JUSTICE FOR MENA COMMITTEE APPLAUDS CHIEF'S RETIREMENT

A spokesman for the Justice for Mena Committee on Tuesday
praised the retirement of Police Chief Tom Sanchez and urged the city
to go "outside the department" for the new hire.

"We hope this is the first of many changes Mayor Webb will enact in
order to regain public confidence and bring justice to the Mena
family," said LeRoy Lemos, spokesman for the Justice for Mena
Committee. "Our position is one of accountability."

Sanchez showed a "real lack of concern" about the Mena family by going
to Hawaii for a conference during the controversy surrounding the
shooting death of Ismael Mena, Lemos said. "He turned his back on the
Mena family," Lemos said.

Added Denver City Councilwoman Ramona Martinez, head of the city
council's Public Safety Committee: "It saddens me that this is the
outcome of a very odd and complex turn of events. With the continued
growth of this city, we are going to need to ensure the complete
support of the next chief of police. I wish Chief Sanchez well."
Denver SWAT officers shot and killed Mena during a no-knock drug raid
at his house in September. Officer Joseph Bini was charged with
perjury on Friday, accused of lying in the affidavit that was used to
obtain the warrant.

Some Hispanic activists and community leaders were mixed over
Sanchez's retirement.

Pierre Jimenez said Sanchez's trip to Hawaii was the last in a long
list of failures Sanchez suffered during his tenure.

"He demonstrated once again his arrogance," Jimenez
said.

"We wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt," Jimenez said. "But
there were strong suspicions that he didn't have the public-relations
skills or talent to lead this department." But John Garcia of the
Hispanic Public Affairs Committee said Sanchez was unfairly made a
scapegoat by the news media.

"There's no reason for him to resign," Garcia said. "Tom Sanchez is a
good man. Everything was progressing as it should be in the Mena case.
He should not have resigned. Absolutely not." One of Sanchez's biggest
mistakes, Jimenez said, was his "zerotolerance" policy during Cinco de
Mayo festivities.

That issue had become a lightning rod for Hispanic community members
who felt teenage revelers were unfairly being picked on and cited for
such minor traffic offenses as oversized tires while cruising Federal
Boulevard.

While Lemos and others are calling for a national search for Sanchez's
replacement, Jimenez believes the right candidate is already in
Denver. Mayor Wellington Webb said he hopes to name a replacement from
within the department by Feb. 22, Sanchez's last day on the job.

Jimenez said he and other community leaders will recommend two current
Denver law officers for the job: Capt. Rudy Sandoval from District 4
in southwest Denver and Capt. Juan Maldonado, who is working in the
crime lab and previously was chief in District 1 in northwest Denver.

"It could be another Hispanic, too," Jimenez said. "But the person has
to be better qualified and be a better leader with vision." Lemos also
called for the resignation of Safety Manager Butch Montoya, saying
both Montoya and Sanchez should be held accountable for the mistakes
police made during the Mena killing.

"We've been calling for their resignations all along," Lemos said. "It
is important to go outside the department at this time."