POLICE CHIEF SANCHEZ OUSTED

Webb says he wanted to fix perception by public the department is in state
of disarray

Denver Mayor Wellington Webb fired embattled Police Chief Tom Sanchez on
Tuesday afternoon, hours after summoning him home from a business trip to
Hawaii.

"I saw a problem, and I wanted to fix it," Webb said after a 25-minute news
conference announcing his decision.

Webb said he does not want the public to perceive that the police
department is in disarray during his last term in office.

Officially, Sanchez retired, effective Feb. 22, after 31 years with the
department. But in a news conference Tuesday evening, Webb acknowledged
that he'd asked Sanchez to step down.

"At certain times, due to a convergence of issues, a leadership change is
necessary," Webb said in the same room where he named Sanchez the city's
49th police chief Aug. 28, 1998.

Sanchez did not attend the news conference, and he could not be reached for
comment.

A statement read over Denver police radios at 7 p.m. said, in part, that
Sanchez "wishes everyone well and nothing but the best to whomever his
successor might be. He thanks everyone for their commitment for making our
city a better place for the citizens of Denver."

Sanchez is eligible to retire at 66 percent of his salary. He is paid about
$100,000 a year.

Sanchez was the only department head Webb had not yet reappointed following
his re-election last May. Webb said he'll name a new chief by Feb. 22.

Tuesday afternoon, Webb summoned Sanchez to his home along with Fidel
"Butch" Montoya, Denver's manager of safety.

During the half-hour meeting, Webb asked Sanchez to step down.

Tuesday evening, Webb said he would not specify the issues that went into
the decision. Earlier in the day, Sanchez had said he wanted to remain chief.

During his 17-month tenure, Sanchez faced criticism for the discipline he
meted out; for the actions of his officers after a police chase last
summer; and for a "no-knock" raid that ended in the shooting death of
Ismael Mena, 45. That raid was carried out at the wrong home, and a special
prosecutor has filed perjury charges against the Denver officer who wrote
the warrant.

On Saturday - the day after the perjury charges were announced - more than
200 protesters marched on the police department. But while they were
outside calling for Sanchez's resignation, he was on a plane headed for
Hawaii to attend a conference for big-city police chiefs.

A Denver television station, News4, filmed Sanchez and three top aides at
the airport with their families, and again after they arrived in Hawaii.

Montoya said that he and Sanchez discussed the Hawaiian trip in the wake of
the prosecutor's decision in the Mena case.

"I didn't anticipate that there would be hidden cameras at DIA that would
create a sinister atmosphere," Montoya said.

On Monday, Webb asked Sanchez to return to Denver - the day before the
conference began.

"The Hawaiian trip was not a factor in the decision at all," Webb said. "I
thought those of you that made it an issue blew it way out of proportion."

Sanchez returned to the office Tuesday and reassigned Capt. Marco Vasquez,
who had been commander of District 2 in northeast Denver, to a position in
the patrol division.

Vasquez was one of the commanders accused of trying to pressure a
subordinate to make it appear there had been a history of trouble at the
Mena home when there had not.

The officer who filed the complaint will return to her old job in District 2.

Webb said the Vasquez transfer was not disciplinary.

Reaction to Sanchez's ouster was varied.

"It's sad for Tom - I worked with him for a lot of years, and thought the
world of Tom Sanchez," said Ari Zavaras, director of the Colorado
Department of Public Safety. Zavaras was Denver's police chief from 1987 to
1991.

But in the world of a police chief, he said, "perception is reality."

"You've got to handle it like it is reality, even though it sometimes
doesn't seem fair," Zavaras said. "That's just the cold hard facts."

The man who lobbied hard for Sanchez to become Denver's police chief said
he was dismayed to learn that his former protege had lost the job.

Former chief David Michaud helped persuade Webb to appoint Sanchez, who had
served as one of his deputy chiefs.

"I'm saddened and I'm disappointed," Michaud said. "I don't have any
comment on why the mayor did that. That's his business."

Eleven of 13 Denver City Council members said Tuesday they hadn't lost
faith in Sanchez's leadership of the 1,400-officer department, and some
were critical of Webb's decision to replace him.

Only Councilman Ed Thomas, a former Denver cop, said he'd lost faith in
Sanchez's leadership.

Many of his colleagues disagreed.

"I had faith in Chief Sanchez, and I will likely have faith in whoever the
mayor selects to replace him, as long as it's from within the department,"
said Councilwoman Cathy Reynolds.

A longtime colleague of Sanchez's called him a solid cop.

"He was very sharp, and he carried himself very good and got along well
with everybody on the department," said Detective Lee Dominguez, 56, who
was a cadet a little more than 30 years ago when Sanchez joined the
department.

The last time a Denver police chief was fired by the mayor was April 30,
1987, when Tom Coogan turned in his resignation under pressure from Mayor
Federico Pena. In the midst of a tight re-election campaign, Pena learned
that Coogan was involved in an affair with a female sergeant.

Coogan, who divorced his wife, later married that sergeant. She is now a
deputy chief, Heather Coogan, who was acting chief while Sanchez was in
Hawaii.

Additional reporting by staff writers John C. Ensslin, Hector Gutierrez and
Bill Johnson. Contact Kevin Vaughan at (303) 892-5019 or
vaughank@RockyMountainNews.com.