Hancock to nominate in-house candidate to lead Denver’s public safety department

Mayor Michael Hancock’s nominee to regenerate Denver’s outgoing nationalist information manager is simply a information section authoritative who has led a caller effort to summons unhoused radical surviving successful tents successful the city.

Armando Saldate is Hancock’s prime to regenerate Murphy Robinson, according to an email from the mayor’s lawman main of unit Skye Stuart that was obtained by The Denver Post connected Wednesday.

Robinson announced past period he would beryllium stepping down arsenic the city’s enforcement manager of nationalist information aft being appointed successful Jan. 2020. Robinson’s predecessor, Troy Riggs, besides held the presumption for 2 years earlier leaving.

Saldate is presently moving arsenic an adjunct lawman successful Robinson’s office, according to the email.

“He has an awesome inheritance successful instrumentality enforcement, and I judge galore of you person worked intimately with Armando implicit the past mates of years addressing assemblage issues successful your districts,” Stuart wrote successful her email, sent Wednesday to City Councilmembers.

If the assembly approves Saldate’s nomination, helium would beryllium tasked with starring a helping of metropolis authorities that includes the city’s police, occurrence and sheriff’s departments arsenic good and 911 exigency dispatch services, jails and more.

“I judge that Armando is dedicated to improving however our Departments of Safety run with an oculus connected equity and anti-racist approaches,” City Council President Stacie Gilmore said successful a substance connection Wednesday aft a Denver Post newsman contacted her astir the email. “His enactment during this clip volition alteration the assemblage and City Council to enactment successful concern to enactment what is moving and to statesman to alteration those policies that nary longer supply for everyone’s nationalist safety.”

Saldate antecedently worked arsenic the show betterment manager for the Denver Department of Public Safety, according to a biography of him posted connected the city’s website. He ran the department’s Street Enforcement Team, a radical of civilians fixed the powerfulness to contented citations for violations of municipal codes similar the camping ban, trespassing and being successful a closed park.

Saldate was besides 1 of the information department’s representatives connected the community-led Reimagine Policing and Public Safety Task Force. The radical formed aft monolithic protests successful Denver successful 2020 pursuing the execution of George Floyd by a Minneapolis constabulary officer, but Robinson pulled each information section staff from the treatment radical past twelvemonth aft a disagreement.

Prior to joining the Department of Public Safety administration, Saldate worked for the Denver Sheriff Department arsenic an researcher and manager of the interior affairs bureau, according to the metropolis biography.

Saldate worked arsenic a detective with the Phoenix Police Department for 20 years earlier moving to Denver.