January 2016 - Weld County: Sheriff`s Office

Weld County Sheriff’s Office
Monthly Newsletter
Weld County Sheriff’s Office Newsletter
Issue #4, January 1, 2016
Meet Deputy Lenderink
As one of our Detentions Deputies, Lenderink served in one of
the most demanding positions in our agency. As a Field
Training Officer she would share her knowledge and
experience with new deputies, and after training was complete
she would remain a constant source of information for other
deputies on her shift. Lenderink now works in our Courts
Division, transporting inmates to court and assisting the
community as she interacts with members of the public every
day.
What is the best part about your job?
To serve the community with honor and integrity. It is a great honor and responsibility to put on the uniform and badge and
represent all that it means. The responsibility comes with its challenges every day that you are expected to solve with
confidence and ease. It is very rewarding when you receive a "thank you" from a member of the community that you were
able to assist.
Why did you want to work in law enforcement?
Truthfully, I never saw myself working in law enforcement when I was growing up. I spent my years prior to the Sheriff's
Office working in my parents business. Then life happened and I needed a new line of work to provide for my family. I
found the Sheriff's Office and applied, I figured why not it would just be temporary. God had different plans for me because
my temporary job turned into a career.
Where do you see yourself going in the future?
For now, I am enjoying a new chapter in my career by being a member of the Courts Unit. Beyond that, it's all in God's
hands.
pg. 3
Weld County Sheriff
January 2016
The Long Blue Line
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office joins Cops Fighting Cancer to bring Christmas
cheer to kids at Children’s Hospital
On December 17, 2015, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office helped Cops Fighting Cancer deliver
presents to Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado in an event called the Long Blue Line. 250
officers representing almost 30 law enforcement agencies came together to make sure that these
children had a very special day. Weld County had the privilege of spending the day meeting
some of the strongest kids in the world, and even had the honor of playing music with a few of
them during a musical therapy session. We look forward to doing this again next year!
Field Training
The Weld County Sheriff’s
Office has a new group of
Deputies that have hit the
streets in training. They will
undergo a rigorous training
period that will stretch from
December 2015 to April
2016.
During their training period
these deputies will have a
chance to experience all that
this job can throw at them.
Needless to say, they have
their hands full for the next
few months.
If you are interested in a
career in law enforcement,
please visit our employment
page at:
http://www.weldsheriff.com/
Administration/EmploymentIn
formation.html
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Weld County Sheriff
January 2016
Wesslee’s Great
Adventure
I had the honor of interacting
with this young man through
email over the past 2 months.
Wesslee Berger is a resident of
Utah who contacted me after
reading about Honorary Deputy
Colton Hunt. Wesslee
“borrowed” his father’s phone
and emailed me, expressing his
gratitude toward our agency for
such a kind act. In his email he
mentioned his Facebook page
“Wesslees great adventure”
where I learned that he and his
sister have a mission to shake
hands with as many law
enforcement officers as possible.
5 minutes of research on the
internet helped me see that this
was a very special young man.
After seeing a police procession
for a local officer who was shot
and killed in the line of duty,
Wesslee decided that he would
do anything he could to thank
the men and women in law
enforcement for their service.
In an effort to acknowledge all
that this young man has done, a
few of us here at the office sent
Wesslee a care package filled
with some patches from our
own collections. Wesslee sent
us a thank you card shortly after
Christmas, and I also received a
picture of him proudly
displaying his new patches.
If you would like to learn more
about Wesslee’s great adventure,
visit his Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/Wes
slee-s-great-adventure584947408311958/?fref=ts
-Written by Matt Turner
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Weld County Sheriff
January 2016
Continued
Public Servant
The Weld County Posse was
joined by other members of the
Nicole helps a man reapply a
Colorado
State Sheriff’s Posse
bandage to his hand after
Association
at the
Windsor
fingerprinting.
Though
this is
Harvest
Festival
Parade
this
not a normal part of her job,
weekend.
Nicole recognized that this
individual could not reapply the
The
CSSP is comprised of Posse
bandage alone, and offered her
members
from
Weld
assistance.
Thisthe
small
taskCounty
was
Sheriff’s
Office,
the
Adams
an exceptional act of service to
County
Sheriff’s Office, the
the community.
Denver County Sheriff’s Office
Great
Nicole!County Sheriffs
and
theJob
Larimer
Office.
An “Explosive” Demonstration
AOT in December allowed patrol deputies and members of the
community to participate in an explosives demonstration. This
demonstration, hosted by the Weld County Bomb Squad,
allowed members of the community to interact with Weld County
Deputies and law enforcement from all over the state as they
experienced different types of explosive ordinance in both a
classroom setting and also an outdoor experience at the Weld
County Firearms Range.
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Special Feature
S.T.A.R.
The Weld County S.T.A.R.
Team is a special team
within the Detentions
Division of the Weld
County Sheriff’s Office.
S.T.A.R. stands for “Special
Tactics and Response”, and
is a team that specializes in
responding to critical
incidents within the jail.
Using specialized
equipment, the team can
respond to incidents that
require a higher response to
resistance and aggression
and suppress situations such
as riots, transporting
combative inmates to court
dates, or extracting inmates
from cells who pose a high
risk of injury to staff or
themselves.
The person in charge of the
team is Sgt. Hettinger; he is
responsible for staffing the
team, maintaining
equipment and making sure
that the team has adequate
training to help them
respond to a number of
incidents that would warrant
their attention. The team
has adapted and grown over
the years. Before this team
existed, shift sergeants
would simply gather a group
of personnel on shift to
respond to critical incidents;
there was no protective
equipment or additional
training. The team currently
consists of a small number of
Deputies from each shift. If
there is an incident within
the facility that warrants a
response, those members are
relieved of their assignments
to facilitate the team’s
deployment. Being a part of
the team is a collateral
assignment for deputies;
they take this task on in
addition to their normal
duties.
Tactics used by the team are
always changing and
adapting to meet the needs
of the facility; as staff
members encounter new
types of resistance and
aggression, the team
develops new strategies to
counter them. The Weld
County Sheriff’s Office is
now trying to share some of
their knowledge and
experience with other
agencies. The team does not
claim to know everything,
and they are always finding
Weld County Sheriff
ways to improve. The goal
of sharing their tactics with
other agencies is to give
those agencies a foundation
to work from and build their
own teams and tactics.
In December the S.T.A.R.
Team hosted 2 Deputies
from the Yuma County
Sheriff’s Office at their
January 2016
monthly training event.
These individuals were
given a chance to see how
the team performs cell
extractions, and they were
given the opportunity to join
in the training to experience
the action first hand. They
plan on taking some of that
knowledge back to their
agency in an effort to build
their own tactics and
strengthen their response to
these types of incidents.
The Weld County Sheriff’s
Office offers the opportunity
for law enforcement officers
from other agencies to join
them at training events free
of charge. If you are
interested, please contact Cpl
Matt Turner for more
information.
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Weld County Sheriff
January 2016
Farwell
We often see members of the Weld County Sheriff’s
Office team leave for opportunities elsewhere. It is
never easy to see our brothers and sisters leave the
agency, but we always hope that they will find
happiness in their new positions. There is also the
chance that their presence in other agencies may help
build stronger relationships with the Sheriff’s Office.
In December, Don Potter left the Sheriff’s Office to
join the DA’s Office as one of their investigators.
Don has been an employee of the Sheriff’s Office for
almost 8 years, and has had a tremendous influence
on many of the people around him.
Don loved to take pictures of his car, and many of
those pictures have been featured on both online and
internal media sources.
Don will be missed, but he has promised to make an
effort to stay connected with all of us here.
Weld County Sheriff’s Office Public
Information Officer
Corporal Matt Turner
2110 “O” St.
Greeley, CO 80631
mturner@co.weld.co.us
(970) 356-4015 Ext. 2802
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