Colorado independent investigator to look into Denver Fire Department's comp time
Denver has named former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, Robert Troyer as the independent investigator to look into comp time practices inside the city's fire department following Your Investigator Brian Maass's report.
In the CBS News Colorado report, records showed Denver's Fire Chief Desmond Fulton had racked up more than 400 hours of comp time since 2021, for attending events ranging from somber memorials for firefighters to retirement celebrations and having dinner with firefighters at fire stations. Many firefighters felt he was collecting comp time for essentially doing his job.
He was then able to use those accrued comp time hours to take time off and go on vacation, and then cash in actual vacation days at the end of each year. Records show he cashed in an average of $14,000 in unused vacation days in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for a total of about $42,000.
Denver's Manager of Safety had ordered an independent investigation and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called for a review of the practice.
Fulton, who declined to discuss the issue prior to the report airing, released a statement Wednesday, suggesting that what he has been doing has been done by DFD command staff for years.
"I want my team in the fire department and our broader community to know that I've always followed what I believed were best practices to promote transparency and uphold the public's trust. Tracking Flex Time is a long-standing practice that fire chiefs have used for many years. During my transition into the Chief's appointment in 2020, I continued to follow the practice and track all activities and hours in our reporting system — a practice that has been in place for at least the last decade by other department leads. I fully support an investigation of how these hours were used and have asked that department leaders cease this practice immediately."
Fulton declined to answer specific questions from CBS News Colorado.
