The Denver Police Department (DPD) is the full service police department jointly for the City and County of Denver, Colorado, which provides police services to the entire county, including Denver International Airport, and may provide contractual security police service to special districts within the county. The police department is within the Denver Department of Public Safety, which also includes the Denver Sheriff Department and Denver Fire Department. The DPD was established in 1859. The current police chief is Ron Thomas.

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The Patrol Division is made up of 6 patrol districts. Within each patrol district, there are up to 3 different sectors. Each sector is made up of numerous precincts. Each precinct has one patrol car with 1–2 officers assigned it. Officers assigned to patrol work four 10-hour shifts.

Recruits begin the DPD Academy as a recruit officer. Upon graduation, officers are classified as "police officer 4th class." After the completion of 3 years of service, officers are classified as "police officer 1st class."

Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of DPD as of the 2007 annual report:

Denver Police have met with controversy and protest over several high-profile incidents that have led them to include citizens in their Disciplinary Review Board and Use of Force Review Board. During this period, 86 people were shot by Denver police officers, resulting in 40 deaths. In most of the 86 shootings, “the individual was clearly pointing a gun at officers.” A 2015 review of past court cases observed that Denver juries almost always acquit police officers charged with excessive force. “They realize police have to make split-second decisions to protect their own safety, and can make an honest mistake. If an officer’s version is even remotely plausible, he'll probably get the benefit of the doubt.”

During the 1920s, a number of DPD officers were members of the Ku Klux Klan in Denver. William J. Candlish, who was police chief of the DPD from 1924 to 1925 was a Grand Dragon in the KKK. Ledgers of KKK members show that at least 53 Denver police officers were members of the KKK in the 1920s.

In 1953 the Denver Police Department began to gather information on individuals and groups regarding activities that might pose a threat to public safety. The files came to be known as the Spy Files during the publicity surrounding an American Civil Liberties Union class action lawsuit in 2002. According to the lawsuit, as many as 3,200 individuals and 208 organizations had been targeted for intelligence gathering operations. These groups and individuals included not only criminal elements but also peace activists and education and human rights organizations. The lawsuit was settled in 2003 with the city revising its policies governing the gathering of this type of information. Mayor John Hickenlooper ordered the records be archived at the Denver Public Library and preserved for study. Part of the archive is currently available to the public and part is a restricted collection, accessible only by those individuals and organizations specifically named in the documents. The complete collection will open to the public in the year 2055.