Denver's system for handling complaints of police misconduct must be revamped, says the city's new independent police monitor.

"The complaint system is broken," Richard Rosenthal said Wednesday.

He is working with the department's internal affairs bureau on possible changes. Central to those changes must be speed and transparency, he said.

Currently, a complaint comes into the internal affairs bureau and is handled the same no matter if it's an accusation of excessive force or rude behavior.

Often that complaint takes six to 10 months to resolve. Witnesses are interviewed and reinterviewed.

Police say that in many cases they have the essential facts early on. However, the process drags out.

Rosenthal said that during an investigation the officer can feel like he's under suspicion.

That has a bad effect on morale, he said.

Worse, at the end of the process, when most often the complaint is determined to be unfounded, the citizen also feels ill-served.

Rosenthal said that because of burden of proof issues, most complaints under any system are going to be unfounded.

But quickly resolving more minor cases can help everyone, he said.

A key to his new approach will be to sift out early those complaints that have little chance of prevailing.

Rosenthal said he hopes to introduce a police/citizen mediation program by October, at least two months ahead of schedule.

He said about 10 percent of citizen complaints will be handled this way, and he predicted both citizens and officers will be satisfied with the results.

Another issue Rosenthal plans to tackle is a database system that Denver uses to identify problem officers.

It was implemented more than two years ago.

Exactly what facts raise a red flag have changed over time, and Rosenthal said he has not examined the system in detail.

But, in general, he said the system might be misunderstood by officers. Often, he said, officers view the program as part of the disciplinary process.

He hopes to change the perception.

"It is a management tool," he said.

Rosenthal said an early intervention system is "absolutely necessary" in Denver. "But the system should not become part of the disciplinary system."

Some officers have complained that the automatic system for tracking potential problem officers makes them shy away from aggressive enforcement.

They fear they are being added to the database and that at some point a discipline trigger will be pulled.

Rosenthal said many complaints will now be handled without a full internal affairs investigation.

Rosenthal, who had a similar job in Portland, Ore., takes the helm of the newly created Office of the Independent Monitor during a time Denver arrests are plunging.

Administrators have pointed to staffing shortages and jail overcrowding as key reasons, while several officers have pointed toward low morale.

Rosenthal said he doesn't have a theory to explain the declining arrests, but said that speedier complaint resolution "will have a positive effect of officer morale."

Revamping the current system is "a no lose situation," he said.

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