In the first hour of today's edition of The Dan Caplis Show, Sheriff Steve Reams fills in for Dan. First, Steve has Captain Matt Turner to talk about his candidacy for Weld County's Sheriff seat. Then, Steve is joined by Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell to discuss some of their experiences as county sheriffs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dankplas Show. Please be sure to give
us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast Platformcome.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Back to the Dan Taplas Show. You got Day two
with Sheriff Steve Riams hosting while Dan's out handling some
important important business. So you're here with the sheriff from
Wild County. We're going to talk a lot today about
law enforcement and crime in Colorado. Do you feel safer
today than you did yesterday or than you did a
year ago. Is your life better now than it was
five years ago? As the Colorado Legislature in the state
(00:37):
of Colorado, our illustrious Governor Polis, has he been making
your life better? Do you feel like you're in the
tip top shape for Colorado? You know when you want
to take your family out to a Rockies game, you know,
because they maybe gave you some free tickets or something,
and he decided to go to downtown Denver. You know,
is that a tough decision for you or do you say, yeah,
(00:58):
I feel great going down there? Can tell you over
the last few days, you know, and last week and
the week before covering for Dan. Some my drive down
here is just infuriating. I don't know how anyone looks
at this state and says, man, things have gotten so
much better. Uh, it's sad to me. I moved here
in nineteen ninety five. I moved to Colorado from the
(01:18):
state of Texas, and when I first moved up here,
I thought, man, this is this is a lot like home,
except with a much better view. Was pretty conservative, the
you know, the the laws were similar. The crime rates
were actually probably a little better in Colorado than where
I came from. I was in the Panhandle of Texas
and Amarilla, which isn't necessarily known as the safest part
(01:41):
of Texas, but it was. It was, you know, it
was a good, good place to be from, I guess.
But I got to Colorado and I was like, you know,
this isn't bad. You could you could go through Denver,
you know, the downtown area had been redone. The Rockies
were just were just a new team. It was just
a lot of excitement in that downtown area and in
Colorado in general. It seemed like, you know, there was
(02:02):
a future and then things started to kind of turn.
And I can't help but think that that's along the
same time as when Governor Owens left office and we
started seeing some of these really bad governors take over
the state, Hickenlooper and Polis, and the legislature kept going
farther and farther to the left. And I think we've
gotten to a point in Colorado where the cops have
(02:23):
been handcuffed and the criminals have been given free reign
to go do what they're going to do. You know,
at the end of Ryan's show, we were talking about
fentanyl and the explosion that's had in the state of Colorado,
the deaths that are associated with that, and quite frankly,
fentanyl and drug use are an underlying measure that kind
of drives a lot of crime in Colorado. But I
(02:46):
really want to hear from you guys. You know, is
your life better in the state of Colorado now than
it was a year ago or five years ago? You
can set the timeframe, but please text in five seven
seven three nine or call in three three seven one
three eight two five five start text with Dan again.
That's five seven seven three nine, and tell me is
your life better than it was a year ago, five
years ago, you set the timeframe. Do you feel safer
(03:07):
in Colorado? Do you feel like you don't have to
worry about being victimized by crime here? And I'll tell
you kind of what's driving this. We talked a little
bit about, well, we talked a lot of bit yesterday
about illegal immigration and kind of the effects that has
on our state. You know, there's obvious, obviously a crime
nexus with a lot of that, but just crime in
general in Colorado, whether you're here illegally or you were
(03:29):
born here in this state, crime is up, especially in
you know, the twenty twenty to twenty twenty two era.
We know we were leading the nation and kar theft
we were leading the nation, and a lot of violent crimes.
Fentanyl use in this state is out of control. Drug
use in this state is out of control. You know,
Dan talks all the time about how the legalization of
marijuana in twenty thirteen was kind of the tipping point
(03:52):
for the state of Colorado, and he could not be
more correct. As a person in law enforcement, I can
tell you that's when things felt like they started as
ill out of control, and it's just gotten worse worse,
and worse each year, and then get to twenty twenty,
you know, there's the George Floyd movement, and our state
legislature passed the most sweeping police reform bills and bail
(04:13):
reform bills and whatever criminal justice reform bills, to the
point now where lawlessness in some areas is almost just expected.
I mean, we saw what happened in Aurora with the
trendy Aragua gang, and this stuff's spelling over. So I
want to jump to a press release that the Colorado
State Patrol put out, and this has direct impact on
my county, but it actually has direct impact on everyone
(04:36):
in the state of Colorado because it highlights exactly how
bad crime in Colorado has gotten. So the title of
the press release reads, road rage incident results in shots fired,
no injuries resulted. On April twenty one, twenty twenty five,
at approximately one thirteen am, Colorado State Patrol troopers responded
to northbound Interstate twenty five near mileposts two point fifty,
(04:57):
which is the town of Birthed, for a road rate incidents.
Initial reports show a maroon Kia Sorrento with a Colorado
temporary tag of seven two eight two three sixty three
was traveling northbound on Interstate twenty five, straddling the center
line of both lanes. This is kind of a construction
area or an area that's under work. A motorist driving
a Subaru Legacy approached the Sorrento from behind and honked.
(05:19):
The Sorrento moved into the left lane as the Subaru
passed in the right lane. The Sorrento then began to
slow down and followed the Subaru closely before backing off
and shining a laser light at the driver of the Subaru.
The Subaru left Eye twenty five at exit twoin fifty
the berth at exit. The driver of the Sorrento also
took Exit two fifty and while doing so, fired multiple
rounds from a firearm at the Subaru. One round went
(05:41):
through the glass of the back window and into the
passenger compartment of the Subaru, hitting the driver's seat. The
Sorrento then fled from the scene. The driver of the
Subaru was fortunately not injured. This is an ongoing investigation
one of the Colorado State Patrol. The involved Kia Sorrento
is listed as stolen out of Denver. Huh, how ironic?
I asked if you see or recognize the vehicle, please
(06:02):
contact nine one one or Colorado State Patrol Dispatch at
three zero three two three nine four five zero one.
They also urge do not engage with the driver or
any occupants who are considered to be armed and dangerous. So,
you know, this is title as a road rage incident,
and I guess that's what it could have been. But
it seems to me, like, you know, there's quite possibly
some some very intentional acts here by a person driving
(06:26):
in an erratic way and looking for a conflict. And
I'm just making presumptions at this point because there's nothing
to confirm that. But when it all comes down to
the car's got a fictitious plate or a temporary tag
and it's listed as stolen. Gee, what could be more
Colorado than that? In our current times? You know, you
got I'm sure these gun laws would have stopped all
(06:47):
this if they had only been implemented a year before.
But this goes right to the heart of the matter
of a lot of what we've talked about that you know,
no matter what laws you pass, no matter what things
you do to the the law abiding citizen, the criminals
will continue to violate the law. That's what they do.
That is their job. That creates job security for law enforcement.
(07:09):
So going back down to the question we have, do
you feel safer today than you did a year ago,
five years ago? I can tell you when I started
at the Well County Sheriff's Office in nineteen ninety seven,
in the jail, we had prisoners, we had people that
came in, but even the level of criminality in the
jail was so much lower than what it is now.
But the encounters on the street were far less, far
(07:32):
less I guess violent than even with this press release
comes out to talk about. You know, we didn't have
shooting encounters from people having a road rage incident on
I twenty five. I'm not going to say that never happened,
but the frequency of that is just so much more prevalent.
And then, of course auto theft in this state, there
was a time in twenty twenty through probably twenty twenty
(07:54):
two or twenty twenty three, if you parked your car
at DIA, you weren't sure if it was going to
be there when you got back. I mean, just that
was just a fact of the matter. So again, are
you safer in Colorado now because of the posture of
our Colorado legislature led by Democrats? Are you safer in Colorado?
Because of the bills that are previous our current governor,
(08:16):
our previous governor have signed into law all these draconian
gun laws, all these restrictions on your rights. Have these
things made you safer? Has it just made it easier
for criminals to victimize you? I think it's the ladder
of the two. But I want to hear what you
guys have to say, So keep the text coming in.
We're getting quite a few again. Text Dan to five seven, seven,
three nine. Let me know what you think. Are you
(08:37):
safer now? Are you feel a little less safe? Like
even I do as a law enforcement officer? But let's
get to what the show is going to be about. Today.
We're going to bring in some sheriffs and some sheriff's
candidates to talk about, you know, what is going on
in Colorado? What do they see from their perspective. We'll
have Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly on, We'll have Mason
County Sheriff Todd Rowle on, and we're going to have
(08:59):
a guest that I've had on previously Captain Matt Turner,
who's running to replace replace my position or replace me
up in Welld County, and kind of get his perspective too.
The first time I had him on the show, I
cut him short on time, and I felt bad for that.
So we're going to bring him back on and let
him talk a little bit about his candidacy, why he's
running for sheriff in Weld County, and what his perspective
(09:20):
is on crime in Colorado and what he plans to
do when he takes over the reins of the office
if he's lucky enough to be elected. So he'll be
on as soon as we come back from this break.
We'll cut away at this point and we'll have Captain
Matt Turner on as soon as we come back. You're
listening to Dan Kaplis on six thirty KA hosted by
Weld County Sheriff Steve.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Rams and now back to the Dankapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Back to the Dan Capless Show here on six thirty
K How you got Weld County Sheriff Steve Ringms setting
in his guest host on day number two, and we're
going to get right to our next guest. This is
Captain Matt Turner from the Weld County Sheriff office. He
is running to replace me up in Wild County. And
I had Matt on probably I don't know, three or
four weeks ago when I covered for Dan, I think
the first time, and unfortunately I cut Matt pretty short
(10:10):
on the time that he had to talk about his candidacy.
So Matt, welcome back to the show. And how you
doing Matthew again, mister Matthew, can you hear us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
You got me?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, I got you. Hey, Matt again, welcome to the show.
I was afraid we're going to lose you and you
weren't going to get to talk this time either. So again,
as a candidate for Weld County Sheriff, tell us a
little bit about what drew you to law enforcement and
why are you running to replace me? Are you crazy?
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Well?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
I mean, first of all, the reason I got involved
in law enforcement, boss you I have talked about this
is just I needed a job, but I found a
love for this thing. I can't see myself doing anything else.
As far as why I'm running to replace you, I
think there's two main reasons. I'm an army veteran and
in Iraq, I was worded the purple heart for a
(11:01):
number of injuries, one of those being a traumatic brain injury.
So I joke about that. It's not my true motivation.
My true motivation is my family. Sure, my family lives
in Well County. I'm married with my wife Joy, we
have two children and two dogs, and I want my
family to be safe. I want our community to be safe.
And the Weld County community owes you a great amount
(11:24):
of debt, my family owes you a great amount of thanks.
And you've done so much to try to motivate the
Sheriff's office and other municipalities to make this place safer.
And I think you've really improved that. I just want
to take it to the next level.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Absolutely so. I you know I have given you my
endorsement early on having you on this show for a
very purposeful reason. I believe in your ability to take
the agency to that next step. But you know it's
not going to be easy. For first, you got to
get through an election. You may face some challengers, But
what do you consider to be your biggest your biggest
(11:57):
hurdle in this in this campaign, If you will I
mean obviously, if you get an opponent, that's a hurdle.
But as as an incoming sheriff, what do you see
the hurdle being for the office and for just the
general law enforcement profession.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Well, I think I think every sheriff when they take
over to a certain degree, they take over something like
something like a used car. And I don't mean that
in a bad way, but you didn't you didn't, you know,
drive this thing and get it to the condition that
it's in. And I think in Colorado the thing that
has affected our car the most is legislation. You know,
depending on what study you looked at, we are ranked
(12:32):
the third most dangerous state in the country, like California
is number nine. That's that's just insane, right, whether it's
property crime, vehicle theft, whatever it is, are our our
our community members are being victimized every single day. And
that's the true hurdle is the legislation that it has
allowed criminals to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So when you talk about that, what does that materialize itself?
As in Colorado, you know, you say that the criminals
basically have the upper hand, What does that look like
from a law enforcement perspective? Because many of the people
listening to this radio show. You know, luckily have not
been victims of some of the crime we're talking about.
They hear about it, but from someone who's a law enforcer,
what does it look like when you talk about the
(13:12):
criminal justice system in Colorado?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You know, I have many conversations with our troops when
they come into my office and vent, and the biggest
thing that they vent about, the thing they tell me
about the most is how they feel like their actions
have no measure of success in the community. Our guys
will go weeks and weeks trying to arrest one person
and that person will be out of jail the next day.
(13:35):
It is just nuts. But the jail has been built
in revolving doors everywhere through that legislation, through boxes that
the judges have been put in, as far as bomb restrictions,
or how long a person will remain in jail, and
then sentencing. There's no truth in sentencing in Colorado anymore.
If a person gets sentence of two years in jail,
they are doing less than one year.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah. That makes the job of a law enforcement officer
extremely difficult in any condition. But there's also been a
lot of police reform in the state of Colorado. You know,
we've we've had to deal with you know, body cameras
and and a lot of extra things put on our plate.
But I think the biggest thing is the removal removal
(14:16):
of any governmental immunity. I know that's kind of a
difficult thing to explain to the listeners, But what's the
effect that that has on your on a law enforcement
officer and an agency as a whole.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Well, first off, I think that all the all the
legislation you're talking about there is are a great effect.
In fact, I'm not even home right now, and I'm
in a hotel room. I'm at an Axon convention right
now learning more about bodycam because of something that we
have to have now, I want to make sure that
we're doing it the right way. I'm in Phoenix, Arizona.
It snows like marijuana here, there's road construction and homeless
people everywhere. So it's kind of like Denver. It's exactly
(14:50):
like Denver, except hotter, Yes, except hotter. Right now, I'll
give it that, but you know, not having qualified immunity anymore.
But if that's done, is it's put a ton more
stress on our people and not so much the stress
of doing their job right we expect our people to
do their job right. We hold our people accountable, we
(15:10):
mentor them, we train them. I mean, your deputies get
the best training, I'll say, hands down in the state.
We get more access to training to our deputies than
anywhere else that I know of. But it's the small complaints. Now,
a small, frivolous complaint can take a person's job away,
and not just at the sheriff's office, but anywhere in
(15:31):
the state of Colorado. So if they're in a civil
lawsuit held accountable for something even small, their post gets denied.
They can never be a cop again, and they lose
their job immediately. And then whatever monetary value comes to
that lawsuit, it comes out of their pocket directly. And
that kind of stress right there, affects hiring, affects her attention,
(15:53):
it affects morale. I mean, it's this is a hard
industry to work in. Now.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I can't believe that Colorado would be facing a
christ Is for hiring cops. I mean, that's been well documented.
But even with all that said, you're still looking at
running for the position of sheriff. I'm sure you have
some campaign platforms, some places where people can go find you.
Where are you most accessible and kind of what are
your what are your main tenants as a as a
(16:18):
candidate for Weld County Sheriff.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Well as far as accessibility, looking up on Facebook's Turn
for Sheriff, I'm online at www dot turn for Sheriff
dot com. My email address, my personal cell phone number,
all that is on there. I'll talk to anybody, anybody
at all, as far as far as what I want
to do. You know, I think it goes back to
that idea of Colorado being the third most dangerous state
(16:40):
to live in. Drug crime is rampant here and drug
crime bleeds into every other type of crime, property crime,
violent crime. Everything leads back to drug crime. There is
no reason why we should be finding drugs connected to
the cartel in Colorado, in Weald County, but we are.
It's it's shameful, but that's legislation again. I want to
(17:01):
find new in inventive ways to restructure our team and
find new technology to interact with drug crime and hold
people accountable for that. Another thing I want to do
is work on people who have warrants. Last time I
checked and I need to update my numbers, there were
thirteen thousand. I think thirteen thousand warrants in Weald County alone.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, there's no lack of work to do on that front.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
No, no, And I mean our guys could do that
alone and they'd be busy every single day, all day long.
So I want to work on resources for that, partnerships
about other agencies, and try to find some way to
get people back in jail and get in front of courts.
I do want to help our deputies, our staff. I
want to help improve their mental and physical health some more.
(17:44):
And then I think one of the huge things that
is big and Weald County and I want to make
sure is maintained is I want to continue to fight,
and I have been fighting this year to maintain our
Second Amendment.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Well, you're listening to the Dan Kapla Show. That's Turner
for share UF. It's Matt Turner run for Sheriff. But
again we're going to cut the break. You're listening to
the Dan Capless Show with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Reims
standing in his guest host.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
You're listening to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I couldn't think of a better song to welcome our
next guest Dan, and when you get a chance to
meet this guy in person, you'll understand why why I
say that song was totally appropriate for Sheriff Todd Ralph
from Mesa County. Todd, how you doing.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on the shows.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
You Bet from You you.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Bet, And we spend a lot of time together at
different conferences and on the phone and other legislative stuff.
But the callers may not.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Know you that well.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
The listening audience may not know you as well. Again,
Masa County, that's over on the western slope. But tell
us a little bit about Masa County and your your
rise to share and your entry into the law enforcement field.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
So Mason County is an amazing place where thirty three
hundred square miles, seventy two percent of that's public, LANs
about one hundred and seventy thousand people. About half of
that's unincorporated. So the Sheriff's office gets to be the
law enforcement for them. I've been super blessed to get
to be the sheriff for going on four years here.
(19:24):
I raised in a small town, going to the Marine
Corps afterwards, and slowly worked through the ranks here at
the sheriff's office and got to be the sheriff of
this amazing community.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, I know it's been a fun ride for you
most of the time. Anytime you were working as a sheriff,
there's always ups and downs. I just got to ask, though,
this is a common thing I get asked when you
got into the law enforcement field. I mean, you came
from the Marine Corps, so your family was probably a
little prepared. But was there some consternation about why are
you going from the military into law enforcement or was
(19:58):
your family totally supportive of the move.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
I come from a law enforcement family, so they were
supportive of the move, but it wasn't something that I
was ever shooting for. My brother and my dad were
in law enforcement. I didn't think I'd ever go into
law enforcement, but there was a path there for me
on how to get there, seeing that they'd gone to
cacademies and they knew people in law enforcement, and I
(20:24):
don't think there was any consternation. I've had super support
throughout my entire career for my family.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And that's very important to a successful career. But you know, Todd,
I've been asking the callers and the people in the
listening audience if they feel safer today in Colorado than
they did a year ago or five years ago. And
I asked that question of our listeners because I look
at Colorado and say, man, this state's really it's gone down.
What do you think? What's your perspective from over there
(20:49):
on the Western Slope and Grand Junction.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So I think people feel that. I think people see
that in some areas of Colorado. Part of that is
due to social media, where we have an overload of information.
But if you look if you look at so CBI
started taking crime stats in two thousand and eight. Statewide,
property crime has gone up forty percent since then. In
(21:15):
my community in Mason County has actually gone down zero
pointy nine percent. Violent crime, on the other hand, we've
seen a three percent decrease in crime since two thousand
and eight, but Colorado as a whole has seen a
seventy one percent increase. So there's something happening absolutely throughout Colorado.
We've been a little bit immune to it here in
Mason County, but there.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Is a change.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And I want to point out most of the elected
officials in Mesa County are Republican, correct air.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Correct and you're a Republican, yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Yeah, I can't think that that's by accident. And so
when you're talking about those spikes and crime from two
thousand and eight to now, much of that area is
focused in the areas that are controlled by the party
that is not Republican, the Democrats. And I think you
see that no matter where you go in this state.
So Denver's the obvious choice, but even on the western slope,
(22:10):
do you have some of those communities that are a
little more blue and crime is spiking in those areas.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
You know, in my county anyways, we've seen an overall decrease.
We have and we do have some city council members
that they're not part of some elections, but they are Democrats.
We've seen, we've seen a lot of support. We never
went through the phases where city council or county commissioners
(22:39):
are speaking out against law enforcement, not supporting law enforcement
and our community as a whole. If I had to,
if I had to say it is success is they've
always been a part of us and they've always supported us.
And you know, in twenty seventeen we passed the public
safety tax, them telling us they want us to do
(22:59):
more for them. So I do see places in our
state that the law enforcement is limited on what they
can do. It takes it takes away their ability to
protect their communities and know that their community is going
to have their back because as well as you know,
(23:21):
doing this as long as you can, this is a
dangerous job. Absolutely nothing's perfect, and I think there was
a phase we went through where if law enforcement didn't
do everything perfect, you got called into question and they
I've been blessed to be in a community where people
support us. We're accountable to them, and they hold us
(23:42):
accountable when we do something wrong, but we don't lose
their support.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Sure, yeah, And I think some of that comes to
the fact if if your agency is policing itself, if
you're if you're being transparent to the public, people pretend
tend to give you a little bit of grace when
you do. So let me ask you this question. You know, uh,
in Colorado, we've been under Democrat leadership at the state
legislature and in the in the governor's mansion for quite
(24:07):
some time, and we've seen things just continually kind of
fall apart, especially on the Front Range area. Do you
think that this state can come back to the areas
or to the level that it was saying that, you know,
the mid two thousands even Uh, do you think it
can get back to that area or that that that
status under Democrat control or is it going to take
an absolute change in the governor's mansion and at the
(24:29):
state legislature.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
So I think I think these last couple of sessions
they've gone too far. And that's the understanding when you
when you have the House, the Senate, and the governor
all of the same party, things get done, but sometimes
they're not challenged and they're not the right things to
get done. And I think they're going too far, even
(24:52):
for their own party. You know, you've heard me speak
a lot about Senate Bill three. I don't think most
Democrats I appreciate that level of going to control. I
think they're going too far for their own party. And
I think it's a while before a Republican a Republican
(25:15):
controls anything in Colorado. I believe that it's it's at
least four to six years. But I believe we're going
to have more moderate Democrats elected. I do believe they're
living on the far left side of their party and
I think they'll come back more central. That is my hope.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more well, Todd, I
appreciate you being on the show with us. I know
that your time is valuable and your perspective is also valuable.
You know, Mesa County is it's kind of like a
Weld County, but on the western slope. You guys still
believe in the rule of law, you still enforce the law,
and you still have a lot of support from your community. Todd,
it's been a pleasure talking with you, and again, thanks
(25:55):
for coming on and being on the show with us.
Your perspective is great. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
See, thank you for all your spports throughout my career too, Dave,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
You bet well. Again, you're listening to the Dan Capless
Show here on six point thirty k how We're going
to cut to a break and we when we come back,
we'll we'll get to your text messages. We'll try to
take a few calls if we can. Again. That text
line is five seven, seven, three nine phone numbers three
oh three seven one three eight two five five. If
you want to load up a few calls, we'll get
to him. As soon as we come back from break again,
you listen to the Dan Capla Show with Well Kenny
(26:24):
Sheriff Steve Reims as your guest host.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And now back to the Dan Kaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Appless show with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Reims sitting in
as guest host, and our last segment of the hour. Here,
I want to get to a few texts, and we
got a caller on the line too that I'd like
to get to, but we'll start with this text. It says,
definitely not safer and way less free. I've been in
Colorado since ninety three, that's a rhyme, and now I'm
retired and have the time to enjoy the beauty of
the state. I am seriously considering leaving thanks to the leftist,
(26:58):
draconian policies and laws and wacky minority that controls this state.
I am growing very tired of the state. But at
least I live in Well County and I have an
awesome sheriff. Oh what a nice thing to say. You
only have your awesome sheriff for one year, eight months,
and thirteen days. And that takes us to the next text.
This is one of my guys that calls himself my
(27:18):
beard bro. He says, you sure this isn't your retirement plan?
Thanks for all you do. And he and his wife
are both willing to help Matt Turner run for sheriff.
They want to support him in the future. So let's
go over to this caller. We got Sean from Colorado Springs,
and then we'll get back to a couple of these
text messages. But he's got a question about some gun
bills going through the state of Colorado. Sean, how you
(27:38):
doing good?
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I'm doing fantastic. What can I answer for you or
what can I try to answer for you? I am
not an attorney, but I have stayed at a holiday
in Express a couple of times.
Speaker 6 (27:49):
Perfect. Hey, My question is I know you were talking
about the gun bill thing and that you were saying
that if you were to get caught with one of
these weapons after the unbuilt passes and everything, that it
could be classified as a misdemeanor.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Not necessary, not necessarily, but go ahead, to go ahead,
finish that question.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Well, what I was you know going at is you
know once this thing goes through, which you know, I
hope it doesn't. But God only knows what's going to happen. Say,
let's say Apparent passes away and they will you a
semi automatic weapon. What are you supposed to do with that?
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Now?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, so the bill silent on you know, death in
the family, and the previous laws that have been passed
have even on the transfer stuff. If you're if if
if these things are willed to you, you're allowed to
take possession of those, and the assumption as long as
you're legal to possess a weapon, you're legal to take
possession of those. You don't have to go through the
legal process transfer at least as I understand it, and
(28:51):
you'd be fine to to inherit those those guns as
of now. Now that doesn't mean that the that the
laws can't change in this state. But again there's always
the quest uestion of you know, are you legal to
own a gun in the first place, which I assume
you are as far as this new bill. The reason
I say, you know, there's some question in the law.
The law doesn't really address, well, what happens if I
(29:13):
go out of state and buy a gun as long
as I'm following the laws of that state, I don't
know that there's anything that would be punishable in this state.
But again, the law is kind of silent on that effect.
It doesn't really talk about if you leave the state
and come back in. It just says if you acquire
one of these guns in state. It doesn't even it's
not even that specific. So there's always questions when there's
(29:35):
ambiguity ambiguity in the law of you know, how's an
attorney general going to look at it, how's a district
attorney going to look at it? I think most sheriffs
would say, hey, if you went and bought that gun
outside of the state, and you followed all legal processes
and you bought it, brought it back, good on you,
But good luck finding a state neighboring ours that's going
to be very very helpful to your cause.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
There.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I don't know if I answered everything you were looking for,
but hopefully that gives you some direction.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
Sean, Oh, yeah, definitely. You know, I was just curious
to know what would happen, you know, because I know
you talked about on one of your other shows that
you know, you you get caught with it, you could
possibly be a fine and a you know, punishment, all
this other stuff goes along with And I was like, so,
if somebody gives you a gun because they passed away,
then what are you supposed to do? Yeah, and you know,
I don't think it would be fair to have to
(30:21):
force somebody to go through classes and all that other
stuff just because somebody willed them a gun.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
No, and quite honestly, you know, law abiding citizens aren't
going to be the ones that end up or shouldn't
be the ones that end up on the radar screen.
But again, you know, this is what this is what
the legislature is aiming at. So yeah, bad law and
ends and bad results, but that's what we got. So
thanks for the call, Shawn, and definitely we'll cut over
to Steve real quick and centennial. Steve, what's your question?
Speaker 7 (30:48):
Yeah, Hey, thanks for taking my car. I appreciate it. Hey,
this is great that you're on because this has been
bothering me. Sure, question, how does a law enforcement office
or reckon sow? They always say took to uphold the constitution,
which would be the laws of the land, right, and
then government hierarchy saying, hey, for instance, you can't support
(31:13):
ikes in deportation.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so Steve, to get to your question, because we
only have a limited time in this segment. You know,
that's a very tough place to be. And the way
that this law is constructed, you know, I could very easily,
as the sheriff, say hey, this violates the Constitution. I'm
not going to enforce this law. And basically non enforcement
would mean I'm not going to provide you the card
(31:36):
that is required in this bill so that you can
go then take the class that is then required for
you to go buy a gun. So de facto, the
way they wrote this bill is I would be standing
in the way of your constitutional rights. They wrote that
they wrote this bill very intentionally, and it did so
to try to make the sheriffs, in my opinion, the
(31:56):
enemy of gun buyers, especially if we're slowing your process
down to acquiring a gun. That's the short answer to
a much more difficult question. But in fairness, I don't
think this bill stands up to constitutional muster. I think
if and when the Attorney General or whomever else inserts
himself into this discussion and we get this to a
(32:18):
court or to hopefully the Supreme Court, I think this
thing dies a fiery death. But you know, there's a
there's a legal concern and you've got to jump through
those hoops which we shouldn't have to do to exercise
a constitutional.
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Right right, and then take it go to supporting ICE. Sure,
so aladies have said police don't support ICE agents. Yeah,
so there is there not that same quandary.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So there is that same quandary. And I will tell
you that I am I am. I am very careful
about how I interact with ICE because there is a
state law that says, hey, we can't we can't act
as ICE agents. But it doesn't say that I can't
have cooperation with ICE. It doesn't say that I can't
have a meaningful relationship with ICE, that we can't work
on law enforcement efforts together. What it says is I
(33:09):
can't detain an inmate in my jail past their release
date on behalf of ICE without a without a court
approved warrant. There are some questions in the law about
you know, does a court order does some of these
prior court rulings really have an effect on whether or
not sheriffs in Colorado can or cannot work with ICE. Again,
(33:29):
those are things that need to get to the Supreme Court,
and I think they will in due time. But in
the meantime in Colorado, when they pass a law that
says ICE, you know you can't you can't detain someone
past their time and custody. Well, I also have to
follow the Constitution and say, all right, I am I
depriving someone illegally their right to freedom based on something
(33:49):
that isn't recognized as a judicial warrant or as a
de facto criminal charge inside of my jail or any
jail in the state of Colorado. So these are tough quandaries.
I'll tell you, we walk a very thin line in
Weld County to try to figure out how to work
with ICE to the best of our ability. I can
assure you that if you were talking to the ICE
agents that interact with my office, they don't have a
(34:10):
lot of complaints about the way we're doing business. And
I'm not going to go much farther than that on
that particular topic. But Steve, thanks for the question. You
know it's there. These are all very tough topics to cover,
but important topics. Nonetheless, again, thanks for the call. We'll
get back to get back to a couple of texts
when we come back from break again. I appreciate all
(34:31):
the text message. I appreciate the phone calls. You're listening
to the Dan Caplis Show here on six point thirty,
k how you got well, Kenny. Sheriff Steve Reims setting
in on the driver's seat. We're going to continue to
talk about crime in Colorado in the next segment. We'll
have Sheriff Darren Weekly on with us in that second segment,
and just stick with us and keep those texts coming
in five, seven, seven, three nine here on the Dan
Capless Show.
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dankplas Show. Please be sure to give
us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast Platformcome.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Back to the Dan Taplas Show. You got Day two
with Sheriff Steve Riams hosting while Dan's out handling some
important important business. So you're here with the sheriff from
Wild County. We're going to talk a lot today about
law enforcement and crime in Colorado. Do you feel safer
today than you did yesterday or than you did a
year ago. Is your life better now than it was
five years ago? As the Colorado Legislature in the state
(00:37):
of Colorado, our illustrious Governor Polis, has he been making
your life better? Do you feel like you're in the
tip top shape for Colorado? You know when you want
to take your family out to a Rockies game, you know,
because they maybe gave you some free tickets or something,
and he decided to go to downtown Denver. You know,
is that a tough decision for you or do you say, yeah,
(00:58):
I feel great going down there? Can tell you over
the last few days, you know, and last week and
the week before covering for Dan. Some my drive down
here is just infuriating. I don't know how anyone looks
at this state and says, man, things have gotten so
much better. Uh, it's sad to me. I moved here
in nineteen ninety five. I moved to Colorado from the
(01:18):
state of Texas, and when I first moved up here,
I thought, man, this is this is a lot like home,
except with a much better view. Was pretty conservative, the
you know, the the laws were similar. The crime rates
were actually probably a little better in Colorado than where
I came from. I was in the Panhandle of Texas
and Amarilla, which isn't necessarily known as the safest part
(01:41):
of Texas, but it was. It was, you know, it
was a good, good place to be from, I guess.
But I got to Colorado and I was like, you know,
this isn't bad. You could you could go through Denver,
you know, the downtown area had been redone. The Rockies
were just were just a new team. It was just
a lot of excitement in that downtown area and in
Colorado in general. It seemed like, you know, there was
(02:02):
a future and then things started to kind of turn.
And I can't help but think that that's along the
same time as when Governor Owens left office and we
started seeing some of these really bad governors take over
the state, Hickenlooper and Polis, and the legislature kept going
farther and farther to the left. And I think we've
gotten to a point in Colorado where the cops have
(02:23):
been handcuffed and the criminals have been given free reign
to go do what they're going to do. You know,
at the end of Ryan's show, we were talking about
fentanyl and the explosion that's had in the state of Colorado,
the deaths that are associated with that, and quite frankly,
fentanyl and drug use are an underlying measure that kind
of drives a lot of crime in Colorado. But I
(02:46):
really want to hear from you guys. You know, is
your life better in the state of Colorado now than
it was a year ago or five years ago? You
can set the timeframe, but please text in five seven
seven three nine or call in three three seven one
three eight two five five start text with Dan again.
That's five seven seven three nine, and tell me is
your life better than it was a year ago, five
years ago, you set the timeframe. Do you feel safer
(03:07):
in Colorado? Do you feel like you don't have to
worry about being victimized by crime here? And I'll tell
you kind of what's driving this. We talked a little
bit about, well, we talked a lot of bit yesterday
about illegal immigration and kind of the effects that has
on our state. You know, there's obvious, obviously a crime
nexus with a lot of that, but just crime in
general in Colorado, whether you're here illegally or you were
(03:29):
born here in this state, crime is up, especially in
you know, the twenty twenty to twenty twenty two era.
We know we were leading the nation and kar theft
we were leading the nation, and a lot of violent crimes.
Fentanyl use in this state is out of control. Drug
use in this state is out of control. You know,
Dan talks all the time about how the legalization of
marijuana in twenty thirteen was kind of the tipping point
(03:52):
for the state of Colorado, and he could not be
more correct. As a person in law enforcement, I can
tell you that's when things felt like they started as
ill out of control, and it's just gotten worse worse,
and worse each year, and then get to twenty twenty,
you know, there's the George Floyd movement, and our state
legislature passed the most sweeping police reform bills and bail
(04:13):
reform bills and whatever criminal justice reform bills, to the
point now where lawlessness in some areas is almost just expected.
I mean, we saw what happened in Aurora with the
trendy Aragua gang, and this stuff's spelling over. So I
want to jump to a press release that the Colorado
State Patrol put out, and this has direct impact on
my county, but it actually has direct impact on everyone
(04:36):
in the state of Colorado because it highlights exactly how
bad crime in Colorado has gotten. So the title of
the press release reads, road rage incident results in shots fired,
no injuries resulted. On April twenty one, twenty twenty five,
at approximately one thirteen am, Colorado State Patrol troopers responded
to northbound Interstate twenty five near mileposts two point fifty,
(04:57):
which is the town of Birthed, for a road rate incidents.
Initial reports show a maroon Kia Sorrento with a Colorado
temporary tag of seven two eight two three sixty three
was traveling northbound on Interstate twenty five, straddling the center
line of both lanes. This is kind of a construction
area or an area that's under work. A motorist driving
a Subaru Legacy approached the Sorrento from behind and honked.
(05:19):
The Sorrento moved into the left lane as the Subaru
passed in the right lane. The Sorrento then began to
slow down and followed the Subaru closely before backing off
and shining a laser light at the driver of the Subaru.
The Subaru left Eye twenty five at exit twoin fifty
the berth at exit. The driver of the Sorrento also
took Exit two fifty and while doing so, fired multiple
rounds from a firearm at the Subaru. One round went
(05:41):
through the glass of the back window and into the
passenger compartment of the Subaru, hitting the driver's seat. The
Sorrento then fled from the scene. The driver of the
Subaru was fortunately not injured. This is an ongoing investigation
one of the Colorado State Patrol. The involved Kia Sorrento
is listed as stolen out of Denver. Huh, how ironic?
I asked if you see or recognize the vehicle, please
(06:02):
contact nine one one or Colorado State Patrol Dispatch at
three zero three two three nine four five zero one.
They also urge do not engage with the driver or
any occupants who are considered to be armed and dangerous. So,
you know, this is title as a road rage incident,
and I guess that's what it could have been. But
it seems to me, like, you know, there's quite possibly
some some very intentional acts here by a person driving
(06:26):
in an erratic way and looking for a conflict. And
I'm just making presumptions at this point because there's nothing
to confirm that. But when it all comes down to
the car's got a fictitious plate or a temporary tag
and it's listed as stolen. Gee, what could be more
Colorado than that? In our current times? You know, you
got I'm sure these gun laws would have stopped all
(06:47):
this if they had only been implemented a year before.
But this goes right to the heart of the matter
of a lot of what we've talked about that you know,
no matter what laws you pass, no matter what things
you do to the the law abiding citizen, the criminals
will continue to violate the law. That's what they do.
That is their job. That creates job security for law enforcement.
(07:09):
So going back down to the question we have, do
you feel safer today than you did a year ago,
five years ago? I can tell you when I started
at the Well County Sheriff's Office in nineteen ninety seven,
in the jail, we had prisoners, we had people that
came in, but even the level of criminality in the
jail was so much lower than what it is now.
But the encounters on the street were far less, far
(07:32):
less I guess violent than even with this press release
comes out to talk about. You know, we didn't have
shooting encounters from people having a road rage incident on
I twenty five. I'm not going to say that never happened,
but the frequency of that is just so much more prevalent.
And then, of course auto theft in this state, there
was a time in twenty twenty through probably twenty twenty
(07:54):
two or twenty twenty three, if you parked your car
at DIA, you weren't sure if it was going to
be there when you got back. I mean, just that
was just a fact of the matter. So again, are
you safer in Colorado now because of the posture of
our Colorado legislature led by Democrats? Are you safer in Colorado?
Because of the bills that are previous our current governor,
(08:16):
our previous governor have signed into law all these draconian
gun laws, all these restrictions on your rights. Have these
things made you safer? Has it just made it easier
for criminals to victimize you? I think it's the ladder
of the two. But I want to hear what you
guys have to say, So keep the text coming in.
We're getting quite a few again. Text Dan to five seven, seven,
three nine. Let me know what you think. Are you
(08:37):
safer now? Are you feel a little less safe? Like
even I do as a law enforcement officer? But let's
get to what the show is going to be about. Today.
We're going to bring in some sheriffs and some sheriff's
candidates to talk about, you know, what is going on
in Colorado? What do they see from their perspective. We'll
have Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly on, We'll have Mason
County Sheriff Todd Rowle on, and we're going to have
(08:59):
a guest that I've had on previously Captain Matt Turner,
who's running to replace replace my position or replace me
up in Welld County, and kind of get his perspective too.
The first time I had him on the show, I
cut him short on time, and I felt bad for that.
So we're going to bring him back on and let
him talk a little bit about his candidacy, why he's
running for sheriff in Weld County, and what his perspective
(09:20):
is on crime in Colorado and what he plans to
do when he takes over the reins of the office
if he's lucky enough to be elected. So he'll be
on as soon as we come back from this break.
We'll cut away at this point and we'll have Captain
Matt Turner on as soon as we come back. You're
listening to Dan Kaplis on six thirty KA hosted by
Weld County Sheriff Steve.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Rams and now back to the Dankapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Back to the Dan Capless Show here on six thirty
K How you got Weld County Sheriff Steve Ringms setting
in his guest host on day number two, and we're
going to get right to our next guest. This is
Captain Matt Turner from the Weld County Sheriff office. He
is running to replace me up in Wild County. And
I had Matt on probably I don't know, three or
four weeks ago when I covered for Dan, I think
the first time, and unfortunately I cut Matt pretty short
(10:10):
on the time that he had to talk about his candidacy.
So Matt, welcome back to the show. And how you
doing Matthew again, mister Matthew, can you hear us? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
You got me?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, I got you. Hey, Matt again, welcome to the show.
I was afraid we're going to lose you and you
weren't going to get to talk this time either. So again,
as a candidate for Weld County Sheriff, tell us a
little bit about what drew you to law enforcement and
why are you running to replace me? Are you crazy?
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Well?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
I mean, first of all, the reason I got involved
in law enforcement, boss you I have talked about this
is just I needed a job, but I found a
love for this thing. I can't see myself doing anything else.
As far as why I'm running to replace you, I
think there's two main reasons. I'm an army veteran and
in Iraq, I was worded the purple heart for a
(11:01):
number of injuries, one of those being a traumatic brain injury.
So I joke about that. It's not my true motivation.
My true motivation is my family. Sure, my family lives
in Well County. I'm married with my wife Joy, we
have two children and two dogs, and I want my
family to be safe. I want our community to be safe.
And the Weld County community owes you a great amount
(11:24):
of debt, my family owes you a great amount of thanks.
And you've done so much to try to motivate the
Sheriff's office and other municipalities to make this place safer.
And I think you've really improved that. I just want
to take it to the next level.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Absolutely so. I you know I have given you my
endorsement early on having you on this show for a
very purposeful reason. I believe in your ability to take
the agency to that next step. But you know it's
not going to be easy. For first, you got to
get through an election. You may face some challengers, But
what do you consider to be your biggest your biggest
(11:57):
hurdle in this in this campaign, If you will I
mean obviously, if you get an opponent, that's a hurdle.
But as as an incoming sheriff, what do you see
the hurdle being for the office and for just the
general law enforcement profession.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Well, I think I think every sheriff when they take
over to a certain degree, they take over something like
something like a used car. And I don't mean that
in a bad way, but you didn't you didn't, you know,
drive this thing and get it to the condition that
it's in. And I think in Colorado the thing that
has affected our car the most is legislation. You know,
depending on what study you looked at, we are ranked
(12:32):
the third most dangerous state in the country, like California
is number nine. That's that's just insane, right, whether it's
property crime, vehicle theft, whatever it is, are our our
our community members are being victimized every single day. And
that's the true hurdle is the legislation that it has
allowed criminals to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
So when you talk about that, what does that materialize itself?
As in Colorado, you know, you say that the criminals
basically have the upper hand, What does that look like
from a law enforcement perspective? Because many of the people
listening to this radio show. You know, luckily have not
been victims of some of the crime we're talking about.
They hear about it, but from someone who's a law enforcer,
what does it look like when you talk about the
(13:12):
criminal justice system in Colorado?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You know, I have many conversations with our troops when
they come into my office and vent, and the biggest
thing that they vent about, the thing they tell me
about the most is how they feel like their actions
have no measure of success in the community. Our guys
will go weeks and weeks trying to arrest one person
and that person will be out of jail the next day.
(13:35):
It is just nuts. But the jail has been built
in revolving doors everywhere through that legislation, through boxes that
the judges have been put in, as far as bomb restrictions,
or how long a person will remain in jail, and
then sentencing. There's no truth in sentencing in Colorado anymore.
If a person gets sentence of two years in jail,
they are doing less than one year.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah. That makes the job of a law enforcement officer
extremely difficult in any condition. But there's also been a
lot of police reform in the state of Colorado. You know,
we've we've had to deal with you know, body cameras
and and a lot of extra things put on our plate.
But I think the biggest thing is the removal removal
(14:16):
of any governmental immunity. I know that's kind of a
difficult thing to explain to the listeners, But what's the
effect that that has on your on a law enforcement
officer and an agency as a whole.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Well, first off, I think that all the all the
legislation you're talking about there is are a great effect.
In fact, I'm not even home right now, and I'm
in a hotel room. I'm at an Axon convention right
now learning more about bodycam because of something that we
have to have now, I want to make sure that
we're doing it the right way. I'm in Phoenix, Arizona.
It snows like marijuana here, there's road construction and homeless
people everywhere. So it's kind of like Denver. It's exactly
(14:50):
like Denver, except hotter, Yes, except hotter. Right now, I'll
give it that, but you know, not having qualified immunity anymore.
But if that's done, is it's put a ton more
stress on our people and not so much the stress
of doing their job right we expect our people to
do their job right. We hold our people accountable, we
(15:10):
mentor them, we train them. I mean, your deputies get
the best training, I'll say, hands down in the state.
We get more access to training to our deputies than
anywhere else that I know of. But it's the small complaints. Now,
a small, frivolous complaint can take a person's job away,
and not just at the sheriff's office, but anywhere in
(15:31):
the state of Colorado. So if they're in a civil
lawsuit held accountable for something even small, their post gets denied.
They can never be a cop again, and they lose
their job immediately. And then whatever monetary value comes to
that lawsuit, it comes out of their pocket directly. And
that kind of stress right there, affects hiring, affects her attention,
(15:53):
it affects morale. I mean, it's this is a hard
industry to work in. Now.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I can't believe that Colorado would be facing a
christ Is for hiring cops. I mean, that's been well documented.
But even with all that said, you're still looking at
running for the position of sheriff. I'm sure you have
some campaign platforms, some places where people can go find you.
Where are you most accessible and kind of what are
your what are your main tenants as a as a
(16:18):
candidate for Weld County Sheriff.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Well as far as accessibility, looking up on Facebook's Turn
for Sheriff, I'm online at www dot turn for Sheriff
dot com. My email address, my personal cell phone number,
all that is on there. I'll talk to anybody, anybody
at all, as far as far as what I want
to do. You know, I think it goes back to
that idea of Colorado being the third most dangerous state
(16:40):
to live in. Drug crime is rampant here and drug
crime bleeds into every other type of crime, property crime,
violent crime. Everything leads back to drug crime. There is
no reason why we should be finding drugs connected to
the cartel in Colorado, in Weald County, but we are.
It's it's shameful, but that's legislation again. I want to
(17:01):
find new in inventive ways to restructure our team and
find new technology to interact with drug crime and hold
people accountable for that. Another thing I want to do
is work on people who have warrants. Last time I
checked and I need to update my numbers, there were
thirteen thousand. I think thirteen thousand warrants in Weald County alone.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, there's no lack of work to do on that front.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
No, no, And I mean our guys could do that
alone and they'd be busy every single day, all day long.
So I want to work on resources for that, partnerships
about other agencies, and try to find some way to
get people back in jail and get in front of courts.
I do want to help our deputies, our staff. I
want to help improve their mental and physical health some more.
(17:44):
And then I think one of the huge things that
is big and Weald County and I want to make
sure is maintained is I want to continue to fight,
and I have been fighting this year to maintain our
Second Amendment.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Well, you're listening to the Dan Kapla Show. That's Turner
for share UF. It's Matt Turner run for Sheriff. But
again we're going to cut the break. You're listening to
the Dan Capless Show with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Reims
standing in his guest host.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
You're listening to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I couldn't think of a better song to welcome our
next guest Dan, and when you get a chance to
meet this guy in person, you'll understand why why I
say that song was totally appropriate for Sheriff Todd Ralph
from Mesa County. Todd, how you doing.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on the shows.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
You Bet from You you.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Bet, And we spend a lot of time together at
different conferences and on the phone and other legislative stuff.
But the callers may not.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Know you that well.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
The listening audience may not know you as well. Again,
Masa County, that's over on the western slope. But tell
us a little bit about Masa County and your your
rise to share and your entry into the law enforcement field.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
So Mason County is an amazing place where thirty three
hundred square miles, seventy two percent of that's public, LANs
about one hundred and seventy thousand people. About half of
that's unincorporated. So the Sheriff's office gets to be the
law enforcement for them. I've been super blessed to get
to be the sheriff for going on four years here.
(19:24):
I raised in a small town, going to the Marine
Corps afterwards, and slowly worked through the ranks here at
the sheriff's office and got to be the sheriff of
this amazing community.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, I know it's been a fun ride for you
most of the time. Anytime you were working as a sheriff,
there's always ups and downs. I just got to ask, though,
this is a common thing I get asked when you
got into the law enforcement field. I mean, you came
from the Marine Corps, so your family was probably a
little prepared. But was there some consternation about why are
you going from the military into law enforcement or was
(19:58):
your family totally supportive of the move.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
I come from a law enforcement family, so they were
supportive of the move, but it wasn't something that I
was ever shooting for. My brother and my dad were
in law enforcement. I didn't think I'd ever go into
law enforcement, but there was a path there for me
on how to get there, seeing that they'd gone to
cacademies and they knew people in law enforcement, and I
(20:24):
don't think there was any consternation. I've had super support
throughout my entire career for my family.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And that's very important to a successful career. But you know, Todd,
I've been asking the callers and the people in the
listening audience if they feel safer today in Colorado than
they did a year ago or five years ago. And
I asked that question of our listeners because I look
at Colorado and say, man, this state's really it's gone down.
What do you think? What's your perspective from over there
(20:49):
on the Western Slope and Grand Junction.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
So I think people feel that. I think people see
that in some areas of Colorado. Part of that is
due to social media, where we have an overload of information.
But if you look if you look at so CBI
started taking crime stats in two thousand and eight. Statewide,
property crime has gone up forty percent since then. In
(21:15):
my community in Mason County has actually gone down zero
pointy nine percent. Violent crime, on the other hand, we've
seen a three percent decrease in crime since two thousand
and eight, but Colorado as a whole has seen a
seventy one percent increase. So there's something happening absolutely throughout Colorado.
We've been a little bit immune to it here in
Mason County, but there.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Is a change.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And I want to point out most of the elected
officials in Mesa County are Republican, correct air.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Correct and you're a Republican, yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Yeah, I can't think that that's by accident. And so
when you're talking about those spikes and crime from two
thousand and eight to now, much of that area is
focused in the areas that are controlled by the party
that is not Republican, the Democrats. And I think you
see that no matter where you go in this state.
So Denver's the obvious choice, but even on the western slope,
(22:10):
do you have some of those communities that are a
little more blue and crime is spiking in those areas.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
You know, in my county anyways, we've seen an overall decrease.
We have and we do have some city council members
that they're not part of some elections, but they are Democrats.
We've seen, we've seen a lot of support. We never
went through the phases where city council or county commissioners
(22:39):
are speaking out against law enforcement, not supporting law enforcement
and our community as a whole. If I had to,
if I had to say it is success is they've
always been a part of us and they've always supported us.
And you know, in twenty seventeen we passed the public
safety tax, them telling us they want us to do
(22:59):
more for them. So I do see places in our
state that the law enforcement is limited on what they
can do. It takes it takes away their ability to
protect their communities and know that their community is going
to have their back because as well as you know,
(23:21):
doing this as long as you can, this is a
dangerous job. Absolutely nothing's perfect, and I think there was
a phase we went through where if law enforcement didn't
do everything perfect, you got called into question and they
I've been blessed to be in a community where people
support us. We're accountable to them, and they hold us
(23:42):
accountable when we do something wrong, but we don't lose
their support.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Sure, yeah, And I think some of that comes to
the fact if if your agency is policing itself, if
you're if you're being transparent to the public, people pretend
tend to give you a little bit of grace when
you do. So let me ask you this question. You know, uh,
in Colorado, we've been under Democrat leadership at the state
legislature and in the in the governor's mansion for quite
(24:07):
some time, and we've seen things just continually kind of
fall apart, especially on the Front Range area. Do you
think that this state can come back to the areas
or to the level that it was saying that, you know,
the mid two thousands even Uh, do you think it
can get back to that area or that that that
status under Democrat control or is it going to take
an absolute change in the governor's mansion and at the
(24:29):
state legislature.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
So I think I think these last couple of sessions
they've gone too far. And that's the understanding when you
when you have the House, the Senate, and the governor
all of the same party, things get done, but sometimes
they're not challenged and they're not the right things to
get done. And I think they're going too far, even
(24:52):
for their own party. You know, you've heard me speak
a lot about Senate Bill three. I don't think most
Democrats I appreciate that level of going to control. I
think they're going too far for their own party. And
I think it's a while before a Republican a Republican
(25:15):
controls anything in Colorado. I believe that it's it's at
least four to six years. But I believe we're going
to have more moderate Democrats elected. I do believe they're
living on the far left side of their party and
I think they'll come back more central. That is my hope.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more well, Todd, I
appreciate you being on the show with us. I know
that your time is valuable and your perspective is also valuable.
You know, Mesa County is it's kind of like a
Weld County, but on the western slope. You guys still
believe in the rule of law, you still enforce the law,
and you still have a lot of support from your community. Todd,
it's been a pleasure talking with you, and again, thanks
(25:55):
for coming on and being on the show with us.
Your perspective is great. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
See, thank you for all your spports throughout my career too, Dave,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
You bet well. Again, you're listening to the Dan Capless
Show here on six point thirty k how We're going
to cut to a break and we when we come back,
we'll we'll get to your text messages. We'll try to
take a few calls if we can. Again. That text
line is five seven, seven, three nine phone numbers three
oh three seven one three eight two five five. If
you want to load up a few calls, we'll get
to him. As soon as we come back from break again,
you listen to the Dan Capla Show with Well Kenny
(26:24):
Sheriff Steve Reims as your guest host.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And now back to the Dan Kaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Appless show with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Reims sitting in
as guest host, and our last segment of the hour. Here,
I want to get to a few texts, and we
got a caller on the line too that I'd like
to get to, but we'll start with this text. It says,
definitely not safer and way less free. I've been in
Colorado since ninety three, that's a rhyme, and now I'm
retired and have the time to enjoy the beauty of
the state. I am seriously considering leaving thanks to the leftist,
(26:58):
draconian policies and laws and wacky minority that controls this state.
I am growing very tired of the state. But at
least I live in Well County and I have an
awesome sheriff. Oh what a nice thing to say. You
only have your awesome sheriff for one year, eight months,
and thirteen days. And that takes us to the next text.
This is one of my guys that calls himself my
(27:18):
beard bro. He says, you sure this isn't your retirement plan?
Thanks for all you do. And he and his wife
are both willing to help Matt Turner run for sheriff.
They want to support him in the future. So let's
go over to this caller. We got Sean from Colorado Springs,
and then we'll get back to a couple of these
text messages. But he's got a question about some gun
bills going through the state of Colorado. Sean, how you
(27:38):
doing good?
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I'm doing fantastic. What can I answer for you or
what can I try to answer for you? I am
not an attorney, but I have stayed at a holiday
in Express a couple of times.
Speaker 6 (27:49):
Perfect. Hey, My question is I know you were talking
about the gun bill thing and that you were saying
that if you were to get caught with one of
these weapons after the unbuilt passes and everything, that it
could be classified as a misdemeanor.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Not necessary, not necessarily, but go ahead, to go ahead,
finish that question.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
Well, what I was you know going at is you
know once this thing goes through, which you know, I
hope it doesn't. But God only knows what's going to happen. Say,
let's say Apparent passes away and they will you a
semi automatic weapon. What are you supposed to do with that?
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Now?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, so the bill silent on you know, death in
the family, and the previous laws that have been passed
have even on the transfer stuff. If you're if if
if these things are willed to you, you're allowed to
take possession of those, and the assumption as long as
you're legal to possess a weapon, you're legal to take
possession of those. You don't have to go through the
legal process transfer at least as I understand it, and
(28:51):
you'd be fine to to inherit those those guns as
of now. Now that doesn't mean that the that the
laws can't change in this state. But again there's always
the quest uestion of you know, are you legal to
own a gun in the first place, which I assume
you are as far as this new bill. The reason
I say, you know, there's some question in the law.
The law doesn't really address, well, what happens if I
(29:13):
go out of state and buy a gun as long
as I'm following the laws of that state, I don't
know that there's anything that would be punishable in this state.
But again, the law is kind of silent on that effect.
It doesn't really talk about if you leave the state
and come back in. It just says if you acquire
one of these guns in state. It doesn't even it's
not even that specific. So there's always questions when there's
(29:35):
ambiguity ambiguity in the law of you know, how's an
attorney general going to look at it, how's a district
attorney going to look at it? I think most sheriffs
would say, hey, if you went and bought that gun
outside of the state, and you followed all legal processes
and you bought it, brought it back, good on you,
But good luck finding a state neighboring ours that's going
to be very very helpful to your cause.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
There.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I don't know if I answered everything you were looking for,
but hopefully that gives you some direction.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
Sean, Oh, yeah, definitely. You know, I was just curious
to know what would happen, you know, because I know
you talked about on one of your other shows that
you know, you you get caught with it, you could
possibly be a fine and a you know, punishment, all
this other stuff goes along with And I was like, so,
if somebody gives you a gun because they passed away,
then what are you supposed to do? Yeah, and you know,
I don't think it would be fair to have to
(30:21):
force somebody to go through classes and all that other
stuff just because somebody willed them a gun.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
No, and quite honestly, you know, law abiding citizens aren't
going to be the ones that end up or shouldn't
be the ones that end up on the radar screen.
But again, you know, this is what this is what
the legislature is aiming at. So yeah, bad law and
ends and bad results, but that's what we got. So
thanks for the call, Shawn, and definitely we'll cut over
to Steve real quick and centennial. Steve, what's your question?
Speaker 7 (30:48):
Yeah, Hey, thanks for taking my car. I appreciate it. Hey,
this is great that you're on because this has been
bothering me. Sure, question, how does a law enforcement office
or reckon sow? They always say took to uphold the constitution,
which would be the laws of the land, right, and
then government hierarchy saying, hey, for instance, you can't support
(31:13):
ikes in deportation.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so Steve, to get to your question, because we
only have a limited time in this segment. You know,
that's a very tough place to be. And the way
that this law is constructed, you know, I could very easily,
as the sheriff, say hey, this violates the Constitution. I'm
not going to enforce this law. And basically non enforcement
would mean I'm not going to provide you the card
(31:36):
that is required in this bill so that you can
go then take the class that is then required for
you to go buy a gun. So de facto, the
way they wrote this bill is I would be standing
in the way of your constitutional rights. They wrote that
they wrote this bill very intentionally, and it did so
to try to make the sheriffs, in my opinion, the
(31:56):
enemy of gun buyers, especially if we're slowing your process
down to acquiring a gun. That's the short answer to
a much more difficult question. But in fairness, I don't
think this bill stands up to constitutional muster. I think
if and when the Attorney General or whomever else inserts
himself into this discussion and we get this to a
(32:18):
court or to hopefully the Supreme Court, I think this
thing dies a fiery death. But you know, there's a
there's a legal concern and you've got to jump through
those hoops which we shouldn't have to do to exercise
a constitutional.
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Right right, and then take it go to supporting ICE. Sure,
so aladies have said police don't support ICE agents. Yeah,
so there is there not that same quandary.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So there is that same quandary. And I will tell
you that I am I am. I am very careful
about how I interact with ICE because there is a
state law that says, hey, we can't we can't act
as ICE agents. But it doesn't say that I can't
have cooperation with ICE. It doesn't say that I can't
have a meaningful relationship with ICE, that we can't work
on law enforcement efforts together. What it says is I
(33:09):
can't detain an inmate in my jail past their release
date on behalf of ICE without a without a court
approved warrant. There are some questions in the law about
you know, does a court order does some of these
prior court rulings really have an effect on whether or
not sheriffs in Colorado can or cannot work with ICE. Again,
(33:29):
those are things that need to get to the Supreme Court,
and I think they will in due time. But in
the meantime in Colorado, when they pass a law that
says ICE, you know you can't you can't detain someone
past their time and custody. Well, I also have to
follow the Constitution and say, all right, I am I
depriving someone illegally their right to freedom based on something
(33:49):
that isn't recognized as a judicial warrant or as a
de facto criminal charge inside of my jail or any
jail in the state of Colorado. So these are tough quandaries.
I'll tell you, we walk a very thin line in
Weld County to try to figure out how to work
with ICE to the best of our ability. I can
assure you that if you were talking to the ICE
agents that interact with my office, they don't have a
(34:10):
lot of complaints about the way we're doing business. And
I'm not going to go much farther than that on
that particular topic. But Steve, thanks for the question. You
know it's there. These are all very tough topics to cover,
but important topics. Nonetheless, again, thanks for the call. We'll
get back to get back to a couple of texts
when we come back from break again. I appreciate all
(34:31):
the text message. I appreciate the phone calls. You're listening
to the Dan Caplis Show here on six point thirty,
k how you got well, Kenny. Sheriff Steve Reims setting
in on the driver's seat. We're going to continue to
talk about crime in Colorado in the next segment. We'll
have Sheriff Darren Weekly on with us in that second segment,
and just stick with us and keep those texts coming
in five, seven, seven, three nine here on the Dan
Capless Show.
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