Robert White, 59, who is moving from Louisville to head Denver’s police force hasn’t always had smooth sailing, says the Louisville Courier Journal. He battled a reputation among some in the community that Louisville police were trigger-happy officers who were not to be trusted. He's also encountered criticism from some officers who disagreed with policy decisions, ranging from decentralizing units to charging for use of patrol cars while off-duty.
He presided over a merger of city and county police departments that it required overhauling policies and procedures as well as a lot of logistical restructuring. The larger task was melding two cultures into one, producing a philosophy that would guide a united department. White's willingness to make himself available has been a key to helping the community move past controversial issues, said the Rev. James Tennyson, who heads the Justice Resource Center. “We haven't seen eye to eye with him on a lot of things,” he said. “But his door was always open to us. We could sit down and come to some type of resolution to a problem.”