The Citizen Oversight Board (COB) practices civilian oversight in Denver. Civilian oversight is an ever-evolving field designed to provide communities with a voice in how law enforcement is conducted. By ordinance, the COB is assigned the following responsibilities:
1) To make policy recommendations to the Denver Police Department and the Denver Sheriff Department on topics including, but not lim
ited to, discipline, use of force, training, community relations, hiring, rules, and the complaint process;
2) to address other issues of concern to the community or the Board, the Monitor, the Manager of Safety, the Chief of Police, the Undersheriff or the Fire Chief;
3) to assess the effectiveness of the Monitor's Office. The COB consists of nine Denver residents appointed by the Mayor and City Council. The Board meets twice monthly (on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, from 10:00am to noon, in the Office of the Independent Monitor) and holds quarterly Public Forums throughout the City and County of Denver. The COB was created by city ordinance in 2004. It was added to the city charter by ballot measure in 2016. The body is governed both by internal bylaws and the Denver Revised Municipal Code.
