Denver Police Won't Actively Seek Pot-Smoking Scofflaws, Chief Says

Extra Denver police officers will be on hand to protect patrons of newly legalized recreational pot shops on Wednesday, but they won't be actively looking to arrest them if they light up in public, reports the Denver Post .

"I am not going to have a team of officers specifically going out looking for people smoking marijuana," Police Chief Robert White says. "If we get complaints or run into it, we're certainly going to investigate it. We have to balance our resources as it relates to addressing these issues."

The legalization of recreational marijuana has created new gray areas for the police department, which is still wrangling with how strictly to enforce laws against public consumption of the drug. The City Council this month approved rules banning the display or distribution of marijuana on the 16th Street Mall or streets around it and in city parks.

White says he plans to issue a training bulletin by Wednesday reminding officers about the nuances of the new rules.