On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at 6 p.m. the Town of Nederland held a special Town Hall meeting to discuss the current situation with recruiting attempts for the Nederland Police Department (NPD).
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On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at 6 p.m. the Town of Nederland held a special Town Hall meeting to discuss the current situation with recruiting attempts for the Nederland Police Department (NPD). Nederland has relied on Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) to provide nighttime coverage and respond to priority one calls since Marshal Jennifer Fine-Loven’s resignation in September 2022. The townspeople voted in support of tax increases on November 8, 2022, in order to direct revenue to support the NPD.
In July of 2022, Marshal Fine-Loven addressed the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) about issues affecting staffing and recruiting for the NPD. By the end of September all of Nederland’s officers had resigned except for Police Clerk Troy Hendricks. BCSO has been providing extra duty daytime officers when available, in addition to the current contract Nederland has with BCSO for nighttime coverage.
On Thursday, December 1, 2022, the BOT publicly interviewed Detective Sergeant Daniel Gledhill for the position of Town Marshal for Nederland. Town Administrator Miranda Fisher, with assistance from Estes Park Police Chief David Hayes, had endured a 90 day recruitment process, receiving over 70 applicants, pre-screening 42 and interviewing 19 of them, before finding Gledhill; and after his interview and “meet and greet” with residents, it had appeared that the months of hard work would finally pay off.
On Friday, December 2, 2022, it was announced that Gledhill had accepted the position and that his first day as Chief of the NPD would be January 17, 2023. Fisher and the BOT were hopeful that recruiting and training at least five officers for the NPD would be easier with a Marshal in place.
Throughout this process the official Nederland Colorado Town Hall website and social media sites have had periodic updates posted to keep residents informed. Though Gledhill had accepted the position, the update for January, 2023 still stated that, though the Town remains focused on rebuilding the NPD, “there is an option for BCSO to take over policing if we are unable to fund the local police department”.
The option to contract with BCSO was not a popular prospect six months ago, with residents voicing in public comment during local government meetings that the community policing provided by NPD was the preferred law enforcement method for Nederland. On November 8, Nederland town electors voted to approve several tax initiatives that aimed to raise revenue meant to fund the NPD.
Town of Nederland Issue 2J increased Nederland’s sales tax by an additional 0.25%. The ballot language specified that the revenue would fund law enforcement personnel, equipment, and other facilities, as well as personnel to support other Town services.
Town of Nederland Issue 2L increased the occupational tax for short-term rentals by $2.00, totally $4.00 that is charged per night, per bedroom. The ballot language specifies the revenue as being for Health and Human Services programs and activities and also for law enforcement services.
The BOT approved and adopted several resolutions after the November election which dictated over the allocation of the revenue for the new tax initiatives. Trustees voted to allocate 99% of the revenue from the occupational tax increase to the Health and Services Fund, with the remaining 1% to stay in the town’s General Fund, to be allocated from the General Fund to law enforcement services, voting against creating a special NPD Fund.
On Monday, January 9, Gledhill notified Fisher and the Town of Nederland that he was declining the Town Marshal position for personal reasons. A letter from Gledhill expressed regret at having to deny the position and thanked Fisher and the people of Nederland for the consideration and hospitality. An official statement from the Town of Nederland aimed to remind residents that BCSO was still providing their services.
The January 31 meeting was intended for the local government to share with residents information regarding the current status of the NPD and on recruitment efforts. Concerns over the future of law enforcement in Nederland, mainly dissecting the choice between rebuilding the NPD and contracting with BCSO, were also discussed.
After Mayor Billy Giblin addressed the crowd of over 17 residents at the Nederland Community Center, and over 25 attending online, he provided a brief timeline of Nederland’s law enforcement issues over the last six months and then formally introduced himself and the BOT. Town Administrator Fisher and Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen were also in attendance.
The Mayor, BOT, and Town Staff heard comments from the public for over an hour, which featured support of community policing in Nederland by rebuilding the NPD. Those who desired for the town to have its own police force raised concerns about the response times, familiarity with the community, and coverage in an emergency if Nederland were to contract full-time with BCSO.
Long-time residents spoke of Nederland’s law enforcement issues having persisted for years, with the discussion always having gone “back and forth”. It was noted that the town has seen horrible examples of Marshals, as well as great ones. It was also mentioned that a lot of residents made their opinions on the matter clear when they voted to approve the proposed tax increases.
Some residents spoke of past experiences of growing up in small towns that contracted their law enforcement out to County-run substations, noting that sometimes County budgets and decisions can negatively affect those substations, sometimes closing them completely.
Despite this opposition to contracting with BCSO, there was a large amount of support from the public for the prospect. Those in support of BCSO spoke of personal experiences with deputies which contradicted concerns raised of BCSO officers failing to provide decent response times and the individualized care often attributed to community policing.
Some who commented noted that contracting with BCSO would be a more fiscally responsible move for the town to make. It was also assumed that BCSO would more easily be able to recruit officers to the mountains, considering their training resources and size of their agency.
The community was also able to ask questions directly to Sheriff Curtis Johnson and Operations Division Chief Jim Chamberlin concerning how fast BCSO can staff Nederland, the coverage that BCSO will provide, and the cost of that coverage.
Chamberlin assured those in attendance for the Town Hall meeting that BCSO would be able to staff Nederland with a full-time Sergeant, four Deputies, a halftime Detective, and partial Animal Control in eight months to a year. The Sergeant, an experienced officer who assumes the role of a Police Chief or Marshal, works with the contract Town for three to five years and, if Nederland chooses to contract with BCSO, can be implemented to Town by this summer.
BCSO detailed how by contracting with them Nederland would not only obtain stability in their law enforcement staffing and coverage, but would also obtain access to records management from BCSO, built into the contract. Nederland could add Animal Control to their contract, as well as receive backend support, and investigative support for case work and prosecution.
BCSO also has access to a countywide co-responder program, so a mental health co-responder will accompany officers when required. Nederland has also received a DOLA grant in order to hire their own support officer who would work alongside BCSOs co-responder.
In regards to the question of response time and coverage, BCSO stated that Nederland would have the option to decide these factors based on the amount of officers desired to be staffed, and could even dictate how far outside the Town their dedicated officers are allowed to respond.
As for the matter of BCSOs commitments to a contracted town during a Countywide emergency, such as a fire or flood, Chamberlin and Johnson assured residents that their officers would not leave their contract town. During the Marshal Fire BCSO worked as the Town of Superior’s law enforcement and provided service and aid to the community alongside their fire protection district. BCSO was also able to mobilize over a dozen backup deputies during the disaster.
It was also noted that BCSO would work alongside Town Staff to help ensure that Nederland has their own proper emergency management system in place.
Some residents desired to know how BCSO would provide stability for the Town of Nederland. It was expressed that NPDs issue with retaining staff would cause the department to have to repeatedly “start from scratch”, leaving it perpetually understaffed. BCSO believes they would create stability for law enforcement in Nederland by consistently providing coverage.
Johnson spoke of BCSO providing their officers with state-of-the-art training, career growth opportunities, a desirable work environment, attractive retirement plans, health insurance, and benefits. Additionally, being a bigger agency allows BCSO to be able to afford raising salaries to meet the national bar.
The projected cost of a yearly contract with BCSO to provide a Sergeant and four Deputies would be $877,000, which comes just under Nederland’s 2023 budget of $1.1 million for the NPD. This projected cost does not include outside expenses, such as some equipment costs and the rent for a dedicated operational space, which Nederland must provide as per the contract. Other costs such as vehicle costs are included in the cost for each assigned Deputy.
The Town of Nederland would need to provide 12 months notice in order to back out of their contract with BCSO. A question was raised concerning the current collection of tax revenue meant for law enforcement; the BOT stated that the tax will continue to be collected as it is allocated to “law enforcement and other town services”, not to NPD directly. The tax revenue can still be used to fund contracting with BCSO.
The BOT addressed that their attempt to recruit for the NPD had failed; Fisher noted that another attempt to recruit during another 90 day process could just produce the same result. Though the BOT and the public appeared to be convinced that contracting with BCSO was the correct course of action moving forward, the public clearly desired to see a cost breakdown and analysis of the hypothetical contract.
The Nederland Board of Trustees will continue to discuss this matter at future meetings. The BOT meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, February 7, at 7 p.m. and can now be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center.
For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-oftrustees