Denver police blame cutbacks for delays

Denver police are blaming budget and staff cuts for delays responding to emergency calls.

This year, the average time it takes a Denver police officer to respond to an emergency call is nearly 16 minutes, an increase of nearly two minutes over the past three years.

Police officials say the department is reacting to the problem by moving more officers from desk jobs to patrol jobs.

According to the Denver Post (http://tinyurl.com/ajanly9 ), the police force has dropped by more than 70 sworn officer positions to about 1,400 officers this month.