The Denver police are finally ready to admit they screwed up by letting an officer receive 40 complaints over nine years on the force--one of which involved him nearly beating a disabled veteran to death--without ever really being punished.

Despite having once broken a man's knee cap following a verbal altercation and beating the veteran so badly he flatlined on the street, Officer Shawn Miller never received a punishment that lasted more than two days.

In fact, he wasn't punished at all for nearly killing the veteran. However, it may soon cost his employers and the taxpayers of Denver $860,000 for the 2008 incident, reports 7 News Denver.

'We failed': Shawn Miller, the Denver cop seen here harassing an apartment buiilding resident after she hesitated before buzzing him into a building, received 40 complaints over the course of 9 years. Seventeen of them cited excessive force and none resulted in a punishment that lasted over two days

Off the hook: The incident caught on this surveillance camera was one of the few that resulted in suspension for Miller. He wasn't punished at all in 2008 after he beat a disabled veteran so badly he flatlined on the street

That's in addition to the $225,000 the city paid out to Jason Graber, who suffered the broken knee cap in 2011 after he yelled to a speeding Miller to slow down on a Denver street.

The Denver Police Department now calls these incidents, and the 38 other complaints made against Miller over the years--17 of which cited excessive force--'warning signs.'

'The warning signs were being flashed at us,' DPD spokesman Matt Murray told 7 News Denver. 'The problem is what we did with them after we got the warning signs.'

What they did, in nearly every case, was absolutely nothing.

Miller's performance resulted in an automatic review 10 tens between 2007 and 2010, 7 News reports.

Each time, Miler's supervisors recommend no response to the alleged infraction.

Paying the price: Jason Graber (pictured) suffered a broken kneecap in 2011 after he yelled at a speeding Miller to slow down. Miller exited his cruiser and the beating followed a verbal altercation with Graber, who's since won a $225,000 settlement

Murray admits:

'We didn't follow through in a way to help correct his behavior to prevent a situation where what we're facing now, where we have liability on the city and liability on the department.'

Now, as police and that disabled veteran, James Moore, near an agreement that could pay out as much as $860,000 in damages, that failure to act could soon cost the city in excess of a million bucks.

Moore says in a federal lawsuit that he was 'hog tied,' beaten and clubbed by officers Shawn Miller and James Robledo in 2008 after they responded to a noise complaint at his Denver apartment.

He accused the pair of attacking him without provocation after he asked them what was going on.

Heft pricetag: 'The warning signs were being flashed at us,' DPD spokesman Matt Murray admits. 'The problem is what we did with them after we got the warning signs.' Now the city is reportedly close to offering a disabled veteran who Miller nearly killed an settlement that could exceed $800,000. Pictured is the downtown headqaurters of the Denver police

The officers 'beat Mr. Moore with such brutality while he was helpless on the ground that he lost consciousness, his heart stopped beating and paramedics or law enforcement officers had to administer CPR to save his life,' the complaint said.

Lane said Miller has been the target of more than three dozen citizen complaints, and that he has been sued in federal court at least three times.

'Shawn Miller is one of the most violent officers on the Denver force and should not only be fired but prosecuted,' the lawyer said.

Murray told Reuters in early February that Miller has never had an excessive force complaint against him upheld after each of the cases was reviewed by the city's independent police monitor.

'I'm not defending or indicting him (Miller), but you have to look at the facts of each case,' Murray said of Miller.

After the Moore case is finalized, the department will open up Miller's entire complaint file for the public to see, the commander added.