PSYCHOLOGISTS OVERRULED TWICE ON COP RECRUIT

Jan. 15 - One expert said Denver police recruit Ellis "Max" Johnson II
was "unsuitable for hiring" and failed him on a psychological test.

The Denver Civil Service Commission decided to let Johnson see a
different examiner.

The next psychologist said Johnson had problems with complying with
the law and failed him, too. That normally would have been the end of
Johnson's bid to become a Denver police officer.

It wasn't. The commission said Johnson didn't need to see any more
psychologists and could move on to the next phase of testing.

What wasn't known publicly, until now, was that the commission twice
overturned its own psychologists' assessment of Johnson.

Those two decisions by the five-member commission were critical steps
in the city's hiring of Johnson. Johnson, 40, is an admitted thief
with a history of drug abuse whose entrance into the Denver police
academy has caused a firestorm of controversy.

Even though Johnson failed and could have been sent packing - he was
even sent two letters saying he was finished - the commission used its
discretion to overrule the psychologists it had hired to examine
police candidates, according to an internal police document.

While critics are howling over the way Johnson made it into the police
academy, commissioners are remaining largely silent on why they didn't
send the controversial recruit packing.

The district attorney is investigating what exactly happened, and the
city council is calling for sweeping changes to police hiring
practices. Mayor Wellington Webb, meanwhile, has called for a
blueribbon panel to review how the commission operates.

The internal police document - a letter to the commission by the
commander of the unit that investigated Johnson's background - points
out the scathing assessments psychologists made of Johnson's potential
as a police officer. One of the psychologists, for instance, said
Johnson was "unsuitable for hiring . . . and would require extensive
supervision," the letter said.

"This whole process just needs to go up in flames," said Councilman Ed
Thomas, an outspoken critic of the commission. "From what I've been
seeing and hearing, a brandnew organization needs to be built on the
ashes of that place. How in the world does someone fail tests and end
up in the academy?"

Johnson's performance on two separate psychological exams - in
November 1998 and January 1999 - required special consideration by the
commissioners because the result of the tests normally would mean
automatic disqualification for an applicant, according to commission
rules.

Two commissioners who requested anonymity and a commission employee
confirmed that an applicant with a "Level III" result on his or her
psychological exams - as was the case with Johnson - is automatically
sent a rejection letter as a matter of internal policy. Level I is the
best rating and Level IV the worst. The majority of the successful
applicants are rated Level II, commissioners said.

But an applicant can appeal a Level III rejection to the commission
and seek a second exam at his or her own expense - if the commission
agrees - commission analyst Brian Kellogg said.

After a second failed exam, the candidate is sent an identical letter
saying he or she is being removed from the examination process,
Kellogg said.

"The only way to get back in is to petition the board," Kellogg
said.

And that's exactly how Johnson kept going.

The internal police letter, written in March 1999 by former police
intelligence section Capt. Jim Collier, shows Johnson was given a
"Level III" grade on his first exam on Nov. 23, 1998.

Johnson petitioned for a retest and was examined again on Jan. 19,
1999. Again, experts concluded Johnson would be a risky hire, the
Collier letter shows.

"Both (tests) showed significant concerns with Mr. Johnson's ability
to comply with laws, rules and regulations," Collier wrote. "Both
showed some concern with risktaking behavior." One of the reports also
said Johnson was "overly self-centered and excessively motivated by
his own self interests," Collier wrote in his background evaluation.

Nonetheless, the commission decided to allow Johnson to continue with
the academy entry process. In March 1999, the commission voted to add
Johnson to the city's eligible list of police candidates.

Councilman Ted Hackworth, who is also calling for sweeping changes to
the city's police hiring practices, said the Johnson case is probably
making commissioners nervous.

"At one time, the commission probably felt it was secure, that no one
could find out anything about them," Hackworth said. "Now, once things
are becoming public, they're suddenly concerned about what they're
doing and are bending over to make corrections.

"That's a little late, don't you think?"