Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey wants a lot more money - more than $400,000 over the next 18 months - to help prosecute a couple of prominent, dangerous gangs. Mayor John Hickenlooper believes he can find a private source to provide at least some of the funding, perhaps $150,000.

Police would have more resources to crack down on predatory criminals, and taxpayers would not have to pick up the entire bill. What's not to love?

We applaud the mayor's enterprising spirit. It's not the first time he has looked outside city coffers to seek private contributors or nonprofit foundations to help finance a worthwhile cause.

The funding that aided the successful Broken Windows policing experiment in Westwood and Capitol Hill immediately comes to mind. So does the private assistance he found to aid the city's homeless initiative, and the more-recent proposal to bring in Seedco Financial Services to leverage the city's economic development projects.

But in this case the mayor's can-do attitude isn't shared by the Denver City Council, from the reaction of several members to the idea last week.

Councilwoman Carol Boigon said she could never support any attempt to supplement tax dollars with private funds in the fight against gangs. Council President Michael Hancock and finance committee chairwoman Jeanne Faatz weren't quite so resolute, but both insisted that any potential donor undergo complete public scrutiny before the council would let the city accept the money.

Council members said they would welcome a request by Morrissey for more tax dollars, but are leery of accepting any outside, private help.

Another concern is that this progam would make Denver a genuine pioneer. Contributions from private sources, even nonprofit foundations, have reportedly never helped underwrite any city program to expand prosecutions.

The mayor appears taken aback by the opposition, and we understand why. We see little difference between pursuing private funding for this mission and securing outside support for other worthwhile projects. (After all, private funding for the Broken Windows program did lead to more prosecutions, and it's now seen as a huge success.)

Besides, Morrissey did not invent a problem at the urging of some secretive private interest. Gang violence plagues many Denver neighborhoods and the council appears willing to find more tax money to combat it.

What Hickenlooper has apparently done is find a creative way to bring some - repeat, some - outside financing to supplement city resources.

As initially envisioned, any private contribution would be a one-time arrangement. The district attorney would have the flexibility to use the money as he saw fit, so long as it was part of his gang-fighting agenda. No interference from the donors would be allowed.

The mayor has also insisted on anonymity for the donor, so that the DA's office would be less likely to imagine that the funders were trying to micromanage the prosecutions.

This demand has Faatz and Hancock particularly worried, but so long as Morrissey has full control of the foundation money, what's the big deal?

The council should welcome the opportunity to boost the funding of an essential public-safety initiative with money from an outside source.