Get to Know Your Boulder Police Department

Steve Redfearn, police chief

Hello Boulder, and Happy July!

Summer months are some of my favorite of the year. I love the warm weather, ability to spend so much time outside, and long summer evenings. Of course, as the weather heats up, so do our calls for service, and our BPD team continues to work hard, even in triple digits to keep the city safe. 

I am so proud of the work that our team has been doing lately, especially when it comes to providing safety and security at big events. We have recently supported the Jewish Festival, Pride, Creek Fest, and helped CUPD with events like the Mumford and Sons concert. These events are heavy lifts, but our team continues to show up and support all of the events that we enjoy in our city. 

I have had a busy month, and as I type this, I am on a plane back from Singapore. I was so lucky to be asked to speak during and attend the International Programme on Crisis Leadership in June in Singapore. 

I spoke on my experiences in crisis leadership to a cohort of leaders from 13 countries. Seeing how Singapore operates from a law enforcement perspective as well as discussing the current state of affairs regarding policing in many diverse nations was an exceptional experience. I have new ideas and great new connections around the globe. During our city's constrained budget, I opted to take this trip on my own time, not paid for through the city. It was well worth the long journey and I'm grateful for the connections and experience. 

A speaker during the International Programme on Crisis Leadership in Singapore 

Now to some exciting news! You may have recently seen a news release where we announced the work being done on our new Public Safety Information Center, or PSIC for short. There will be much more to come in the future, but we are so excited for this game changing new center that will directly add to better city services, crime reduction, and incident response. 

The center will serve as a shared hub where city departments can coordinate appropriately scaled responses, based on real-time data, for natural disasters, like wildfire and flood, missing persons, serious traffic crashes and imminent threats, such as active shooter and hostage situations. You can learn more on our website.

Lastly, I want to share some exciting awards that two of our members recently received. At the 2026 Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in June, Chief of Staff Alastair McNiven, and Officer Jarrett Mastriona received prestigious, statewide awards. 

Chief of Staff McNiven received the “Ralph Smith Professional Award” which is described as “The Nominee shall have designed and implemented one or more innovative policing techniques or programs with the goal of improving performance results, building partnerships with the community, or meeting department goals. The weight of the nomination will increase with proven success of the techniques or programs.”

Alastair received this award for all of the great work he has done with programs like the Blue Envelope, the Autism Decal, and other innovative programs that have now been copied and adopted by many agencies around the state and country. 

Officer Jarrett Mastriona received the CACP “Valor Award” which is described as the “Performance of a deed, above and beyond the policies and procedures of any department or agency, which results in the saving of a human life, or which placed the officer in extreme peril of his/her life.”

Jarrett was a clear choice for this award for his work in apprehending the terror suspect on June 1, 2025.  

Officer Mastriona and Chief of Staff McNiven pose with their awards after the CACP ceremony

I'll close with a reminder that my third quarter Town Hall will happen in East Boulder at...East & Co.! We'll start at 5:30 and go until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29. I'll share an overall crime update, talk about current public safety issues in the city and answer some of your questions, which you can start submitting now via our website. If you haven't yet been to East & Co, which recently opened at 2100 Central Ave., it's a great gathering spot no matter what time of day. I hope to see you there!

Until then, keep enjoying this great weather and stay safe out there. 

Steve Redfearn, police chief
 

Go behind the scenes and learn more about your Boulder Police Department during our annual Community Academy!

From Patrol to Investigations to Dispatch, K9, SWAT, CSI, our new Public Safety Information Center and more, you’ll get an inside look at who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

This 9-week academy starts Sept. 3 and goes until Oct. 29. Participants will be at the PD from 6 to 9 p.m. every Thursday. Bring your questions, a desire to learn, and we’ll do the rest.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. July 20.

Learn more and apply today on our website!

We know Boulder loves its bikes. Unfortunately so do thieves. That’s why we’re sharing this video from a recent targeted bike theft operation.

Though the suspect rode over a mile away after stealing it, he couldn’t hide from our eyes in the sky and the stealth response of our Special Enforcement Unit. As in every criminal case, charges against the suspect are an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

While we were doing this, officers and detectives were engaged in a proactive operation resulting in the following arrests: 

*cited two suspects for trespassing and criminal possession of a financial device (we also saw lots of drug paraphernalia in the area),
*cited a suspect for felony trespassing,
*arrested a suspect for felony drug distribution,
*arrested a suspect during a traffic stop for felony drug distribution charges with meth and fentanyl seizures as well as more than $1,000 and drug distribution items (K9 Knox alerted to the vehicle), and,
*arrested a suspect for two outstanding warrants and drug possession.

Boulder Police Department home page: bouldercolorado.gov/government/departments/police