Mayor Michael Hancock has nominated Armando Saldate to be the city's next public safety executive director.
Saldate is currently the assistant deputy director of the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the police, sheriff and fire departments in Denver. He's been with the city since 2014 and helped develop the Street Enforcement Team, which launched last year to enforce the city's urban camping ban, among other things. That group will be expanding with additional staff this year.
Saldate would replace executive director Murphy Robinson, who said in December he would be stepping down this month after spending two years on the job. He's served in the Hancock administration for four years and is seen by some as a potential mayoral candidate. Saldate is a former cop with the Phoenix Police Department.
Robinson didn't specify why he was leaving his position, though Hancock is term-limited and is entering his final years as mayor. Robinson said in a statement last month that he felt he was leaving the department in good hands. But he faced criticism last year after he and representatives from the police department left a resident-led task force that was making policy recommendations for the department. The task force formed after mass protests against police violence in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
Saldate will now be considered by Denver City Council, which gets final say over who will lead the department. This is likely to be the most high-profile nominee confirmation since lawmakers approved Phil Washington as CEO of DIA last summer.
Per the city's charter, Saldate's annual salary would be $168,861.
