On Thursday, August 18, 2022, Marshal Jennifer Fine-Loven officially resigned from the Nederland Police Department (NPD) as Town Marshal, with her last day of service to the Town of Nederland being September 30, 2022.

Marshal Fine-Loven attended Westfield State University in Massachusetts where she studied criminal justice before transferring to CU Boulder where she became a reserve officer for the City of Boulder and a reserve Animal Control officer with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).

Fine-Loven was stationed in Lyons, Niwot, and Superior in her six years of full-time service with BCSO. She was promoted to Lieutenant of the reserve unit during her time with BCSO before being recruited to Platteville, where in three years she rose to Detective and to Supervisor.

After two years of service in Mead, Fine-Loven met Chief Larry Johns and was recruited to Nederland in June, 2019.

On Tuesday, April 12, Marshal Fine- Loven, then a Sergeant, addressed the newly elected Mayor and three new Board of Trustees (BOT) at an Orientation Meeting. The purpose of the meeting was for the Mayor, Trustees, and Town Staff to make their formal introductions and review the rules and responsibilities of a town’s BOT.

Fine-Loven, in her introduction, spoke of her goals moving forward as Town Marshal, detailing the NPD’s need for body cameras and for computer systems in their patrol vehicles. She spoke of the need to address recruiting the department aggressively and the need to have a discussion with the new BOT about police salaries.

Marshal Fine-Loven took her Oath of Office on Tuesday, April 19, taking over for retired Marshal Larry Johns on May 6. Marshal Fine-Loven was sworn in by then-Mayor Julian Taylor, who had been sworn in that same night along with the three new Trustees.

“I have a lot of ideas that I’m still formulating and some I’ve already implemented,” Fine-Loven told The Mountain-Ear in an interview on May 2, 2022. “I’m working on setting up a support group for parents for teen use of marijuana within Ned.”

“I’ve also already met with some of the people at the Teen Center about working on a grant for some sort of martial arts up here; something for the kids who need some structure outside of the home, where they can get them into something that is going to require the use of their mind and body and spirit.”

“I’m also working on finding ways for the officers to connect with Nederland youth outside of uniform,” Fine-Loven added.

Marshal Fine-Loven, while focused on programs to benefit Nederland’s youth, was also dedicated to better serving those dealing with homelessness, mental illnesses, opioid abuse, and domestic violence.

“I’m working with really trying to figure out ways to better serve the transient community that’s coming through. I’ve reached out to the city of Boulder, to one of their officers that is part of their homeless outreach program to see if we can actually get a program or policy here. Something so we can be more prepared to deal with it,” Fine- Loven said.

“I worked with NPD when I was doing traveler, camper, and homeless outreach. I would go out into the forest and talk to people, educate them on wildfire safety, stuff like that,” Claudia Schauffler, who owns and operates The Shop at 20 Lakeview Drive, told The Mountain- Ear about her history with the NPD and with Marshal Fine-Loven.

“They had my cell phone number, I had theirs, and there was a lot of work back and forth, especially in the evenings. I was pretty immersed into the NPD and I really got an understanding of how much they meant to the town, what they meant to me as a business owner, and how different it was from anything I had ever worked with before.”

On Thursday, August 18, 2022, the Town of Nederland posted their official statement on Marshal Fine-Loven’s resignation on their website and on social media.

The statement reads: “The Town is fully committed to rebuilding the Nederland Police Department and is looking to bring in an interim Marshal as soon as possible.”

“In addition, the Town is currently working with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office to continue to provide extra duty coverage and will be working with a consultant to complete an extensive recruitment campaign.”

“We want to thank Marshal Fine- Loven for her years of service with the NPD and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”

“Jenn is exceptional, and it’s not just me that says that,” Schauffler said in her interview. “In every interaction she has out here she’s been thoughtful; she knows people. That’s how I was trained in the medical field, to meet people where they are, and Jenn is very much that person. It’s very different from what you see in policing elsewhere.”

“To lose Jenn is just a huge step backwards. If she’s good enough to keep us afloat until the BOT can ‘regroup and rebuild’ the department then she’s good enough to stay in my book. I cannot, in my mind, reconcile it any other way,” Schauffler stated.

“Something I respect so much about Chief Fine-Loven is that she’s objectively concerned about what is right,” former NPD Officer J.P. Niehaus said in his July 21 interview with The Mountain-Ear. “She isn’t concerned with what serves her or what serves people from certain interest groups; that’s the type of cop she is. That’s who she is as an investigator, that’s who she’s been to me as a mentor.”

“Every encounter I have with anybody and everybody has the chance to impact them literally for the rest of their life. I can’t change the world but I can impact them; whatever they’re going through I can change that experience for them,” Marshal Fine-Loven continued in her May 2, 2022, interview, when asked what lessons she had learned that she will carry with her through her career.

“Don’t apply logic. The biggest mistake you can make as a police officer is trying to apply logic to anything that you’re dealing with.”

“Things can change at any moment. So you really do learn to appreciate and value life.”