Letter: Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputies provide important service to Wellington

To the residents of the Town of Wellington:

You will be receiving in your September water bill a survey with questions related to whether Wellington should further investigate the creation of a local police department. I would like to encourage all of the citizens in Wellington to take a few minutes and respond to the survey. I am writing this to you, as the supervisor currently assigned to the Town of Wellington by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, to provide you some details of what services you currently receive from the Sheriff’s Office.

Currently the Town of Wellington contracts with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services and has done so since the early 1980s when the Wellington Town Marshall’s office was abolished. At that time the town had approximately 600 residents and the contract was for one deputy.

Over the years and as the town has grown, the contract has been adjusted and now covers one sergeant and five deputies. One of these deputies is assigned as the full-time School Resource Officer at Wellington Middle School and is also responsible for Rice Elementary, Eyestone Elementary, Timnath Elementary and Bethke Elementary. The Town of Timnath shares in the cost of the deputy assigned to these schools. The contract with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is for normal scheduled hours to be between 6 a.m. and 3 a.m. Actual shift times are varied based upon variables including school days, holidays, time of year, etc. When there is not a deputy on duty within the Town of Wellington other deputies are available and respond to calls for assistance along with conducting random patrols throughout the Town.

When need arises, there are always deputies on duty throughout Larimer County that can respond to assist the deputy working in Wellington. The Sheriff’s Office also has a staff that includes 14 investigators who assist deputies with complex and/or serious crimes which require more time than a patrol deputy can dedicate to a single case while continuing to handle incoming calls for service.

The deputies currently assigned to the Town of Wellington have an average of 17.7 years of law enforcement experience and are committed to serving your community. Most of us have deep ties to the community. I grew up near Wellington, attended Wellington Junior High School, have relatives in and near Wellington and participate with my children in a 4-H Club in Wellington. Deputies assigned to Wellington along with Reserve Deputies, Explorer Scouts and Citizen Volunteers work with the schools, town staff, business owners, the Boys and Girls Club and other citizen groups to identify the needs of the community and respond to those needs.

The Sheriff’s Office participates in community activities including but not limited to SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together), Relay for Life, the Wellington Middle School Eagle Fit Duathlon, the Rice/Eyestone 5K, the Christmas Parade, Independence Day activities, Harvest Day, the town Easter Egg Hunt and the National Take-Back Initiative (Prescription Drug Take-Back Days). As you might imagine, all of these activities along with regular patrols and response to calls for service end up exceeding the hours contracted for and are provided at no additional cost to the Town.

Michael Rairdon
Patrol Sergeant, Wellington Squad