Douglas County Colorado Sheriff Appoints Chief Deputy

Sheriff Tony Spurlock Appoints CBI Deputy Director to Chief Deputy

Posted on July 28, 2014

Sheriff Spurlock will appoint Steve Johnson to Chief Deputy at a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) promotion ceremony on August 4, 2014. Steve Johnson will be leaving his current position as Deputy Director of Investigations for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 1^st to join Sheriff Spurlock’s command staff and oversee the Law Enforcement Bureau of DCSO.
“I view the work of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office as some of the best in the state and beyond,” Johnson said. “To join this team is a dream.”
As deputy director of the CBI, Johnson led major state investigations including high-profile murders, drug rings, public corruption and more. As Sheriff Spurlock’s Chief Deputy of the Law Enforcement Bureau, Johnson will oversee Patrol and Investigations.
Sheriff Spurlock says “Steve Johnson brings with him extensive law enforcement experience and knowledge that will benefit the citizens and employees of Douglas County”.
Johnson has worked in law enforcement for 34 years. He joined the CBI as an agent in 2001 following a 21 year career at Littleton Police Department. He and his wife have lived in Douglas County for 28 years and have two children.
CBI Director Ronald Sloan says the news that Johnson is joining the DCSO is bittersweet.
“Although this represents a loss to the citizens of Colorado as a whole, it is a tremendous gain for the community of Douglas County…His performance in providing guidance and support of everything from the most complex to the seemingly menial investigations and projects has been nothing short of exceptional.”
Promotion/ swearing-in ceremony:
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office 4000 Justice Way Castle Rock, CO 80109
Monday, August 4, 2014 @ 9:00 A.M

About Steve Johnson
Steve began his career with the Littleton Police Department in 1980. He retired from the Littleton Police Department in 2001 and joined the Colorado Bureau of Investigation as a field agent assigned to the Denver Major Crimes Unit. He also served as the agent-in-charge of that unit and as division director before becoming deputy director for the Denver, Pueblo and Grand Junction investigative units. He was named Police Officer of the Year for his leadership in the 18^th Judicial District’s Critical Incident Team. He also received the CBI’s Award of Excellence for his service during the 2006 Platte Canyon High School tragedy.

Deposit Bail: A house of cards built on sand

Early this past week a bill was introduced in the State Legislature entitled Concerning the establishment of an Alternative Bond Program; A.K.A. SB 11-186.  This bill provides that a judicial district may establish a deposit bail bond program that would work as follows: A judge would set the amount and type of bail that a defendant had to post. The new alternative bond would be posted directly to the court; not through a bail agent, and would be administered by the pretrial services agency. The bill stipulates that 50% of the money would go toward the administration of the program and the other 50% would be available to be returned to the defendant unless there are court costs, fines or restitution to be paid. Make no mistake about it, little will ever be returned to a defendant as there are almost always court costs and fines assessed.

A hearing was conducted before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the room was so full of interested citizens that the meeting had to be moved the the old Supreme Court room. At one point, committee Chair, Senator Morgan Carroll asked all who opposed the bill to stand. Almost all stood. Opponents and proponents had the opportunity to testify. Bail agents said the bill would put them out of business. Insurance companies said the they would leave the state. Proponents of the bill testified that would not happen.

Interesting. Small business owners said that they would go out of business. Companies that insure the small businesses said that they would leave the state. However, government lawyers said that would not be the case. Who knows more about whether they can remain in business than the small business owner and the companies that work with them?

The proponents also said that the bill would increase public safety. This will be accomplished by “monitoring” the defendants more closely than bail agents do. What this really means is that people on deposit bonds who are supervised by pretrial services will be forced to pay for services such as meetings, random blood and/urine tests for alcohol and other substances. These are people that have yet to be convicted.

Denver Post columnist, Bill Johnson wrote and article Switch in bail-bond rules would ensure less safety calling this bill “one of the most appalling pieces of legislation of the session.”  ”…people basically will have to wear the scarlet letter jewelry of the convicted, and undergo and pay for classes and tests despite being convicted of absolutely nothing…SB 186 is nothing more than a desperate money grab by a hopelessly cash-strapped state government that for some reason now believes it can do a job that is being effectively handled by private companies and citizens.”

Despite the overwhelming opposition in the room, the bill made it through the committee by a vote of 6 to 2. Does government really listen to the people anymore?

Douglas County Sheriff's Office announces Tony Spurlock appointed as new Douglas County Sheriff

Tony Spurlock Appointed Sheriff of Douglas County

Posted on July 23, 2014

Today, Undersheriff Tony Spurlock was unanimously appointed as the 33rd Sheriff of Douglas County by the Board of County Commissioners to fill the recent vacancy left by former Sheriff David A. Weaver.  Earlier this week, Weaver was appointed to the Board of County Commissioners, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Commissioner Jack Hilbert.  Former Sheriff Weaver said he is relieved to know that DCSO is being left in Spurlock’s capable hands.  Weaver expects a seamless transition because of Spurlock’s vast experience, knowledge and passion for his community.

Spurlock has served Douglas County for over 33 years and brings a wealth of knowledge to the position of Sheriff.  He started with DCSO in 1980 as a dispatcher and then rose through all the commissioned ranks.  Over the years he worked his way up through various positions, including commander of the Detentions, Patrol, and Investigations Divisions, Bureau Chief and Undersheriff for former Sheriff Weaver.  Sheriff Spurlock is a Colorado native and he lives in Douglas County with his wife, Stacy.

As Undersheriff, Spurlock oversaw the daily operations of 700 deputies, civilian employees and volunteers, as well as the 48 million dollar sheriff’s office annual budget.  He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy Session 207, the FBI, Secret Service and DEA Command Schools, and he attended Metro State College.  Sheriff Spurlock has served as an instructor for the Colorado District Attorneys Council and the County Sheriffs of Colorado.  He was appointed as Chair of the Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Treatment Board by Governor Bill Owens’ Office in 2001 and has served as the chair of the 18th Judicial District Victim Assistance Law Enforcement Fund.  He was named Officer of the Year by the 18th Judicial District in 2002.  Sheriff Spurlock served as the Commander of the Douglas County SWAT Team for 5 years and has been the leader of the Critical Incident Team of the 18th Judicial District.

Spurlock said he is extremely honored and humbled to be appointed as the 33rd Sheriff of Douglas County.  He went on to say that becoming sheriff has been a lifelong dream and he feels privileged to work with all the hardworking, dedicated men and woman of DCSO who serve their community with pride and dignity every day.

DCSO has an excellent reputation as a leader in the law enforcement field and Spurlock intends to use what he has learned from his law enforcement experience and from the four previous sheriffs to continue, preserve and enhance that reputation.  He believes that building partnerships with other law enforcement agencies and with the community as a whole is essential to maintain the public safety and quality of life that residents have enjoyed in Douglas County.

CODE RED Emergency MAss Notification System Updated

This is an announcement put out by the Douglas County Colorado Sheriff's Department.  The CODE RED system enables the Douglas County Sheriff's Department; as well as the Castle Rock Police Department, Parker Police Department, Lone Tree Police Department, Colorado State Patrol and numerous other First Responders to send out mass emergency notifications to citizens' mobile devices, land lines and emails.  

Emergency Mass Notification System

CodeRED Emergency Notification System for Douglas County, Colorado

***  IF YOU REGISTERED WITH OUR PREVIOUS MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM THROUGH THE DOUGLAS COUNTY OR DOUGLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE WEBSITES, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO REGISTER AGAIN.   ***

***  Data entered into the previous system should transfer to CodeRED’s database automatically, but re-entering your information manually will reduce the possibility of errors. All information collected is confidential.   ***

Visit: CodeRED Online Registration Form

---

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has upgraded its emergency mass notification system.  The system, CodeRED, is a high-speed telephone emergency notification service allowing public safety agencies the ability to deliver pre-recorded information to targeted areas within the county. The system may be implemented in situations such as police activity in an area, a lost child (Amber Alert), wildfires, or any other incident in which residents in the immediate area and surrounding areas would need to take appropriate steps to safeguard life and property.

CodeRED will attempt to deliver the message to each registered number up to 3 times in order to maximize the number of delivered messages. It can deliver the pre-recorded message to a live person or an answering machine. The message will consist of six key elements:

1. Statement that it is a CodeRED emergency message from Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
2. Time and date of the call.
3. Scope of the emergency.
4. Area(s) affected by emergency.
5. Action that needs to be taken.
6. Directions for obtaining more information.

Although many landline telephones are automatically registered with the emergency notification database, you are encouraged to go online and register your own personal information. By doing so, you will be ensuring that the data pertaining to you and your home is as accurate as possible. You know where you live – don’t let the safety of you and your home depend on data purchased from a third party. Assure your information is accurate by going online and registering. You will be asked for your name, address, primary phone number (which should be your home number), and a secondary phone number. This secondary number could be your cell, VoIP, work, or any other telephone number you would like to be called on if an emergency notification call is initiated in the area where your home is located. You may register as many phone numbers to an address as you wish. Sorry, pager numbers will NOT receive these calls, so please don’t use those as a secondary number. Please encourage friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers to submit their contact information.  Businesses should also register. Because there are laws about calling more than one number associated with a business, please register the one number you want called if an emergency affects your business.  Please make sure the number provided is one that actually gets answered by a person or answering machine, not an automated call processing system.
MISSING LATITUDE OR LONGITUDE ERROR: If Code Red is unable to locate your address based on what you entered, a window will come up informing you that it requires a latitude and longitude for your address. There is a link under this message that will direct you to a map where you can zoom in and find your street.  You can also click and hold down the left mouse button and drag the map screen in any direction to get closer to where your street is located.  Once you find your street, you can zoom in further and you will begin to see street names. Pinpoint your residence as accurately as possible, then double click on that point and the map software will add a star. If the location is correct, click the SUBMIT button. Then navigate back to your information screen. You must click the SUBMIT button near the bottom of that screen to add your information to the database. You will then see a “thank you” screen, and you are done!
NOTE: The map point does not have to be exact; just put it as close as possible to where you think your house is located.
Questions: Contact us at 303-663-7747 or public_notify@douglas911.org
DISCLAIMER: The CodeRED™ notification service (the “Service”) is provided as a supplemental emergency communication method and should not be relied upon exclusively.  Neither the Douglas County Emergency Telephone Service Authority (the “Authority”)nor Douglas County (the “County”) make any warranties of any kind, either express or implied, with regards to the Service, including without limitation, warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or delivery of any information posted or transmitted by the Authority through the CodeRED™ System.  There is no guarantee that a notification will reach any particular resident upon activation.  By providing the Service, neither the Authority nor the County assume a duty of care, nor do they waive any of the protections of the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (§ 24-10-101, et seq., C.R.S.). Neither the Authority nor the County, nor any of their affiliates, agents, contractors, or respective employees, shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, reliance, punitive, or consequential damages or for lost profits or revenues or lost data or costs of cover relating to the Service, regardless of the legal theory under which liability is asserted.

Bond Squad Blog: Newly Released Medina Alert App for Hit & Run Incidents

FYI: Here's something everyone should have on their mobile device. In response to the dramatic increase in Hit & Run incidents over the past year, this app keeps you updated on Medina Alerts. It also gives you the ability to provide critical information to the Police, Sheriffs Departments and First Responders in the event of an emergency. The Medina Alert Program officially released its Hit & Run
Notification App Available on iPhone, Android & Blackberry.

Denver,
CO. (June 24, 2014) – The Medina Alert is excited to announce the
release of the latest tool to encourage the public to partner with local
law enforcement agencies in keeping our communities safe and being good
witnesses in the cases of hit & runs.
The Medina Alert teamed
with mobile app developer Epic Apps, to bring this advanced technology
to the citizens of Colorado and eventually the United States of America;
as this first of its kind app dedicated to Hit & Runs is scalable
to the city and/or state you are in. “This is really a one of a kind
technology that allows the user to be a good witness, remain safe while
doing so and easily submit tips via email, photos, video and voice
recordings. The Medina Alert App will help us continue to assist law
enforcement with creative communications tools to challenge the
impossible and solve the unsolvable” said Larry L. Stevenson, Creator of
The Medina Alert-Hit & Run Communication System, “an extremely
important feature within the app is the ability to send push alerts to
our users which will allow us to instantly galvanize our users to assist
in the search and reporting of a Hit & Run vehicle and or suspect,
also the ability to track where serious bodily injury/fatal hit and runs
have occurred and if they have been solved or remain unsolved this is
the premise in which the Medina Alert Program was built – Instant
communication with clear solvability factors.”
* Through the
“Donate” button you can you can make a tax deductible donation to The
Medina Alert as it is a 501c3. 100% of donations go towards victim’s
assistance, witness/Tipster reward, hit and run research-awareness and
education.
The Medina Alert mobile app is immediately available as a
FREE download on the App Store for Apple ® devices, on Google Play™ for
Android devices and on the BlackBerry App World for select BlackBerry
devices and MobinQ.
Download your FREE app now and join The Medina
Alert in helping law enforcement ensure our communities are a safer
place to live, work, walk, play and ride.

Bail Bonds Customer Service

Greetings All!  Occasionally, we come across an article, posting, story, etc. that just seems to echo our thoughts.  Here's a blog post from someone near and dear to our hearts that we just had to share.  This was written by fellow Bondsman and Father in Law to our founder; Al Perna.  Al's perspective on the Bail industry(and on life in general); is one of ignoring the cover to check out the book within.


"Ask anyone what a bail bond agent does and they are likely to say that he “gets people out of jail”. Others may say that he sometimes gets people out of jail and puts them back in jail like that guy on TV.
During the past month, it has become clear to me that Bail Bonds is a customer service business. A good bail bond agent provides a service…to several different customers. Let me explain.
At least 8 times in the past month, I have received a call from a person who has learned that he had a warrant for his arrest and wanted to take care of it. All 8 cases played out in the same manner, so I will use one as an example to make my point.
A young man called me and told me that he learned that he had a warrant for his arrest and wanted to find out how to take care of it. A deputy sheriff had called him and told him that there was a warrant and he needed to turn himself in at the jail. He wanted to find out if there was a better way to handle the situation.
Most people believe that an arrest warrant is the first step in going to jail. I tend to think of it as the first step in getting before the court. The warrant commands law enforcement to seize the person and bring him before the court. So, it’s more about going to court. Going to jail is incidental. A big incidental.
In speaking with the young man, I obtained his personal information and was able to confirm that there was an arrest warrant for a property crime and that the court had set a bond of $2000. I told him the best way that I know to handle the matter. I know of a particular facility that is best and handling “walk-thru” bonds. We would meet there, he would be “booked”, I would post the bond and he would be assigned a date to return to court. Yes, he would be “going to jail” but he would not have to stay there until court. The bond would allow him to be free of custody until and appear in court as directed. This could all be accomplished in about two hours.
We did accomplish this just as I did with the other seven people who called me. Indeed, word had spread and I am receiving more calls from people who heard about it from a friend or attorney and we are taking care of their warrants.
It’s obvious that the person with the warrant is a customer and the service that I provide is post the bond. However, there are several other, less obvious, customers.
The first is law enforcement. People are contacting me and I am arranging to bring them to law enforcement instead of law enforcement going out and looking for them.
The second customer is the jail. I know when the jails are busiest and when they are not. I schedule the “arrest” for times when the jail is the slowest so that we are in and out faster. This benefits the jail as it spreads out the work load.
The third customer is the court. The court has ordered that the defendant be brought in to answer to the charges. I help arrange the meeting.
The fourth customer is the victim of the crime. The victim deserves to have his day in court. The only way that happens is if the defendant shows up. I make that arrangement, as well.
Finally, law enforcement may be a customer again. If the defendant fails to appear, the court will issue another arrest warrant as well as a forfeiture notice. I must seize the person and bring him before the court or I must personally pay the full amount of the bail. You can bet that I’m going to do my best to find the person so that I don’t have to pay.
So, Bail Bonds is clearly a customer service business. If only more people understood this."

Oftentimes; in the course of our work as Bail Bondsmen, we wear many hats and must be adept at switching roles quickly.  For example: numerous times per day, we will immediately switch from speaking with a defendant and their loved ones; who may need us to assume more of a counseling role than anything else, to speaking with Judges, Court Clerks, Attorneys, Law Enforcement, Jail Personnel, etc.; who typically are "just about the facts", to back to the counselor role in assisting the defendant and their loved ones.

As Al's blog post demonstrates; while our generic role is Customer Service, who that customer is goes far beyond the cover and is what comprises the book.


Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
BondSquadBailBonds.com





                 

Colorado HB13-1129 & PreTrial Release Initiatives: New Lipstick on the same old Pig

We read a recent Blog post by Brian Nairin; honors graduate from Loyola Law School, President and CEO of AIA and nationally recognized expert in Bail Law, that hit the heart of the PreTrial Release/Deposit Bail argument so well, we just had to share.  Here is Brian's Blog posting:

"Pretrial Release Agencies: Bail Bond Myths? Propaganda? Or Just Misguided Fantasy?

I just finished reading the latest piece of fictional research being disseminated by the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), and I thought I would share my thoughts on it.  While I do enjoy a good crime novel every once and a while, this specific story fell short in both storyline and substance.  And while I don’t typically like to ruin a good story or give away the end, I am not really worried about that here because to be honest, there is nothing new to this latest story that hasn’t been said previously. 

PJI once again has decided to put time, effort, and more likely than not, your tax-dollars into disseminating anti-bail propaganda to try and discredit the commercial bail bond industry.  For those of you who don’t know who PJI is, they are the leading advocate for the elimination of all commercial bail in every instance of release pending trial.  So it is no mystery why they continuously go after and try and undermine the commercial bail industry and its proven effectiveness.   In this latest attempt, they have gone after several research studies.  Their focus is on discrediting and pointing out “so-called” limitations in not one, not two, but SIX different research studies that all prove that financially secured release is more effective than other forms of release (specifically unsecured release).   And please know that these research studies weren’t conducted in the back office of a bail bond agents retail operation, as it almost feels like the PJI community would like you to believe.  But rather the studies that PJI is trying to discredit are coming from some of the nation’s leading research and criminal justice experts and Universities, including The University of Arizona, The US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and The University of Chicago to name a few.

What is eerily missing from this story is a single study that shows that unsecured release is the most effective form of pretrial release.  Why is that?  Because one doesn’t exist.  Why is that? Because anyone who looks at comparing these forms of release (like the six studies referenced in the study PJI is disseminating) all come to the same conclusion…that financially secured bail outperforms unsecured bail in appearance rates and recidivism rates every time.  Remember, we aren’t talking about a single study; we are talking about 6 studies. 

As one of its conclusions, PJI suggests that more research be conducted to determine the best way to manage pretrial populations.  But to be honest, do we really need more research to show us that financially secured release is the most effective form of release only to have PJI than discredit the research because it didn’t help push their anti-commercial bail agenda.  I don’t think so. 

What I would like to see is PJI look in the mirror at themselves.  They need to do a study on their performance and share those results with the entire criminal justice system (which by the way, they never seem to want to do).  They need to answer a few questions… questions like, how effective are they at ensuring someone released through one of their pretrial service agencies is showing up for court?  How effective are they at ensuring that someone released through one of their programs is not out committing additional crimes?  And most importantly, how effective are they at going out and getting someone when they don’t show up for court?  Oh wait, I forgot, they don’t go out and get them. That is not their job.  Instead it falls on an overworked and undermanned law enforcement community to clean up Pretrial’s failures. 

When and if PJI decides to look at these issues, it would help if they hold themselves to the same criteria that the commercial bail bond industry does when calculating appearance rates.  For example, when a defendant has 10 scheduled court appearances and attends 9 of them, missing the last one, the bail industry considers that a Failure to Appear (FTA) rate of 100%.  A pretrial service agency looks at that same scenario and calculates their FTA rate as only 10%, because the defendant only missed 1 of 10 appearances.  Not quite the apples to apples comparsion they would like you to believe it is?  And the worst part of this…for PJI, not for the bail industry…is that even when pretrial services calculates their FTAs in this way, the commercial bail industry still outperforms them.   Maybe that is why they don’t want anyone to see or at least now believe the research.

While the pretrial community can continue to sling mud and arrows and the commercial bail bond industry and discredit the research studies of leading experts and institutions around the country, commercial bail will continue to do what we do.  We will continue to live up to the promises we make to the families of those defendants we bail out.  We will continue to keep the promises to the courts that we will return those defendants.  We will continue to keep the promises to the communities in which live, work, protect and support.  Why?  Because it is what we do and what we have always done.  Because bail does work.   We know it works.  Research shows it works.  97% of Sheriffs say it works.  90% of Judges say it works.  And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that should matter.  I look forward to hearing your comments."

 

As Brian plainly states; it is hard to argue with facts.  Now, the powers that are pushing these initiatives have realized this.  So, since none of the six independent research studies supported their cause, they decided to design a study that would.  Proving the adage that "great marketing lends credibility"; they even adopted a new catch-phrase: "Evidence-Based Practices"....It just oozes "Credibility".

Where was this designed study performed?  Colorado's own Jefferson County.  How does it tie into HB13-1129? 

Introduced on 1/18/13, HB13-1129 reads as follows: "Concerning creating the Evidence-Based Practices Implementation for Capacity Resource Center." Some title, huh?

The bill summary reads as follows: "The bill creates the evidence-based practices implementation for capacity resource center in the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety. The resource center will assist agencies serving juvenile and adult populations to develop, implement, and sustain effective science-based frameworks to support the use of evidence-based practices. An advisory board will oversee the resource center."

The advisory board will consist of the directors of the department of public safety, corrections, human services, criminal justice and probation. "The division of criminal justice is authorized to accept gifts, grants and donations for the program." The members of the board will not be compensated.

The language of the bill seems to be constructed to obscure the true meaning of the bill.

Evidence-based practices is a term that the Pretrial Justice Institute likes to throw around in selling Pretrial Release.

The Jefferson County Bail Project was a study of pretrial services in Jeffco and was written by Michael R. Jones. Jones was the Criminal Justice Planning Manager for Jefferson County at the time. That report lead to a report published by the Pretrial Justice Institute "The Colorado Pretrial Assessment Tool". The report was authored by Michael R. Jones as well. Mr. Jones no longer works for Jefferson County. He is a senior project associate for the Pretrial Justice Institute and runs the Colorado Office. His job is to assist jurisdictions in "implementing more legal and empirically-based pretrial policies". Staff - Pretrial Justice Institute

 

Somehow Michael R. Jones and his report seem.....hmmmm, what's the term I'm searching for...oh yeah.....BIASED!!  Funny thing about Bias; it tends to undermine good ol' Credibility.  But hey, slap that new "Evidence-Based Practices" Lipstick on this Old Pig, hope the Colorado Legislators are not into doing research of their own and get this Pig to Market.  The crazy thing is; these con men will probably succeed in selling it. 

 

Respectfully,

 

Bond Squad Bail Bonds

720-733-8844

http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com/