Updated at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2026.
A familiar face wants to become an elected official in Denver: the city's former police chief.
Paul Pazen said this week that he would enter the 2027 race to become the next Denver City Council member representing southwest Denver's District 2.
Pazen was the city’s police chief from 2018 until his retirement in 2022. He told CBS that his campaign would include a focus on “safe and affordable” neighborhoods. A formal announcement is planned for next week.
"I see this as an opportunity to continue to give back to the city that has given me so much. I'm born and raised in this city, and there was a time I needed help up. We needed help up as a family. We got it. And I think it's important to give back," Pazen said in a phone interview Wednesday.
He named public safety and supporting small businesses as top priorities. He also wants to prevent the gentrification of southwest Denver, pointing to north Denver as a cautionary tale.
"A lot of the neighborhoods in southwest Denver have those starter homes ... around $400,000, $450,000. What I don't want to see is those starter homes, affordable homes being purchased, scraped, and too many parts of our city turned into four units and each one of those units selling for $750,000," he said. "So density by itself does not equal affordability. We have to do it a smart way."
Who else is in the District 2 race?
The district’s current representative, Councilmember Kevin Flynn, cannot run again due to term limits. He is in the middle of his third term.
His competition in the 2027 election will include Tran Nguyen-Wills, a leader in Mayor Mike Johnston's administration. Nguyen-Wills is deputy director of outreach for the mayor’s office.
CBS Colorado first reported Pazen's candidacy.
What’s on Pazen’s resume?
Pazen attended North High School, served in the U.S. Marines and worked for the local police department for nearly 28 years. He earned a bachelor's in organizational leadership from Colorado State University Global in 2017 and a master's in homeland security and defense from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2021, among other educational experiences. He has lived in southwest Denver for 30 years.
His time as chief included the 2020 racial justice protests following George Floyd’s demonstrations. He marched with demonstrators. The city has since paid more than $18 million in settlements over allegations of police brutality and misconduct during the protests.
As Denverite’s Kyle Harris reported in a 2022 retrospective, Pazen “navigated the tensions between tough-on-crime policing and harm reduction efforts, often attempting to appeal to proponents of both methods in addressing drug crimes.”
The article continued: “He has championed community policing and supported programs like STAR and LEAD designed to keep low-level offenders out of jail and instead connect them with services.”
Election Day is April 6, 2027, and, if necessary, will be followed by a runoff on June 1, 2027.
Editor's note: This article was updated with comment from Paul Pazen.
