Denver police commander who won $280,000 settlement faces discipline
Published October 8, 2026 5:43pm
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Updated October 8, 2026 7:21pm
A Denver police commander is facing possible discipline following an investigation into her conduct.
Division Chief Magen Dodge and her husband, Sgt. Justin Dodge, were notified Thursday that investigators found they violated department policies and recommended disciplinary action.
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Officials presented the Dodges with notices of proposed discipline, Brent Weisberg, a Denver Police Department spokesperson, said in an email to The Denver Gazette.
“Both employees have the right to a Pre-Disciplinary Hearing,” Weisberg said. “The hearing allows employees to present any mitigating facts they want considered before a final order is imposed.”
Both have been placed on paid administrative leave.
It’s unclear whether the Dodges have retained their weapons and badges.
The Department of Public Safety’s Public Integrity Division conducted the investigation in conjunction with an outside independent investigator. The Office of the Independent Monitor reviewed the draft findings and recommended penalties, according to the DPD.
Officials declined to release the investigative report, citing the ongoing disciplinary proceedings.
CBS Colorado reported earlier this year that an investigative report it obtained detailed allegations that Magen Dodge created a toxic work environment through bullying, retaliation and interference with police operations.
The department has not disclosed which policies either officer violated or whether the findings against them are related.
The disciplinary proceedings come six years after Denver settled a sex discrimination complaint filed by Magen Dodge, then a district commander and one of the department’s highest-ranking women.
In her complaint, Dodge alleged that former Police Chief Robert White told her to prostitute herself to raise $50,000 for the department. When she complained, White dismissed her concerns as “silly.”
White was cleared by an internal investigation and retired in 2018.
As part of the 2020 settlement, Magen Dodge received $280,000 and a position in Internal Affairs, according to previous reporting by The Denver Gazette.
Her husband, Justin Dodge, is a decorated SWAT officer with nearly three decades on the force.
Denver police Sgt. Justin Dodge sits on the back of a SWAT vehicle as he returns to full-time active duty. (Courtesy of Justin Dodge)
During the Denver Nuggets‘ championship parade in 2023, he was struck by a fire truck carrying Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the NBA championship trophy. His left leg was crushed beneath a tire as the truck made a turn.
The injury ultimately required doctors to amputate his leg below the knee.
With the fire truck resting on his leg, Dodge thought: “If the tourniquets work and I make it to the doors of Denver Health, I’m going to make it back to SWAT,” he told The Denver Gazette in an interview last year.
He returned to active SWAT duty in May 2024 and was subsequently honored as Denver Police Officer of the Year.
Officers who receive disciplinary penalties can challenge those decisions through Denver’s Civil Service Commission.
A Denver Gazette review of the commission’s publicly available disciplinary appeals records identified 39 cases involving police personnel since 2021. Four resulted in decisions being overturned or reversed, 13 were dismissed and four were settled. Another 16 had outcomes listed as affirmed, upheld, denied or sustained.