Denver’s fire chief faces investigation over claiming of comp time, receiving $42,000 in extra pay

Denver Hearth Division chief Desmond Fulton stated Wednesday that he was following what he believed to be the division’s requirements when he claimed a whole lot of hours of compensatory day without work — after which successfully cashed a lot of it in for $42,000 in further pay during the last three years.

The chief says he helps an investigation into how he and different members of the division’s management tracked and used their hours and paid day without work. He issued a press release to The Denver Put up after his timekeeping practices have been dropped at mild by a CBS Information Colorado investigative report that aired Tuesday night time.

The report famous that the observe of claiming comp time gave the impression to be in violation of Denver municipal code.

“I need my staff within the hearth division and our broader neighborhood to know that I’ve all the time adopted what I believed have been greatest practices to advertise transparency and uphold the general public’s belief,” Fulton stated within the new assertion Wednesday afternoon.

In response to TV station’s findings, Fulton amassed greater than 400 hours of additional hours, known as “comp time,” during the last three years. The hours have been logged for all kinds of actions that occurred outdoors Fulton’s commonplace 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekday schedule, together with throughout evenings and weekends.

A assessment of Fulton’s data by the station discovered comp hours claimed for issues like attending a Denver memorial for victims of the Membership Q mass taking pictures in Colorado Springs in November 2022. The chief additionally routinely logged three to 4 hours of comp time for attending dinners at firehouses with rank-and-file members of his division.

Whereas comp or flex time is often used as further paid day without work, the CBS report discovered that Fulton’s use of these hours allowed him to money in unused trip time on the finish of every yr.

He collected a mixed $42,000 in further pay in that style from 2021 by way of 2023.

Fulton’s annual wage elevated to $230,254 from $221,398 on Jan. 1. below an annual enhance within the metropolis’s municipal code. The town’s hearth chief isn’t entitled to compensation for extra time hours, nor are the division’s deputy chief and division chiefs, the code says.

Fulton was first appointed by former Mayor Michael Hancock in 2020 after 22 years working as a member of the division in numerous roles together with deputy chief. New Mayor Mike Johnston, who took workplace in July, introduced he was renominating Fulton late final yr.

The Metropolis Council accredited his reappointment earlier this month.

In his assertion, Fulton stated Denver hearth chiefs have been monitoring what he referred to as “flex time” for a few years.

“Throughout my transition into the Chief’s appointment in 2020, I continued to observe the observe and observe all actions and hours in our reporting system — a observe that has been in place for at the very least the final decade by different division leads,” he stated.

Armando Saldate, the manager director of Denver’s Division of Public Security, is ordering an “unbiased investigation” into whether or not the fireplace division’s use of versatile day without work complies with metropolis ordinances and insurance policies, in line with a press release supplied by his division.

“I used to be unaware of this observe, which dates again to former administrations,” Saldate stated. “I’ve issued a directive to present command workers to stop using Kelly/Flex time till the mandatory information are recognized.”