DPD Detective Demoted, Suspended For On Duty Affair

DENVER (CBS4)- A veteran Denver Police Detective has been demoted after superiors learned he was regularly leaving work behind while he was on duty, to pursue an extra- marital affair in a suburb located miles away from Denver.

The department recently demoted Craig Miner from detective to patrolman and handed him a 10-day unpaid suspension after learning of the long running practice.

"Clearly his actions were inappropriate and he betrayed our trust and the citizen's trust by engaging in inappropriate activity while on duty," said Commander Matt Murray, a spokesman for the department.

According to information gathered in a CBS4 Investigation and from DPD internal affairs documents, Miner, who had been assigned to District 3 in southeast Denver, would regularly leave his post and travel about 10 miles to Federal Heights to visit with his mistress at her apartment.

He would use his DPD vehicle for the trips which Murray said had been going on "a considerable amount of time."

Miner was supposed to be investigating domestic violence cases and other crimes like assaults and burglaries. He was not only able to depart from his job during his work day, but emails obtained by CBS4 show he was also using his Denver Police email address to send inappropriate messages to his paramour in the middle of his work day.

In a 2010 email Miner joked with the woman about her paying him $25,000 "for sexual services rendered…hehe."

In a 2011 email, Miner wrote, "My feelings for you are real and I just want you to be happy with any relationship we share."

In another 2011 email to the woman Miner wrote, "I NEVER 'played you'!!! And, it was not the sex, but that was good."

The woman told investigators that Miner would visit her every week or every other week at her home in Federal Heights.

Miner insisted to investigators that while he had been visiting the woman on duty, they did not engage in sex during their visits.

Asked about who was supervising the detective, Cmdr. Murray said Miner was in a position of trust with a lot of independence and autonomy and no one was constantly watching him.

For a department that has constantly said it needs to hire more officers and is short staffed, Miner's actions contradict that narrative as he appeared to have plenty of time to pursue other interests while being paid by the city.

Murray says that despite Miner's extracurricular activities, the detectives cases were up to date, his work was good and he was "doing a good job. But he chose to use his time the wrong way. Could he have done more or better work? Probably," said Murray.

"His actions don't change the basic fact the police department needs more staffing."

Murray said while what Miner has been doing is wrong, "It shows the human side of who we are. Its unfair to expect perfection. Officers make mistakes."

Miner has been with the Denver Police Department for 14 years.