John Scarffe, Nederland.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office will be patrolling Nederland streets at night after the Nederland Board of Trustees approved a contract during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, in the Nederland Community Center. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle attended the meeting.

Staff requested approval for a Nighttime Police Contract with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office at the cost of $121,498. The cost will be covered by two budgeted salaried positions, which will remain unused during the contract period, according to the request.

“The Nederland Police Department has been having difficulty in attracting quality candidates for the position of Police Officer. Recently, we have had four applicants complete a ride-along and not complete an application to move them forward in the process,” states the request.

Hiring new or unknown officers is a difficult decision to make and the failure rate is approximately 40 percent. The 2018 parity increase for officers came at the cost of a staff of five officers instead of six. “This thin staffing makes it difficult to schedule vacations or trainings that are more than one day.”

About two months ago, staff floated this idea of hiring the Boulder Sheriff to provide policing coverage. “In late December,

Karen Gerrity and I met with Under Sheriff Tom Sloan and Operations Chief Sullenberger. At that time, they provided three options, and stated they could modify the options to fit the needs of Nederland. In addition, they agreed to take any emergency calls for service for the month of January.”

The only affordable option was for the Boulder Sheriff’s Department to take on night time policing seven days a week from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. at $121,498 annually. The plan includes one deputy to patrol town for 50 percent of their non-committed time, or four hours. In addition, they would cover any calls for service with a mountain deputy or send a deputy up from the Boulder area.

The Boulder Sheriff explained they needed the full night time contract seven days a week for an extended length of time to be able to financially hire another officer to back fill the expected policing coverage. They are only willing to stick to their original proposal for policing between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for an additional cost. They would like to have a yearlong contract with an automatic renewal, and a cancellation clause of six months’ notice, or if they have an open patrol position the additional deputy could be transferred to another patrol spot.

Town Marshal Larry Johns told the Board that the Nederland Police Department is working with the Boulder County Sheriff to do patrolling for the town. He presented this option a month ago and drew up a contract with legal review. The window is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and that pushes the department closer to 24 hours policing, which we haven’t had.

Sheriff Pelle told the Board they have been discussing this for quite a while. “It’s a wonderful working relationship with your marshal and we assist each other. I am familiar with issues recruiting in a small town.”

The Sheriff’s Office will cover the night shift for emergency calls and service calls. They get funding to hire an additional deputy sheriff. “It’s a win-win for the town and for us. We’re the ones who would have to cover an emergency anyway,” Pelle said.

The Sheriff’s Department has had a contract with Lyons and Superior for dozens of years. “We’re simply going to provide protection,” Pelle said.

Board Member Julie Gustafson said she is hoping to push for more significant hour coverage in Nederland proper or more assurance that there would be more rapid response and Nederland is getting as much as it can in terms of service. It’s such a huge district.

Pelle said he is guaranteeing coverage without the presence of a full-time employee, and they will hire another deputy to increase staffing. The Town of Nederland and surrounding area make up the bulk of calls. They can be up here in 30 minutes.

“I can’t guarantee there will be a car in town all night, but the call load will be here and they will spend 50 percent of down time in town. We will staff according to peak call load.”

He has one deputy in Gold Hill and one near Allenspark. Part of the agreement was they can take home their cars, so they can be called.

Johns said that historically one officer was on call from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. If you were called out you were compensated for your time.

Pelle said that the Town does pay a separate cost for coverage negotiated years ago. It includes all the equipment for the deputy to do his job and the cost of the patrol car.

Two members of the public spoke in favor of the contract The Board approved the contract.

The Board also approved Josiah Masingale as the new executive director for the Nederland Downtown Development Authority.

The NDDA met on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, and members voted in support of him. The Board also appointed Ralph Hunt to the Planning Commission.

(Originally published in the April 12 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)