Denver police brass on Wednesday defended a proposal to move some low-level officer misconduct out of the formal discipline pipeline and into a coaching and training track, arguing the shift would correct behavior faster and cut down on lengthy case timelines. The idea is already drawing heavy fire from the city’s independent monitor and local watchdogs, who warn it could undercut public accountability unless clear safeguards are locked in first.
What the plan would do
Inside the Denver Police Department, the proposal is known as education-based development, or EBD. It would apply only to the department’s lowest level violations, Categories A through C, and would swap short written reprimands or small fine-time penalties for individualized training plans, according to the draft policy. The draft sets rough training-hour targets of about 4 hours for Category A, around 14 hours for Category B and roughly 18 hours for Category C. It lists examples such as report-writing mistakes, mishandling equipment, and discourteous behavior that could be sent to coaching instead of traditional discipline. The policy also requires that completed EBD be documented in internal records, and it specifies that if an officer fails to finish assigned training, the case goes back into the standard discipline process, according to the Denver Police Department operations manual.
How officials say it would work
Police leaders say internal affairs would continue to receive and investigate complaints, and that the Office of the Independent Monitor would still review cases that might qualify for EBD before any coaching plan is offered. Assistant city attorney Wendy Shea told Axios that participation in EBD would be voluntary. Officers who are under active administrative or criminal investigation would not be eligible, and anyone who has accepted or been offered EBD within the previous year would be blocked from using it again. Department officials also emphasize that when the department and oversight disagree about how a case should be handled, the executive director of public safety would still have the final say on any discipline decision.
Who is pushing back
Independent monitor Lisabeth Pérez Castle told council members that her office “does not support education-based discipline” and has asked for the full draft policy language, related training materials, and survey results before signing off on the approach, Denver Gazette reported. Local advocacy groups, including the Denver Justice Project, have called for the policy to be delayed and for a task force to be created, warning that EBD could make it harder for the public and oversight offices to track patterns of repeat low-level misconduct, according to the Denver Justice Project.
Supporters point to speed and coaching results
Chief Ron Thomas and department spokespeople argue that the new approach would close cases in weeks instead of months and would give officers concrete, job-specific remediation instead of brief paper penalties. DPD told Denver7 that it conducted outreach on the proposal and folded in many of the monitor’s recommendations. Supporters also cite alternative-discipline programs highlighted in law enforcement trade publications as models worth studying, and Police1 has noted similar efforts in other departments.
What is next
The proposal is now under review in the mayor’s public safety office. The city lists Executive Director Al Gardner as the official overseeing policy and discipline across both the police and sheriff’s departments, according to the Denver Department of Public Safety. Council committees and oversight boards say they plan to keep pressing for public drafts, clear and measurable goals, and data that shows EBD will not weaken transparency before any wide rollout of the policy.
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