Paul Pazen at times must have felt like a voice in the wilderness during the past four years as Denver’s police chief. He repeatedly has warned the political establishment, the media and anyone who would listen that soft-on-crime policies have slapped the cuffs on his cops — and have put the community on a collision course with cold, hard reality.

Pazen courageously called out state lawmakers for terribly ill-conceived legislation that took the heat off of auto thieves and made it easier, unbelievably, for convicted felons to carry guns without consequences. The chief denounced a law passed by lawmakers in a fit of “justice reform” in 2019, reducing the penalty for possession of hyper-lethal fentanyl to a mere misdemeanor. As Pazen has noted, his officers sometimes only could write a ticket to known drug dealers who could claim their stash was “possession.” Meanwhile, Pazen also challenged Denver’s district attorney and courts for releasing so many criminal suspects back onto the streets with serious charges still pending — only to commit more crimes, even homicides.

Pazen, who announced on Wednesday he is leaving the police force, is of course right. We are reaping what misguided policy makers have sown.

Violence and property crimes, particularly in Denver and nearby communities, have been soaring. Denver’s 60 homicides so far this year and counting are on pace to exceed last year’s total of 96. Colorado bears the embarrassing distinction of having the highest auto-theft rate in the entire nation. And our city and state are awash with fentanyl, destroying lives and leaving a trail of tears from grieving loved ones. Amid this chaos, are the camps of homeless drifters and addicts that have sprouted up in parks, along highways and even in neighborhoods around town.

Our city’s rank-and-file residents are afraid, and rightly so. Pazen, more than anyone, has been championing them and their need for security.

His announcement this week that he would retire Oct. 15 comes as a surprise. Denver is facing its greatest crisis — an epic crime wave that threatens life, limb, property and peace of mind citywide. Pazen seems to grasp that existential threat better than anyone.

This is his community, after all, and the former Marine, Gulf War vet and career Denver cop wants to defend it.

He comes from the inner city — a Latino, north Denver native and graduate of North High — and he has a heart for his home turf. He has addressed concerns head on about police overreach, especially in the communities of color from which he comes. He marched with others for racial justice in summer 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police that May. And when those same protest marches turned violent because of opportunists from the political fringe who infiltrated the events and tried to provoke police, Pazen’s police force responded with remarkable restraint.

Yet, he also gets the urgent need to reform reckless laws that have tied the hands of the police in protecting his community.

Pazen’s leadership will be missed on the police force — but it’s the kind of leadership and insight into public safety that still will be needed in navigating Denver through one of its toughest times ever.

As reported in Thursday’s Gazette, there already is talk of Pazen running for mayor in next spring’s watershed municipal election. Three-term Mayor Michael Hancock is at the end of his tenure, and as noted by some political observers in The Gazette’s report, the helm of the state’s largest city doesn’t come open very often. The No. 1 priority will be making Denver safe again.