I applaud the US Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller in which the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for private use in federal enclaves. I am confident that future decisions will extend that protection to the individual states. More importantly, the decision was the first Supreme Court case in United States history to affirm that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms for self defense.

None of this is meant to ignore the fact that tragically, 30,000 people in the US die from firearms every year, half of them suicides. Nor does it deny the responsibility of law enforcement and other institutions to work diligently for the reduction of these incidents through education, awareness, training, and enforcement of existing laws.

As a member of the National Rifle Association for the past 25 years and a more recent member of our local shooting sports club in Buena Vista, I embrace our county’s hunting and firearms sporting traditions.


Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights
Colorado statutes severely restrict sheriffs agencies’ employees from exercising the most basic rights of collective bargaining or even free speech. Deputies serve “at will” and every sheriff in this state may “appoint as many deputies as the sheriff may think proper and may revoke such appointments at will.” This ability to fire an employee at will is subject only to certain provisions that require the sheriff to adopt personnel policies to review revocations, notify the deputy of impending revocation, and allow the deputy the “opportunity to be heard by the sheriff.”

Although appropriate for Colorado when it was a frontier territory, these provisions no longer make sense. They are archaic, unfair, and counter to modern management philosophy. And critically, they severely inhibit employees from offering opinions and insight about the operation, the kind of communication that is vital to a healthy organization.

As sheriff, I will begin a dialogue with our employees to develop policies that offer them protection, security, and predictability. The Fraternal Order of Police, an organization devoted to the protection of public safety workers’ rights, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a management organization of which I am a member, both have addressed this issue extensively. It is my intention to use the templates created by both organizations to formulate an agreement between management and employees that will address these issues in a fair and equitable way. Although Colorado case law prohibits a sheriff from limiting his own power to terminate employees at will, we – management and employees – can agree on internal policies that will promote mutual respect and open discussion.


Responsibility of county government to small businesses
In Colorado, almost eighty percent of workers are employed by small businesses. Although that number is probably somewhat lower in our county, nonetheless the health of these enterprises directly impacts the quantity and quality of services that county government can provide its citizens. Businesses and the workers they employ pay taxes that enable our government to provide services and to create and maintain our county’s infrastructure. The sheriff’s office, as with any other county agency, has an important role to play in this endeavor. As a public service executive, I will consistently impress on our employees their responsibility to the broader economic and social life of our community. In the coming months I will propose specific policies that will acknowledge our duty as a public agency to support our small business community and to encourage its vitality.

Agency accreditation
One of our principle commitments is to further the professional image and conduct of the sheriff’s department. An important part of this is agency accreditation. The national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA) has created professional standards for virtually every aspect of police operations: organization, management, administration, patrol, and investigations. The CALEA standards reflect the best practices of law enforcement agencies across the nation. Here in Colorado, the program has been tailored to our unique circumstances and is conducted by the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police in partnership with the County Sheriffs of Colorado. (Although detentions is not addressed by CACP/CSOC, the American Correctional Association has developed standards for this function.)

A typical standard is this one, addressing the property/evidence storage function:
An annual inventory and audit of property held by the agency is conducted by a supervisor not routinely or directly connected with control of property.

This is a mandatory standard designed to preserve the integrity of the storage and preservation of evidence. It must be met for certification, but the agency may elect to hold itself to a higher standard by, for example, requiring additional unannounced random inspections of the property/evidence room by a command level officer.

Accreditation demonstrates to our public that the agency is serious about pursuing professional standards of conduct and ensuring accountability of its members. The Leadville and Salida police departments both have undergone the accreditation process and the Buena Vista police department has taken the initial steps. Chiefs at these agencies recognize the importance of this process in building progressive agencies prepared for the challenges of the twenty-first century. We should do no less.