a wyoming sheriff is poaching talented and dedicated law enforcement officers from Denver and other Colorado cities plagued by underfunding and severe restrictions on proper police procedures.
Last month, Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston announced he would cut the Denver Police Department’s budget by more than $8 million to provide funding for the thousands of undocumented immigrants who have recently flooded into the city by bus. report.
“We actually hired some law enforcement officers in the Denver area, and as we talked to them and looked at their contact sheets, we found that many of them had limited ability to perform their duties. I understand that you are feeling dissatisfied.”
The Colorado Legislature has similarly taken steps to prevent police officers from doing their jobs. In the wake of the 2020 BLM riots, lawmakers removed qualified immunity protections for police officers. And earlier this month, police were banned from stopping vehicles for minor traffic violations, arguing that such traffic stops do little to reduce overall crime rates. daily mail report.
With morale waning in some Colorado police departments, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak decided to seize the opportunity to force disgruntled Colorado police to take a second look at Wyoming. Kozak spent $2,500 on a 30-day billboard with a photo of several smiling lawmakers and the message, “Work in Wyoming, where breaking the law is still illegal and the police are defunded!” Ta.
The sign is just a few miles from DPD Police Administration Building.
“We actually hired some law enforcement officers in the Denver area, and as we talked to them and looked at their contact sheets, we found that many of them had limited ability to perform their duties. “I could see that they were feeling dissatisfied,” Kozak said. “So we focus on that aspect to recruit talent.”
Kozak, who became sheriff in 2023, claimed he spent about $40,000 on job ads in the last fiscal year. He considers that investment a small fraction of the $1.3 million he spent on overtime due to staffing shortages.
”[$40,000 is] “That’s less than half of each employee’s salary.”
“We need to be aggressive in recruiting to save money, hire talent, and eliminate overtime budgets.”
So far, his attempts to attract police officers from other states, particularly Colorado, seem to be working. The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office hired 72 new employees in 2023, many of them from Colorado, Kozak said.
Kozak’s chief of staff, Aaron Ferdia, once worked in his beloved Colorado department, but moved to Wyoming because Colorado’s government was so unsympathetic to law enforcement in general. ” [Colorado] “The General Assembly has decided that cops are the bad guys,” Feldherr said.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas countered that DPD’s top officers earn significantly more than LCSO’s top deputies. Mayor Johnston’s office also previously claimed that DPD’s budget cuts would not affect interactions between officers and the public, but only internal spending, such as “new furniture.”
“Saying that the City of Denver is ‘defunding the police department’ is an intentional misrepresentation of budget cuts, when in reality it is delaying the purchase of new furniture and defunding the first cadet class.” ,” the mayor’s office said in an earlier statement. “In fact, Mayor Johnston is investing millions of dollars to add 167 new recruits to the police force in 2024, making investments in public safety to ensure the safety of all Denbert residents in the city.” We plan to continue.”
Still, Kozak is confident Wyoming has more to offer to police officers who love their jobs. [that] About Wyoming. ”
“That’s our culture here.”
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
