From The Denver Post:  The decision to bar the public from a Denver police disciplinary hearing involving an extramarital affair appears to be an effort to avoid embarrassment.

Frankly, that’s just not a good enough reason.

We’re referring to a decision by Civil Service Hearing Officer Hazel E. Haley to conduct behind closed doors an appeal of the firing of one of the officers involved in the affair, Stephanie Southard.

Haley references the salacious nature of the facts of the relationship between Southard and Nathan Sanchez, who has since resigned. She mentions Southard’s mental state and the pain to Sanchez’s wife.

While we have sympathy for those connected to this sordid tale who bear no blame for what happened, the public has a strong interest in seeing how police discipline is handled by the Denver Civil Service Commission.

Visit The Denver Post for more.