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Denver Selects Outsider As New Sheriff

DENVER (CBS4) - The embattled Denver Sheriff Department is still in the process of being reshaped, but it now has a new leader.

On Thursday morning Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced that Patrick Firman has been picked as the new Denver sheriff and will be sworn in Friday morning.

Hancock called Firman, a longtime corrections official, "the right person to take the helm" of the 890-member department that oversees the city's jails.

"(He is) someone with the ability and experience to provide the strategic direction and vision to effect real positive and lasting change necessary within the department," Hancock said.

Firman was picked from a pool of 25 candidates, none of whom were current employees of the department.

"Everything I understand about organizations it's very difficult to come from that culture and then to affect change within that culture," Hancock said. "Many of our sheriffs were long-serving deputies within the system. We needed a fresh perspective to come in. To understand, to see the culture for what it is and make the changes necessary to improve."

Firman comes from the Chicago area where he oversaw the jail system in McHenry County northwest of the city. He has more than 24 years of experience in jails and jail management and calls himself a "career corrections guy."

Elias Diggins has been interim sheriff since July 2014 when former Sheriff Gary Wilson stepped down amid a series of high-profile misconduct and excessive force cases that prompted an overhaul of the department. A pair of national consulting firms urged sweeping reforms.

RELATED: DPD Investigating Interim Denver Sheriff Following Suspect Release

Denver police are now investigating Diggins after he let a man go free despite allegedly knowing there were active arrest warrants out for him.

On Thursday morning Hancock said Diggins will return to his former position in the department.

Firman says he is aware of the department's problems and prepared to make changes.

"In the short time that I've been here I've been struck by the collegial nature of the staff, of the people in the community and the determination of this administration to get it right," Firman said.

Firman will be paid an annual salary of approximately $171,000.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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