A FIRST STEP

Feb. 9 - Denver Police Chief Tom Sanchez, back at home after being
yanked from a conference in Hawaii because of community concern,
retired late last night.

The move to bring Sanchez home seemed largely symbolic - a hasty
public relations Band-Aid slapped over a larger and festering problem
within the department.

In fact, we believe the criticism of the trip itself was misplaced,
despite the unfortunate timing. The conference of the Major Cities
Police Chiefs Association - scheduled in advance - is regularly
attended by officials from the Denver department. Had the wintertime
conference been held in Duluth, Minn., the issue probably never would
have gathered steam.

The underlying problem is that Denver has been wrestling with a loss
of confidence in its public-safety leadership - a problem worsened by
the filing perjury charges against a Denver police officer.

Given that backdrop, it's hard to believe that grandstanding over the
Hawaiian trip by Councilman Ed Thomas and other critics is at the root
of the retirement of a respected officer who has served the department
for more than 30 years. Problems have been brewing between city
officials and police brass for months. The criticism of police
attendance at the conference probably merely provided an excuse to
make a change in the police department.

Joseph Bini, accused of lying under oath to get the search warrant for
Ismael Mena's home, was charged with perjury last week. During the
Sept. 29 no-knock raid, Mena, a 45-year-old factory worker, was shot
to death by Denver police SWAT members, who stormed the wrong house
because of the flawed information.

The killing of Mena, an innocent bystander, underscores everything
that critics of the no-knock tactic have warned could happen during
the execution of such raids.

The victims of this so-called "mistake" are many. In addition to
Mena's wife and nine children, countless others in this city and
beyond are angry and upset over this death.

Yesterday's announcement that the city and the Mena family have agreed
to mediate the family's claims against the city is a step in the right
direction. Sanchez's retirement may be another.

But the Hawaii flap should not be permitted to obscure the fact that
whatever is wrong in the Denver Police Department goes beyond Sanchez.
And something is wrong.

There is no doubt that something terrible happened during the
execution of the no-knock warrant. Unanswered questions still must be
addressed. Distrust in the department and in law enforcement's ability
to investigate itself is at a point that we have not seen in recent
years.

Whether Sanchez's departure will address those deep-rooted problems
remains to been seen. Mayor Wellington Webb and members of the city
council should not let up pressure on Denver's public-safety
department for answers and for long-term reforms.