Get to Know Your Boulder Police Department |
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Steve Redfearn, police chief
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Message from the Chief:
Celebrate Safely |
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Happy March, Boulder!
I hope everyone has been enjoying the warm weather that we’ve been experiencing at the end of February! As I type, I hear we are in for some snow as we head into March, so please take care if you’re out driving, walking or biking.
Speaking of driving, we continue to focus on impaired driving and our officers are making multiple DUI arrests weekly. So far in 2025 BPD is on track to surpass previous years' DUI enforcement efforts, thanks in part to a DUI grant we secured through the Colorado Highway Safety Office.
In January alone we engaged in enforcement 59% more often than the January five-year average (2020-2024), and about 36% more than in January 2024. In February we engaged in enforcement 50% more often than the February five-year average, and about 16% more than in February 2024.
So far in 2025, we've engaged in DUI enforcement once every day and a half on average.
We’re approaching St. Patrick’s Day this month and statistically, it is one of the days when we see the most impaired driving, so just a reminder that we will have extra patrols out around St. Patty’s and will have zero tolerance for impaired driving. It is not worth losing your license, or worse, so please have a designated driver, or use a rideshare.
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Roscoe Redfearn poses for a photo (but really for the treat above the camera) to be used in a social media post for public safety.
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Last year, we used this cute photo to remind people about being responsible. How cute is this pup? I am partial, because this is my dog, Roscoe. As I like to talk about something personal each month to allow folks to get to know me better, this photo gave me the motivation to talk about this handsome guy. I know so many of us in Boulder are animal lovers, and so I wanted to take a moment to introduce Roscoe. Roscoe is a 5- to 6-year-old dog that we rescued. The DNA test shows he is about 50 percent Staffordshire Terrier, 20 percent Australian Shepherd, 20 percent Australian Cattle Dog, and other breeds mixed in.
Roscoe was in a shelter in Denver when he was picked up to be a facility dog at an assisted living facility where my husband worked at the time. Roscoe was just a puppy, around 1 year old, and way too rambunctious and untrained. When the facility was considering returning him to the shelter, Javier knew that he couldn’t let that happen, and when we brought Roscoe home, it was an instant connection. Roscoe is the smartest and most loveable dog I’ve ever had. Fun fact, in Boulder, the city policy allows us to bring dogs to work (with some caveats), so Roscoe can be seen hanging out with me occasionally in the Chief’s Office. If you see me around in Boulder, I would love to compare photos with fellow dog lovers!
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Roscoe living his best life
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I could go on about Roscoe, but for some BPD updates, I wanted to share that we are fully staffed, and as we get our new officers through training, we will be making decisions about the best places to put additional officers.
When we can put more officers out on the streets during each shift, our response times improve; we can be more proactive; and we can allow our officers to have time off more often, which is important for the work/life balance we value here in Boulder. We will continue to test for entry-level positions and establish eligibility lists for future openings, so please tell anyone interested to reach out to our recruiters!
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Chief Redfearn proudly promoted Detectives Hartkopp and Byars to the rank of sergeant recently.
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You may have heard about our Community Academy that we brought back in 2024. It was a great success, and the graduates were incredibly grateful to receive training and insight on how BPD operates. Look for an announcement soon! We will be holding our 2025 Community Academy in late summer or early fall. Final details are being worked out and we will communicate on our social media channels when we have a firm date.
We have had a busy few weeks with some difficult calls. I wanted to thank everyone in our community who has reached out and thanked our staff for their work, ensuring that our employees are doing okay, and sharing messages of support.
The men and women of our agency are doing amazing work daily, but as I’ve shared time and time again, we can’t do it without the support of our colleagues in the city and everyone in the community.
Stay safe, and warm.
Steve Redfearn, police chief
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| Support BPD & Special Olympics! |
We're asking for YOUR help to be the top fundraising police agency in Boulder County for Special Olympics Colorado!
Chief Redfearn has challenged all the other law enforcement agencies to see who can raise the most money for the 2025 Polar Plunge on April 5 at the Boulder Reservoir. It's a great way to support these amazing athletes and we're proud to make this challenge for which there are no losers, only winners! And some delicious doughnuts!
Donate to our team via this link!
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As we continue sharing information to keep our city informed, we think it’s important to show our community the data behind how and when officers contact individuals and use force when appropriate during incidents.
We believe these two new dashboards, which are now live on our website, will explain and help our community members understand what this information means.
“In line with our commitment to transparency and our Reimagine Policing Plan, I am excited that we are adding the Use of Force and Contact Stop Data dashboards to our existing set of dashboards and portals,” Police Chief Steve Redfearn said.
“We want our community to have a clear picture of what we do and how we do it, and using data is key to this. I appreciate everyone who worked to bring these forward and to our Police Oversight Panel for their review of these dashboards prior to their release”
The Use of Force Dashboard shows when officers use force during an encounter with an individual. Use of force is defined differently by police agencies across Colorado and the country. In Boulder, it’s defined as any physical strike, physical contact with an object or tool or any significant physical contact that restricts movement of a person. Based on the data, Boulder Police officer use of force circumstances are rare, and this is displayed in relation to arrests and interactions with community members, specifically:
• more than 99.5% of dispatch-recorded interactions do not involve a use of force
• more than 9 out of 10 arrests do not involve police use of force
The Contact Data Dashboard shows who, how and when officers have an in-person interaction with an individual, whether the person is in a motor vehicle, initiated by an officer, consensual or nonconsensual, for the purpose of enforcing the law or investigating possible violations of the law. Current data shows that the typical suspect of a crime contacted by BPD is a white, non-Hispanic male who’s about 30 years old and that officers are typically contacting the person because of a response to unlawful activity; the unlawful activity is most commonly trespassing; and officers most commonly issue a warning.
You can check out these new dashboards as well as all of our public safety data dashboards on our website.
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| Officer Helps Woman during Domestic Violence Situation
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A loving family member messaged us recently to thank Officer Schmeits for helping her sister during a domestic violence situation.
“If you could relay this message to the female cop on duty today that she is an angel to my family. She didn’t just do her job and help my sister. She helped her take the first step, which is often scary for women in this situation. She changed, and quite possibly saved, her life. In a moment of darkness, when she felt trapped and hopeless, she was the light that guided her to safety,” the family member wrote.
“Because of her courage, compassion, and dedication, my sister has a chance to heal, rebuild, and live free from fear. Knowing that there are people like her out there—officers who truly care—gives me hope. My family and I will never forget what you did for her. I will never be able to thank her enough.”
Officer Schmeits remembers the call well.
“We talked for about two hours and after a long conversation about self worth among other things, I helped her gather some of her belongings out of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend and gave her a ride to DIA so she could reunite with her very worried parents and sisters,” Officer Schmeits said. “I’m glad she made it safely to her family.”
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