NOTE: *Ismael Mena Story*

LEADERS FAILING US IN BIG WAY

Feb. 8 - Every day in Denver, police officers request search warrants, file
incident reports, gather evidence, make arrests and testify under oath.
Their word carries powerful weight in a court of law.

At a minimum, we expect them to be honest.

Human life is at stake, after all. Our sense of security and our whole
system of justice teeter precariously on their integrity.

So when a police officer is charged with perjury, it's a big deal.

And when a police officer is charged with perjury after a foreign national
has been killed in a no-knock raid on the wrong house and the Mexican
government is demanding an explanation and the victim's family is filing
suit and accusations are being made that police officers attempted to
falsify records to cover their mistakes and the citizens of the city are
demonstrating on the steps of City Hall, it's a very big deal.

At a time like this the city looks to the leaders of this vital institution
for answers. Astonishingly, they went to Hawaii.

Life's a beach.

Police Chief Tom Sanchez, Deputy Chief David Abrams and Division Chiefs
Mary Beth Klee and Gerry Whitman left Saturday, just as 250 citizens were
amassing Downtown with picket signs demanding "Justice for Mena" and
expressing their disgust with the men in blue by saying, "Arrest the
Swine." They were called home Monday.

With public confidence in the Denver Police Department shattered, police
cadets the butt of jokes and officers increasingly faced with mistrust and
hostility from the community, the brass was basking in the poolside
camaraderie at the Major Cities Police Chiefs' Association conference.

City Councilman Ed Thomas remains livid. "I don't care if it's Hawaii or
Fort Collins, it ain't good," he said. "The police chief should be here. He
should be at every roll call. He should be talking to every police officer
in the city. He should be facing the public." Sanchez said important
discussions were taking place at the conference on issues relating to the
Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School shooting and racial profiling.

"Don't insult me," Thomas said. "For the first time in history an officer
was indicted for perjury. If the chief didn't have enough sense to realize
he was needed here, somebody should have told him, "I don't think it'll
look real good if you go to Hawaii right now.'- " Thomas is right to demand
a higher standard of performance from the police department. He shouldn't
have to do it alone.

Mayor Wellington Webb and Safety Manager Butch Montoya never should have
allowed the police chief to leave town in the midst of this crisis.

The problems of the Denver PD reveal much more than just incompetence in
law enforcement. They lift the veil on serious failings in the city's
political leadership, failings that endanger lives and undermine our faith
in the fairness of our government.

If you want honesty, integrity and professionalism, the community and its
leaders must demand it.

In Denver, we deserve
better.