This
month we want to introduce our readers to our new Sheriff, David Weaver,
who was appointed on September 1 of this year by the County Commissioners
to complete the term of former Sheriff Acree, who resigned and accepted
a position with a State law enforcement agency.
Sheriff
Weaver has over twenty four years of experience with the Douglas County
Sheriff’s Office, where he started in September of 1981 in the
Detention Division as a deputy. He was steadily promoted and was serving
as Undersheriff at the time of his appointment to the top job. He also
completed the world renowned training program at the F.B.I. National
Academy located at the Quantico U.S. Marine Corps Base in Virginia,
a few miles south of Washington, D.C.
I
met with Sheriff Weaver and Public Information Officer Lieutenant Alan
Stanton on December 20, 2005, in the Robert A. Christensen Justice Center
in Castle Rock. Construction of a large addition was recently completed
and the Center should be able to serve the present and future needs
of the County. There are now sixteen court rooms, of which about twelve
are in regular use. The Center also contains the jail. I was surprised
to learn that on any given day there are 320 to 350 detainees occupying
the cells.
It
took only a few minutes with Sheriff Weaver and Lieutenant Stanton for
me to be impressed with their high level of commitment to serving the
255,000 residents of Douglas County. Sheriff Weaver believes that it
is important to connect with the residents at every level of service
in order to reduce crime and improve safety. According to Sheriff Weaver,
participation and assistance of citizens is part of our heritage. In
the early days, the local sheriff, when faced with a task that required
help in order to preserve the peace, would assemble a posse, citizens
deputized for the task at hand. Today, posses only survive in the movies,
but citizen assistance is a valuable tool for crime prevention. The
Sheriff Department has an extensive list of programs and services available
for the community and for the residents, some of which are explained
in more detail below. The motto of the Sheriff Department is Service
Excellence, and I have no doubt that the Department meets Sheriff Weaver’s
expectations.
There
are a few facts that should be of interest to our readers. The Sheriff’s
Office is staffed with 270 deputies and there are 143 support staff
positions. The County has been divided into ten districts, and it is
the Sheriff’s goal to have a patrol car on duty in every district.
He believes in maximizing visibility of law enforcement service. One
recent change is that officers who have a patrol car assigned to them
now take their cars home when off duty. It adds presence of law enforcement
to neighborhoods and the cost is negligible. Now 270 deputies might
sound like a lot, but there are many responsibilities that are not that
obvious. Some of the major areas are traffic safety and enforcement,
operation of the jail, criminal investigations, crime prevention and
emergencies. Douglas County encompasses about 844 square miles. The
County Sheriff is responsible for 67% of the County, which is a high
percentage. Many county sheriff departments only cover a small portion
of their county because most of the area is the responsibility of cities,
towns and villages. As the population of the County grows, we can expect
that our Sheriff’s Office will increase staffing in order to maintain
the present high level of service. One current plan is to add a sub-station
in the new Safeway Shopping Center at the corner of Rampart Range and
Waterton Road, an area that is expected to have significant population
growth in the near future.
Sheriff
Weaver is a strong believer in Neighborhood Watch programs. He said
that the residents know who lives there, know the neighborhood, and
are in the best position to be alerted to the presence of persons or
cars that don’t belong or activity that is suspicious. He wants
citizens to call the Sheriff’s Office whenever they see anything
suspicious. The Office takes every call seriously and checks it out.
It is one of the most effective ways of preventing crime. There are
approximately 325 neighborhood watch areas in our county, and the number
continues to grow. Areas include Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Littleton
and Parker, etc. If any reader would like to spearhead a Neighborhood
Watch program for their area, definitely give Sheriff Weaver a call.
The
Sheriff’s Office has a House Watch program. Residents who expect
to be away from their homes for a period of time can call the Office,
give the dates of the absence, and a deputy will check the house periodically.
I
was most impressed with Sheriff Weaver’s focus on the schools,
children and teenagers. In the large cities where I have lived, older
children in general and teenagers in particular either did not trust
the police or did not feel comfortable approaching a police officer.
Sheriff Weaver is committed to several programs that keep the Sheriff’s
Office in close contact with our younger citizens. A deputy is assigned
to every one of the eight high schools in the County. Three deputies
work with the DARE program and teach at the elementary schools that
have the program in their curriculum. Race-A-Cop, which uses a specially
prepared Camaro for drag racing at Bandimere, is aimed at young drivers
and emphasizes that racing belongs on a supervised track, not on roads
and highways.
Well,
what about crime in the County? High on the list are burglaries and
theft from cars. Many burglaries result when residents leave their garage
doors open. It is an invitation to thieves, and the Sheriff asks that
we all keep our garage doors closed. If your neighbor has a habit of
leaving the door up, share your concerns with him or her.
Car thefts can be reduced by not leaving desirable items, like cell
phones, purses, etc, in the car. With the cold weather, one problem
is what the Office calls puffers, cars that have been started and are
left running to warm up. It only takes a few seconds for a car to disappear
from your driveway when it is running with the keys in the ignition.
Sheriff
Weaver, and I am sure that is also the case with respect to the other
officers and deputies, has an excellent background and years of experience
in law enforcement. I was surprised to learn that our Sheriff position
is an elected office subject to term limits. Sheriff Weaver is eligible
to run for reelection in November of 2006 and again in 2010, but then
is term limited. It doesn’t make sense to me to lose all that
experience and commitment as long as Sheriff Weaver is willing to shoulder
the responsibility of insuring the safety of over 255,000 residents.
We
plan to provide periodic updates of programs and projects of the Sheriff’s
Office, recommendations as to how residents of the county can improve
safety and health, and other relevant information published by the Sheriff’s
Office.
The
Plum Creek Kennel Club, Sheriff Weaver and the K-9 Unit, and the donated
dogs. Field excercises demonstrate the skills of the K-9 Unit.
On
December 28, 2005, I attended a Canine Corps graduation at the Douglas
County Justice Center. The two “graduates”, Marco and Leon,
Belgian Malinois Shepherd Dogs, and the donors, Actress Pam Grier, a
resident of Franktown, and the Plum Creek Kennel Club participated in
the ceremonies.
A
K-9 Unit excels at apprehension of criminals, especially those who are
armed, and in search and rescue missions. Sheriff David Weaver wants
to expand the K-9 Unit and have at least one team working on each shift
to increase safety and security for the citizens of Douglas County.
The
Belgian Malinois is a variety of the Belgian Shepherd Dog that was developed
about 100 years ago. It is smaller than a German Shepherd Dog, from
22 to 26 inches in height, but preferred because of their protective
nature and high prey drive that make them ideal for police and search
and rescue work. They are strong, alert, agile, and full of life, as
reported on the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office web site, www.dcsheriff.net.
They can exert a muzzle pressure of 850 pounds, a rather intimidating
number. Each dog costs approximately $5,000 and is obtained from a special
kennel. The dogs have been evaluated for their temperament and have
completed basic obedience training. They also come with a guarantee
of suitability and are replaced if it develops during training that
the dog is not suitable, which can be for a variety of reasons, some
as ordinary as a dog’s reluctance to go up or down stairways.
A protective vest, a necessity since the dogs are often used to apprehend
armed criminals, costs $1500. It goes without saying that the Sheriff’s
Office is grateful to Pam Grier and the Plum Creek Kennel Club for their
generosity, which will benefit all of the residents of the county.
|
left:
Actress
Pam Grier, a resident of Franktown, and the Plum Creek Kennel
Club donated the dogs to the K-9 Unit
|
The
donors, Pam Grier and the Plum Creek Kennel Club, were given commemorative
plaques in recognition of their contributions. Pam Grier said that she
appreciated living in Douglas County and the safety and security provided
by the Sheriff’s Office. Alan Krenek, President of the Plum Creek
Kennel Club, stated that his organization wanted to contribute to a
worthwhile community endeavor.
Following
the official ceremonies, there was an exercise program on the lawn where
the two graduates showed their stuff. It was truly amazing to see the
speed and strength of the dogs. Yet it was a controlled environment,
and the officer who was the dog’s handler was able to direct the
dog and stay in charge of the apprehension. Hard to imagine the hours
of training it takes to accomplish that level of performance.
Our
thanks to Sheriff David Weaver and Information Officer Lieutenant Alan
Stanton for inviting us the this unique graduation ceremony.
Officers
of the K-9 Unit with their dogs.
