CHOOSE CHIEF WITH CARE

The two-day trip to Houston by Butch Montoya, Denver's
manager of public safety, indicates that Mayor Wellington Webb is
willing to do some research before he hires a new police chief.

That's a very promising sign.

Montoya was dispatched to meet with Houston Mayor Lee Brown, who has
extensive experience in law enforcement and was President Clinton's
drug czar in 1993. Montoya was collecting advice on how best to search
for a police chief.

We're heartened to see Webb arranging such a meeting, and we again
encourage him not to choose a chief hastily, despite his earlier vow
to select the new police chief by Tuesday.

Denver's force has to be suffering low morale considering the quick
turnover in chiefs and the entire spectrum of departmental disarray.

One officer stands charged with perjury for allegedly lying in an
affidavit to obtain the no-knock search warrant that resulted in the
wrongful police shooting death of Ismael Mena.

Three officers were disciplined recently for using excessive force,
handling firearms carelessly and violating safety procedures when they
beat and kicked two drug suspects after a chase through Downtown.

The Truax family was awarded $500,000 by a federal court after two
off-duty police officers shot Jeffrey Truax to death as he was leaving
a nightclub.

The department recently hired a long-time drug abuser with a history
of thefts and shoving women. And a newly released report shows that
two police officers were disciplined for violating regulations when
they manhandled a black teenager who smashed a stolen car into a
police cruiser, killing a rookie officer.

In other words: This is a department in serious trouble. That makes
the hiring of an excellent chief all the more critical.

While Seattle is waging a national search and empaneling a citizens
committee to help decide who will be its next police chief, we believe
the hiring here properly rests entirely in the mayor's hands.

However, it is imperative that Webb consider the community's needs and
desires before he decides who will guide the police force in the
months and years to come.

The citizenry has made it clear repeatedly that police brutality, poor
recruit standards and sloppy use of search warrants cannot be
tolerated. Denver residents, like people anywhere, want a
conscientious, fairminded and well-supervised police force to fight
crime without endangering the innocent.

We urge the mayor to continue his research and cast his net wide
before selecting our next police chief. Clearly, Denver needs someone
extraordinary to conquer the enormous challenges that comprise this
job.