believe Murray after hearing first-hand complaints.
“The public’s trust is placed in us to ensure standards for safety are being met,” Murray said during a press conference. “The role of the Civil Service Commission is far too important to be diminished to one which is strictly performative. … I refused to allow myself to just be a pawn in this system.”
