The Nederland Police Department (NPD) provided an overview of this year’s Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD). Though there was certainly a call for some police response over the weekend, Nederland officers worked alongside Colorado Rangers and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) to provide a safe and relatively calm festival.

A total of twenty-eight tickets were written over the weekend, with only six of those tickets being for speeding infractions with the rest going to parking violations.

There were only a total of five medical calls, all on Saturday and most being related to injuries incurred during the Coffin Race. There were reportedly no injuries or loss of consciousness due to over-indulgence and no one had to be transported out of the festival.

Overall there was a disturbance involving threats from a local to FDGD staff as well as a reported theft from a festival tent occurring late Friday night. There was only one arrest made for a domestic disturbance late on Saturday night, after festivities had already died down.

All of Nederland’s police officers worked the full three days of the festival and were assisted by Colorado Rangers and BCSO. There were six Colorado Rangers on patrol for Friday, sixteen for Saturday, and ten for Sunday. While the BCSO provided one additional officer for Friday, five for Saturday, and two for Sunday.

NPD worked with Public Works for any pre-planning and snow removal required before the festival; they also coordinated with the Nederland Volunteer Fire Department regarding planning and radio operations. During the festival the NPD utilized the Indian Peaks Radio Club as their “Event Communications Center” to handle dispatch operations. They also were assisted by CC Enterprises, the traffic control company hired by FDGD organizers, who were always available with extra cones and caution tape.

“Parking is always a problem, even when lots are full,” Marshal Larry Johns told The Mountain-Ear. “I believe all identified lots filled up. We towed one car; we could have towed more but we did not have a truck to do that.”

NPD assisted other service departments throughout the weekend on a few minor incidents. Officers assisted the BCSO on a family quarrel on festival grounds and assisted the Forest Service on a driver possibly under the influence of drugs on Boulder Canyon. But overall it was an uneventful weekend in terms of any minor criminality, with the biggest concern being open alcohol consumption on the street.

“As you know the Town has a no open container law for alcohol. The COVID law for package liquor is still active and will be until 2025. This allowed people to leave bars with sealed drinks then open them on the street,” Johns explained. “It did not end up being a big problem, but it’s not how things would normally go. People can’t leave the beer tent area with open containers and walk the street. Hopefully the town can address this with businesses in the future year and ask for their cooperation in not selling to-go drinks.”

“Overall this event turned out pretty much like I expected out of everyone involved.” Johns stated. “With any large event there is potential for big or catastrophic problems. This year we were fortunate that did not happen.”