OFFICIALS PROBE POLICE HIRING

Union Leader Calls For Standards Review

Denver city attorneys and the police department's internal affairs bureau
have launched investigations into why an admitted thief with an extensive
drug history was recruited into the Denver Police Academy.

The head of Denver's police union also on Thursday called for a review of
the standards by which police brass accept new officers.

"It's just hard for me to believe that this guy is the best that Denver has
to offer," said Mike Stack, president of the Denver Police Protective
Association. "It certainly raises questions about how people are
scrutinized before they come on this police force."

The controversy centers around Ellis Johnson, 40. He was accepted this fall
into the police academy despite having admitted to using illegal drugs 150
times prior to 1987.

According to a background report obtained by 9 News, Johnson fared poorly
on psychological evaluations, admitted to stealing from two former
employers and acknowledged having shoved his ex-wife and a girlfriend. He
reportedly had applied to -- and was rejected by -- 19 other
law-enforcement agencies throughout Colorado before entering Denver's
training program Nov. 1.

Johnson could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Denver safety manager Hutch Montoya overrode Police Chief Tom Sanchez's
suggestion not to hire Johnson, agreeing with a 3-2 vote by the Denver
Civil Service Commission recommending that he OK the recruit, sources said.

Montoya repeatedly has refused to publicly explain his decision. Likewise,
Mayor Wellington Webb has declined to comment about Johnson's hiring.

In a 9 News tape-recording of a conversation between police Capt. Jim
Collier and civil service executive director Paul Torres, Torres indicated
that Johnson was being hired because he had a contact on the Civil Service
Commission the agency that oversees police hiring. Torres refused to
comment Thursday.

"You've got to wonder what (Johnson's) connections are and whether strings
were pulled on his behalf," Stack said.

During a closed meeting Thursday with a Denver City Council committee,
Deputy City Attorney George Cerrone said his office and police internal
investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding Johnson's
hiring, according to two officials who attended the meeting. Cerrone
advised council members to stay out of the matter until the inquiries are
completed.

"The investigation has taken a very serious turn. I do not feel comfortable
commenting further," said Councilman Ed Thomas, a former Denver police
officer.

Cerrone did not rule out the possibility of an investigation by district
attorneys who, unlike police and city attorneys, don't report to Mayor
Webb. Webb's deputy mayor is Montoya.

District Attorney Bill Bitter's office said Thursday it has no plans to
launch a separate probe. "Obviously if some new information came to light
that a state statute was violated, that would change things and we might
have a role," spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said.

Stack said he would favor an independent district attorney's investigation.

"If they can uncover wrongful doing by misusing influence, then great," he
said. "I wouldn't be opposed if the DA's got involved, because they might
be more independent."

Stack and other union officials said Johnson's recruitment blemishes public
opinion about the police force.

"We don't feel that he should have been accepted in the department. We feel
that his background is such that he just shouldn't have been looked at,"
Stack said.

"This job's not for everybody. It takes the police department a long time
to build its reputation," he said. "And it takes only one controversy to
tear that down."