The number of open internal affairs investigations involving the Denver Sheriff Department grew nearly 30 percent from June to July, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as far as some city officials are concerned.

There were 147 investigations in July, up from 114 in June, according to Denver records. The actual number of deputies accused could be far higher because multiple deputies could be involved in a single case.

In June, nearly one-third of those cases involved accusations of excessive force by deputies. City officials weren’t sure on Friday how many of the latest investigations involved excessive force, but they released new video of two cases in which officers were accused of mistreating inmates.

After years in which Denver jail inmate grievances were often either discouraged or ignored, some city officials see the new numbers as an indication that things are beginning to change.

For example, not one Spanish-speaking inmate filed a single grievance of the nearly 6,000 of them written by inmates the past two years, even though 35 percent of those behind bars are Spanish speakers, independent monitor Nick Mitchell said.

“Spanish-speaking inmates weren’t aware they had the right to file complaints,” Mitchell said.

Until recently, inmates had to first try to resolve their differences directly with staff members, and if that didn’t work they were to hand the same deputy their written grievance.

“It had a huge chilling effect in having people coming forward,” Mitchell said.

Inmates no longer must direct complaints through the same staff member who may have struck or sexually touched them, he said.

Mitchell said the growing number of complaints is a burden on those charged with investigating complaints.

The sheriff department’s internal affairs staff has not grown in proportion to the complaints. The cases also have created more work for the monitor’s office, he said.

“The investigative staff has to stay much later and do that much more work,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell had recommended many changes after a review of the jail’s grievances between 2011 and 2013. He launched the study after noticing that a grievance filed by former inmate Jamal Hunter after a deputy choked him was never investigated or referred to his office.

After learning of Hunter’s lawsuit filed in 2012, Mitchell issued a report saying his office had not been informed about 45 serious abuse complaints including excessive force and sexual contact.

Former Sheriff Gary Wilson recently instituted new grievance policies in response to the study. Wilson stepped down last week, under pressure from Mayor Michael Hancock.

The sheriff’s office is requiring deputies to undergo training.

Inmates once had to call Mitchell’s office collect. Now, his office number is on all grievance forms, and inmates can call directly.

A grievance form in Spanish is available for the first time.

Jail staff members are developing a computer system to track abuse trends.

For example, the city will run computer queries against the database to identify “frequent fliers,” or deputies with many complaints against them.

The report Mitchell released last year found that of the 700 deputies and staff members in the Denver County Sheriff Department, inmates had filed 125 of a total of 861 grievances against only four deputies.