The sheriff and undersheriff

The undersheriff completed the one-week FBI Rocky Mountain Law Enforcement Executive Command College in Denver.  The sheriff attended the annual conference of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police in Grand Junction.  The sheriff served as an assessor for the sergeants promotional process at the Canon City Police Department.  The sheriff was featured in the Chaffee County Times weekly column Know Your Neighbor.

Operations

District Attorney Thom LeDoux released his report concerning the May 26 shooting death of Theodore Vanosdall by a Salida PD officer and a deputy sheriff.  The report praised the actions of all four officers who responded to the disturbance call, calling them “heroic.” An editorial in the Mountain Mail a few days later said all officers “acted professionally and without hesitation in responding to the incident and are deserving of thanks from the community for their actions, putting their own lives at risk while performing in the line of duty.”

By the end of the month, fire weather conditions had become severe with hot, dry, and gusty winds causing the county to declare Stage II fire restrictions and a temporary ban on the sale, use, and possession of fireworks.  The fire danger rating is VERY HIGH.

  Training Attended

  Personnel

  Complaints / commendations

The executive director of Sangre de Cristo Electric called the sheriff to express his appreciation for the cooperation and assistance that he and his employees unfailingly receive from our deputies. 

The sheriff received this email from a resident of the Salida area:  “Our praise for Officer Logan Tidwell for actively listening to our complaint. Officer Tidwell was careful and measured in his comments, and we felt in good hands. We also appreciate that our verbally abusive and threatening neighbor is no longer screaming obscenities at us. This makes our life in Chaffee County a whole lot more pleasant.  Good work. Greatly appreciated.”

Victims Advocate

Our VA completed a one-week course at the Colorado Victim Assistance Academy in Glenwood Springs.  During the month, she assisted twenty-five crime victims.

Communications Center

Annette participated in a critical incident tabletop exercise with other emergency responders in Leadville.

  Personnel

  Training received

Dispatchers Darrell Pratt, Bill Dyer, and Kristine Bainbridge participated in tactical team training.  Jeanette Stephens attended Continuity of Operations (COOP) training.  She and Annette will create a COOP plan for the communications center. 

Search and Rescue 

Fifteen members of SAR-South assisted our patrol commander with a four-hour search of a rural area for evidence related to a missing person case.

SAR-North performed several rescues near the end of the month but details were not available at the time of this report.

Records and Administration

Detention Facility

  Personnel

The Board of County Commissioners approved the hiring of one additional full-time detentions deputy and a part-time