Association of Local Government Auditors

OFFICERS

President Corrie StokesActing City AuditorAustin, TX

President ElectKymber WaltmunsonCounty AuditorKing County, WA

SecretaryTina AdamsDeputy City AuditorCharlotte, NC

TreasurerDavid GivansCounty Internal AuditorDeschutes County, OR

Past PresidentBill GreeneCity AuditorPhoenix, AZ

BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE

Carmelina DiMondoDirector, Forensic UnitToronto, ON

Craig KintonCity AuditorDallas, TX

Pamela WeipertCompliance OfficerOakland County, MI

Kip MemmottDirector of Audit ServicesCity and County of Denver, CO

MEMBER SERVICES

449 Lewis Hargett CircleSuite 290Lexington, KY 40503Phone: (859) 276-0686Fax: (859) 278-0507www.algaonline.org

April 15, 2015

Auditor Dennis GallagherOffice of the AuditorWebb Municipal Office Building 201 W Colfax Ave, Dept 705Denver CO  80202

Dear Mr. Gallagher:

The Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) Awards Program Committee is pleased to announce that the City and County of Denver, Office of the Auditor’s report Police Response Time Performance Audit won a 2014 Distinguished Knighton Award in the Extra-Large Shop Category.

ALGA was founded in 1985 to serve auditors who specialize in working with local governments. ALGA members represent approximately 300 local government audit organizations. Unlike the majority of auditors who work within a single industry, local government auditors must work in an environment that encompasses a wide variety of industries. Local government auditors are committed to helping their governments improve service delivery to citizens while doing so more efficiently and effectively with the limited resources available. In making the award, the judges commented:

The purpose of the City and County of Denver’s Office of the Auditor’s audit was to determine and assess trends in police response time. Through data analysis, the audit found that average police response times increased from 2008 through 2013. The audit further concluded the increase could be explained by the decreasing size of the City’s police force. The Office of the Auditor concluded that the department has not finalized the number of officers it needs to achieve its goals and does not use police response times as a performance measure. The auditors used regression models in their analysis of response times. This report presented not only an in-depth analysis of police response time trends, but also an in-depth review of police department conditions that contributed to the changes in response times. This report has the potential to save lives through establishing a focus on measuring and monitoring police response times. This report represents distinguished audit work and demonstrates the value of performance auditing.

To encourage increasing levels of excellence among local government auditors, ALGA created the Knighton Award in 1995 to recognize the best performance audit reports produced by local government audit shops in the previous year. Each year, local government audit organizations submit their best performance audit report to be evaluated against five criteria: (1) an audit scope that has the potential for significant impact, and is responsive to the needs and concerns of decision-makers and/or the public; (2) audit conclusions that are persuasive, logical, and firmly supported by the evidence, which was gathered using appropriate research methods and tools; (3) audit recommendations that are feasible, and will make government programs more effective and efficient; (4) audit results that are communicated in a clear, concise way; and (5) an audit scope, methodology, recommendations, or report format that is innovative. Judges from peer organizations determined that the Internal Audit Division’s report was among the best of 2014.

Congratulations to the City and County of Denver, Office of the Auditor for receiving this award!

Sincerely,

Corrie Stokes, President Ben Thompson, Chair

ALGA ALGA Awards Program Committee