Latest news with #CityofDenver
CBS News
20-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
New leave benefit for Denver workers creating "unintended consequences" at 911 call answering center
A new paid leave program for City of Denver workers is causing "unintended consequences" at the city's 911 call answering center, with overall leave usage among 911 call takers shooting up 334% in 2024, the first year of the Denver Care Bank program. That's according to Andrew Dameron, the director of the 911 center. Andrew Dameron, the director of the 911 center, speaks to an employee inside the center. CBS "When you provide benefits to employees that allows them to take more time off, then there are costs on the other end," said Dameron. He said he believed there was a correlation between the spike in employees taking leave time and the new Care Bank program taking effect. CBS News Colorado found that citywide, in 2024, city employees took roughly 33% more paid long-term leave hours than in 2023, when the Care Bank leave program was not in place. CBS "The challenge now," said Dameron, "is that the State of Colorado and the City of Denver are providing long overdue benefits and resources to our employees. Some of the unintended consequences is that folks are actually using those benefits." Another unintended consequence -- although Denver's 911 call center is now nearly fully staffed and turnover is as low as it's been in years, Dameron says the city is having to pay overtime to fill positions vacated by so many more employees taking long-term leave. That's less than ideal for a city facing a $50 million budget shortfall in 2025. Another unintended consequence: with so many more employees on leave, city figures show in 2025 to date, more than 24,000 calls have taken more than a minute to answer and it took more than 2 minutes for a live operator to connect with about 8,000 callers this year. Both of those figures are well outside national 911 standards for answering calls. "We strive to honestly answer 911 calls immediately 100% of the time," said Dameron, but he said the amount of leave now being taken by his employees is making it difficult to comply with national 911 standards, which call for 90% of all 911 calls to be answered within 15 seconds and 95% of all calls to be answered within 20 seconds. What's occurring now began in 2020 when Colorado voters passed Proposition 118, which called for paid family medical leave funded through a payroll tax, with 50% paid by employers and 50% paid by employees. But municipalities were given the option to create their own programs, which dozens have done, including Denver, which called its program Care Bank. It is more generous and less restrictive than the state program, as it requires no contribution from city employees, and there is no cap on benefits. So city workers can take up to 8 weeks of paid leave for a variety of reasons including personal health issues, caring for a child or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. Physical illness, mental illness, injury, pregnancy, bonding and being a victim of domestic violence or stalking also qualify for the Care Bank leave. The state program, called FAMLI, caps employee benefits at about 70% of their salary per week. The Denver Care Bank has no such benefit cap, paying employees 100% salary while on Care Bank leave and no contribution is required from employees. It also does not require employees to first use their sick/vacation or PTO time before getting the paid Care Bank leave. The Care Bank paid leave is in addition to an employees vacation, sick time or short term disability leave. "It is more generous than what was in place before," acknowledged Heather Britton, director of benefits and wellness with Denver's Office of Human Resources. Britton advocated for the Care Bank program saying it would be better for Denver workers compared with the state program. Heather Britton is the director of benefits and wellness with Denver's Office of Human Resources. CBS "It is definitely more popular than what was there before," she said. She guessed that long term leave usage "probably doubled" among city employees after the Care Bank program was activated. "Suddenly having time off or paid time off where you didn't have it before is going to have unintended consequences," said Britton. She said she was unaware of any abuse or fraud. Britton said to get the paid Care Bank leave, a doctor has to confirm an employee is unable to work. One City of Denver worker, who asked their name not be used, said the Care Bank program was a lifesaver when they recently had to deal with a serious health condition. The worker said knowing they would be paid for all of their time away dealing with their illness and recuperation time alleviated a lot of stress and anxiety. Dameron says he supports the new Care Bank leave program even though it is impacting his 911 operation. "Anytime we have somebody who is not here it impacts operations," said Dameron. "Some folks will feed 100 people to prevent one person from going hungry and others will not feed 100 on the off chance that one person doesn't deserve it," said Dameron. He said he would rather feed 100 people to prevent one person from starving.
CBS News
22-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Denver mayor announces furloughs amid $50 million budget shortfall this year
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is blaming slow revenue growth and inflation for a $50 million budget shortfall for the remainder of this year and a $200 million budget shortfall for next year. Johnston spoke to city employees ahead of a scheduled public news conference at 11 a.m. Thursday, where he was expected to announce options amid the budget gap. CBS News Colorado Investigator Brian Maass has learned that in a meeting with city employees, Johnston said the city has been through some difficult times in the past five years, but that city workers "always showed up." WASHINGTON, DC- MARCH 5: Denver Mayor Mike Johnston testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled "A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors" in Washington, DC on March 5, 2025. Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images Johnston said "our revenues are flat" and there was zero growth in revenue last year, this year and anticipated zero growth next year. He said the plan is to decrease costs and look at options to generate revenue with an increase in tax revenue generation. Could be some bad news for @CityofDenver workers. @denversmayor is expected to tell them about furloughs and other budget issues . His talk starts 9:30 am- I am going to try to live tweet what he says here... so feel free to follow along @cbsnewscolorado — Brian Maass (@Briancbs4) May 22, 2025
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Denver voted to not extend its Flock camera contract: Are ICE access concerns valid?
DENVER (KDVR) — On May 5, the Denver City Council failed to approve a contract extension with Flock, a tech surveillance company that has been contracted to provide over 100 license plate readers around the county. The city first contracted with Flock in March 2023, with the original agreement lasting through the end of this February. The amendment would have extended the contract by another two years for $666,000. The original contract cost the city $339,450, but the cost wasn't the main reason why council members voted no. 18 people removed from US after Colorado Springs nightclub raid, 86 still in ICE custody: ICE Instead, the members cited privacy concerns, questioning who has access to the data as Denver continues to remain in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration for so-called 'sanctuary laws.' Members worried that federal agencies would gain access to data and information that would be detrimental to immigrant communities. The Denver District Attorney's Office told FOX31 it would work with stakeholders to address potential privacy concerns, while the Denver Mayor's Office said it had asked for the contract to be voted down, but said the city plans to continue its 'pilot of the Flock software.' 'As Denver works to leverage responsible technology to improve public safety in our community, we plan to convene a task force to address concerns and ensure we are employing the best strategies to reduce crime. We look forward to a collaborative process with City Council and other stakeholders across the city,' concluded a statement from the mayor's office. One of Denver's southern neighbors, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly, spoke out against the vote. Weekly posted to X on May 6, referencing a FOX31 story on the contract extension failure, saying, 'This morning we caught a robbery suspect from another jurisdiction using @Flock_Safety. This tech helps catch murderers, rapists, kidnappers, robbers, & ID sex offenders near schools. Meanwhile, @CityofDenver policies empower criminals and make our entire metro area less safe.' Weekly has also been vocal about wanting local law enforcement to be able to work directly with federal agents on civil immigration matters, which is currently prevented by Colorado law, and was part of a lawsuit to try and overturn the laws so his deputies can work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued to try and overturn those laws. Colorado sheriff: Executive order an 'attempt to federalize, by intimidation' local law enforcement One citizen asked about the protection of personal data when it comes to Flock cameras, asserting that 'safety is paramount' but asking how much privacy should be sacrificed for safety. '100% agreed,' the sheriff wrote. 'There is an audit trail on who is accessing information and for what purpose. Also limited retention of information based on agency policy. Keep in mind this reads the tech identifies the plate and vehicle description. It does not ID the individual(s) inside.' FOX31 asked Flock to weigh in on the privacy concerns. The company noted first that its technology has been used to solve 'hundreds of cases' by the Denver Police Department, including a multi-million dollar jewelry heist at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. 'The Sheriff is correct in all of these assertions. All searches conducted in the Flock LPR (license plate reader) system are saved in a permanent audit trail, which records the user, the parameters of the search, and the reason for the search (typically a case number),' Flock told FOX31. 'All data collected by the LPR system — both vehicle images and metadata — are owned by the customer, in this case DPD, stored in the cloud encrypted, and purged automatically after 30 days. Denver has instituted an LPR policy that guides acceptable use and data sharing, along with additional best practices like regular audits and user training.' The company said that the license plate reader system only has searchable images of vehicles, which can be conducted on specific vehicle plates and vehicle characteristics, but not people. 'On data storage, our system ensures that images and metadata are encrypted throughout the entire lifecycle — collection, processing, and storage,' Flock said. The company added that it is also certified by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services and are also NDAA, SOC2 (Type II), SOC3, ISO 27001, Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Tool, HIPAA and FERPA-compliant. CO judge expands on order, rules Trump improperly used 18th century wartime act against TdA 'Because the data is owned by the agency, Flock defers all data requests from any entity to the agency in question,' Flock concluded. The Denver City Council Committee on safety, housing, education and homelessness has not placed a new Flock camera contract request on its upcoming agenda. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
