Undersheriff John Spezze, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, was raised in Salida where his family and other close relatives still reside.  As a patrol sergeant at DPD, Spezze was an early convert to community policing and problem oriented policing, techniques that he used often while working the streets.  A certified methamphetamine investigator, Spezze supervised several major undercover narcotics investigations.  He also performed cold case analyses and was involved in a major FBI task force investigation of corruption.  At the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, Spezze is the sheriff’s “chief of operations,” and all other command officers report directly to him. A  graduate of the Command Staff Institute, Spezze is a member of the County Sheriffs of Colorado, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police.