Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams fills in for Dan and is joined by Rep. Gabe Evans (R, CO-8) and Weld County Director of Inmate Services Matt Elbe.
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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 Dan Caplis 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 platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to the Dan capless Show here in an
hour two of day two with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve
Reims setting in as your guest host once again. And
it's always a pleasure to do so, but it's even
more of a pleasure when I get a chance to
talk to one of my favorite guys, Congressman Gabe Evans
for the fighting Congressional District eight out of Colorado, and
Gabe's been a fireball since taking over this seat. It's
(00:38):
great down at the state legislature, but he's been even
better out in Washington, DC. And Gabe, thanks for being
on the phone with us, and I want to talk
to you a little bit about President Trump's actions out
in Washington, d C.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Sheriff always good to be on with you, and yeah,
Washington DC was honestly Denver's competition. Denver, Colorado's competition for
all of the wrong categories, the one that comes immediately
to mind is carjacking and auto theft.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
There for a while when Colorado was leading the nation
in auto theft, the national competitor to us was Washington.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
D C.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And so, yeah, just in the last few months, we've
had congressional staffers murdered in drive by shooting. We've had
we've had members, we've had, you know, members of President
Trump's cabinet who have been victims of crimes. Some of
my own staffers have told me about, you know, chalk
out lines effectively on the on the lobby of the
(01:34):
apartment buildings where they live. Because the crime in Washington,
d C. Is out of control. And that's doubly horrible
because it's an international city. This is the national capital
of the United States, and we're just waiting for an
international incident to happen when we're having dignitaries, when you've
got all of these folks from other countries that are
coming to the United States. I mean, in fact, we
already had one earlier this year. We had really diplomats
(01:56):
who were killed in Washington, D C. And so it's
time the city got cleaned up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I know that you're in fundraising mode as you know,
getting ready to run for reelection. I know that your
time is valuable tonight, but we really appreciate you taking
a little bit of time away. Are you in Washington,
d C right now?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Nope, I am actually back in Colorado for the month
of August. We've been burning up the roadways that you know,
and when we talk about roadways, you know, we got
to make sure we mentioned Colorado's got the fourth worst
rural roadways in the country, the eighth worst urban roadways
in the country because our state and are our governor
misprioritize all of our transportation dollars. But yeah, we're burning
(02:36):
up the roadway meeting with stakeholders and getting out into
the district, talking to people and listening to their concerns
and trying to highlight the ways we're working in DC
to fix a lot of these issues.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, I bring the question up of whether you're in
Colorado or whether you're in d C. Because you're only
marginally safer here in Colorado. I know that you say
this quite often that Colorado's number two in the nation
for in a bad way for crime by But if
you if you rank the district of Columbia as a state.
Colorado actually comes in third, and that's because Washington d C.
(03:08):
Is number one in crime per capita. To go to
the point you made earlier, you'd like to think when
you leave home and go to Washington, d C. At
least you're getting you're going there to do, you know,
good work, but you're also going there to watch your back.
I can only imagine that that Washington d C is
the is one of the few places that's less safe
(03:30):
than Colorado. Doesn't that just bother you in so many ways? Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Absolutely, it bothers me. Not just from the pride perspective
of this is the national capital of the United States.
This is where the rest of the world comes when
they want to have conversations and interactions with our government.
But yeah, absolutely at a personal level. I mean, my
wife and kids sometimes go back to me to Washington
d C. A lot of other members of Congress, you know,
(03:55):
they'll bring their kids with them sometimes. And so to
have all of these crime problems in our national capital,
it's just unsafe and wrong from so many different levels.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Well, and kind of transitioning just a little bit. The
last time I was I had you on the show
we were talking about the Big Beautiful Bill, and yesterday
I was highlighting some of the mess that Colorado has
gotten itself into with their forty four billion dollar budget
and still having to try to figure out how to
cut another eight hundred million because of misspending. But the
Dems are blaming that on the Big Beautiful Bill and
(04:27):
cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. You had talked a little
bit about, Hey, there's going to be some cuts because
we're not going to fund I llegals anymore. You know,
do you see this as a good thing for Colorado
to have to figure out how to tighten the belt
And is this forcing an issue that has been swept
under the rug in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
So here's the three numbers you got to remember when
it comes to the State of Colorado's budget. In the
last seven years, the population of Colorado has increased by
five percent, right, inflation has increased by twenty six percent,
but state spend and the state budget has increased by
fifty percent. So even adjusted for inflation and population, Colorado
(05:08):
has more money and more purchasing power per propata really
than at any other time in Colorado's history. And so
what we have here in the state of Colorado is
not a revenue problem. It's a spending problem. And what
we did in Washington, DC with the Big Beautiful Bill,
Americans were facing the largest tax hike in history if
(05:30):
we didn't pass that big beautiful bill. But we did.
We saved Americans from the largest tax hike in history.
The average family of four in Colorado, you know, just
depending on where you fall, your average family of four,
you know, so we're not talking millionaires here, We're talking
working class people. They're looking at anywhere to a five
to ten thousand dollars per family increase in their taxes
(05:54):
and loss of effectively real wages. Had we not passed
this bill, Colorado's counting on that tax increase, and they
already spent the money. So when we saved Colorado's from
the biggest tax hike in American history, now all of
a sudden, the Dems that run the state of Colorado
got caught with their hand in the cookie jar because
they were counting on that tax hike. They already spent
(06:16):
the money. And you know, of course, now even though
they still have more money than at any point in
Colorado's history, even adjusted for population and inflation. You know
now they're trying to find a scapegoat.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, I can tell you this, they're certainly not spending
the money on the roads. As to the point you
made just a little bit earlier, because I don't know
where you can drive in this state where the roads
aren't just trash, unless it's maybe Weld Country Road forty
nine that is maintained by Wellds County.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Again, it is a priority problem. The state of Colorado
is barking up the wrong tree for all of the
different things that they spend money on. And if we
want to talk about Medicaid, let's talk about Medicaid. Under
the big beautiful bill, Medicaid spending still in increases by
twenty five percent, two hundred billion dollars. We're just being good.
(07:06):
Steward's a taxpayer money, and we're not spending that money
on illegal immigrants. We're not spending that on able bodied people,
young men who refuse to work but still demand taxpayer
funded healthcare. And we're not giving it to people who
are not eligible for the program. But Biden let him
stay on the program when he was paying people to
stay home during COVID and nobody ever got removed from
the program. That's all we did with medicaid. Medicaid spending
(07:29):
still increases. It's just again Colorado mismanages the program horribly
and they refuse to stop funding illegal immigrants. And again
they're trying to blame that all on the Feds. In
the Big Beautiful Bill.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Well, and one more point I'd like to make here.
That big beautiful Bill added some funding for ICE and
border patrol to be able to do the things they
need to do to resecure our country. And one of
those things is has a personal nexus right back to
close to your home in the town of Hudson, where
we're hearing that ICE facility is about to be stood
up in the old Hudson Prison. What do you think
(08:04):
about that that facility being reopened right near your backyard.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, that's right right in my district. I know right
where it's at. And look, we go back to the
numbers that we got from ICE last year when a
letter was written asking how many people that we know
about are illegally present in the United States and have
committed other crimes, and the answer that came back was
about six hundred and sixty thousand people illegally present in
(08:32):
the United States with criminal convictions. This isn't there in
the criminal justice process or you know they're waiting courtated.
This is criminal convictions. Thirteen thousand of them are convicted
murderers illegally present in the United States. So and we asked.
I was a group of Republicans that asked for an update,
(08:55):
I don't know, maybe two months ago, just asking how
many of these people have we found yet and how
any more do we still have to go? And the
shorter answer is we've still got a long ways to hear. Yeah, absolutely,
to be able to yeah, to be able to find
these these drug dealers, these cartels, these gang bangers, these
people that are illegally in our country and committing other
heinous crimes to again include as of last summer, thirteen
(09:16):
thousand convicted murderers. So we've got to have the facilities
to be able to when we find these people, detain
them and not do what the Biden administration did, which
was just turn them loose back into the community with
the court date and hope they show.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Up, which didn't work. I wanted to hit that point
because we're getting all kinds of texts coming in saying hey,
thanks for the work on the ice facility, and you
deserve just as much credit as anybody because you're representing
your district. You're doing the thing that helps keep Colorado
safe by providing the funding so that that facility can
be opened back up through the big beautiful bill and
(09:49):
the passage of such. So you've been a champion for Colorado.
You've been a champion for CD eight. You know, like
I said, it's campaign season. Those campaign funds are important.
How can people we'll get out there and help you.
How can they donate to your campaign? How can they
be of service to making sure that you get re elected?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, so it's Electgabevans dot com. You'll have two e's
right next to each other. Elect g A, D E
E v a ns dot com. That's going to have
all of the information there. And you really hit the
nail on the head. Here's what we got going in Washington,
d C. Other than a city that's kind of primy
right now and getting cleaned up. Republicans have a three
vote majority in the US House. I won the second
(10:29):
closest race in the nation of any Republican. It was
actually the only seat in the country where we defeated
an incumbent Democrat in a state that unfortunately Kamaa carried,
And so I have a massive target on my back
from all of the folks across the other side of
the aisle because they only need to flip three seats,
and Jakeem Jeffries has the Speaker's gabble, and all of
(10:51):
the work that we've been doing to secure America, to
get the gang bangers, the drug dealers, the cartels, all
of these folks apprehended and out of our communities, all
of that stops if we lose the house. So on
tip of the spear in that fight, I'm gonna keep
fighting for it. And then, you know, while we're on
the criminal justice and public safety topic, here I was,
I was refreshing up on the Big Beautiful Bill because
(11:13):
there's just so much good stuff in there. And I
remember we had talked about it, we being some of
the members had talked about it, and then I'd forgotten
about it for for a couple of months, and I
saw it again this morning when I was, you know,
refreshing on the Big Beautiful Bill. One of the other
programs we created in there was the uh oh Man.
Then I just forgot the acronym. The the actual acronym. Now,
(11:36):
it's a bridging bridging immigration related deficiencies encountered nationwide, which
of course fells Biden. We all know trumplex control people.
But it's the the Biden grant bridging immigration and deficiencies
encountered nationwide three point five billion dollars to the Department
of Justice to be able to work with state and
(11:58):
local partners to be able to go after for these
drug dealers, these gang bangers, these cartels, these auto fees,
anybody that's illegally present in the country and committing other crimes.
Wish we could use that in Colorado, but we can't
get Colorado sanctuary state laws.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Well, let's we'll keep crossing our fingers. At some point
we're going to get some normalcy back in the state.
You know, your breath of fresh air and you're leading
by example. Keep doing that and keep fighting the fight.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Gabe.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
We appreciate you being on the show. Congressman Evans, thank
you so much for the work you're doing. And you know,
hopefully the listeners get out there and realize your seat matters.
Even if you don't live in CD eight, people need
to be donating to your campaign and making sure we
retain that seat.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Always appreciate being on with you, Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You bet that's Congressman gave Evans on And as I say,
with any state legislature seat, they're all important. You can't
let one go. We'll go to break. When we come back, well,
we'll kind of wrap up all that information that Gabe
gave us and we'll take your calls, we'll take your
text and we'll get caught up before the half hour
of our number two. You listening to the Dan Capleas
(13:02):
Show here with Well Kenny Sheriff, Steve Dreams.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
And now back to the Dan Kaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Welcome back to the Dan Caplas Show here with Well
Kenny Sheriff Steve Riams. And if you're wondering why we're
playing such a steamy song, we have to because that's
the name of my dog. And many of you were asking,
actually through my personal phone, what's a dog's name. I
left that out of the story. I didn't know if
it was important. But her name is Lady. So in
(13:31):
honor of the fine young man who brought my dog home,
Lady is safe at home with my family. Such a
touching moment, especially with the great musical selection for you,
Ryan Schueling and go ahead, Ryan, Well you're like Cliff
Claven when it comes to this stuff.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
My mom's kitchen.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yes, that's the jeh pretty question.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
So has Lady you've heard this million times as Lady
met the Tramp?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Well, I don't know. She was gone for a little while.
Oh I don't think so, hopefully not. Yes she has.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Okay, well then okay, don't have to worry about anything
like that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
But yeah, we're safe. I don't think she's bringing home
any extras.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
But what makes.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Lady unique, she's just the most chill dog ever. You know.
When we when we went to the Humane Society to
pick her out, I was a little skeptical. I'm like,
all right, great, we're going to the Humane Society. And
I hate to say this, but it used to be
you go to the Humane Society in Greeley, there's a
whole bunch of really ticked off pit bulls and you're
not going to take any of them home because they're
(14:37):
they're angry. Well, much to my surprise, they bring this
dog in, introduce her to my family, and I'm a
little like, eh, this is a bigger dog than what
we wanted. And again that story. She goes over and
licks my kid across the face and basically lays down
on the floor and like, I'm yours. Yeah, so she
went home, and the thought of her escaping and coming
(15:00):
back that would have destroyed my family. So I'm so
grateful to the fine gentleman that brought her home. And yeah,
it's just good story all the way around. So if
you weren't listening at the top of the show, go
back and listen to the podcast. So I don't have
to tell the whole story here. You go all right
with that. You know, we just had Congressman Gabe Evans on.
That guy is he's been a shining star. And you
(15:23):
know I've told this story before on the radio. When
he said he wanted to leave, leave the House of
Representatives here and run for Congress, I was a skeptic.
I said, man, you've only been down there two years.
He's been he'd been a rock star down at the
State House. Didn't want to lose him. Boy, was I wrong.
And I'm okay with saying that because he's been he's
been great out in DC, probably more suited for that
(15:43):
environment than he was here even at the State House,
and he's he's definitely on top of stuff. I can't
give him enough praise because I think he deserves it.
And again I want to reiterate that that Biden comment
that he made the bridging immigration related deficiencies encountered nationwide. Yeah,
that's just this pretty pretty clever stuff that they put
(16:05):
into the big beautiful bill. So I think he said
three point five million dollars of funding that could go
to joint Task Force to help locals cooperate with ICE
and pick people up who are here illegally criminal aliens
and send them back home. Unfortunately, in Colorado that will
not be available to us because we are a sanctuary state.
(16:26):
Thanks Governor Posts. That's very snarky and in case you
weren't picking it up, but some of the texts that
came in came in Congressman gave Evans. We need more
representation like him. So proud of him. And that's from
a loyal listener up in Welld County. Also, thank you
to Gabe Evans. I've been very impressed with how he
represents Colorado. Keep up the good work. Again, that's loyal
(16:48):
listener Patty. That first text was from Natalie Tenant. Here
we have, let's see a couple more of these. Oh
so please ask the well Kennedy Da if that law
that we were talking about is in the Statutes of Colorado.
And it is I mentioned that was house built twenty
four ten thirty four that enacted the idea of releasing
(17:10):
offenders early before releasing offenders who are deemed mentally incompetent
back out to the street. But the actual statute is
sixteen eight point five to one to oh three. If
you're a blue book guy and want to go read
the actual statute for yourself. Another one here from Steve
and Lyttleton, retired l EO. It's regrettable that those laws,
(17:32):
that those who passed the criminal coddling laws aren't the
first ones to be victimized by those same laws. And
I don't want to see anybody be a victim of it.
Quite frankly, you got to point there, Steve. They need
to fill the consequences of their actions at times. So
we're going to break when we come back, We're going
to have a very unique individual on. He's one of
my captains in the weld Kenny Jail, and he's going
(17:54):
to give us another perspective on the same issue. You're
listening to the Dan Caplis Show here with Well Kenny
Sheriff Steven.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
You're listening to the Dan Kapliss Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Welcome back to the Dan capless Show here with Well
County Sheriff Steve Raim setting in as your guest host
for day two of two, And as I promised you
going into the break, we're going to have a rather
unique guest's I say that in the most positive ways.
It's my jail captain for the Well County Sheriff's Office.
His name's Matt elb and Matt has been at the
Sheriff's office for just a few years, less than I have.
(18:32):
But his rise to the rank of captain as a
very non traditional, non traditional rise through the ranks of
the Sheriff's office, and I think he brings a perspective
to this competency issue that we've been talking about here
in the state of Colorado and in Weld County specifically
that will be very unique to the listeners out there.
Matt LB, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
Good? Thank you, Sheriff, appreciate having me on. Longtime listener,
first time yes, great.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
To hear, Matt, You're always a crack up. But I
think the listeners would probably be best suited to hear
a little bit about your background and how you kind
of came through the sheriff's office because it is non
traditional from what most people would expect, and it gives
you a very unique perspective of the issue we're talking
about when it comes to competency and competency restoration for
(19:21):
inmates going through the judicial system, and say, how to
your dog for us?
Speaker 6 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, so a little bit of an unorthodox, I
guess career path, you know. I started with the Sheriff's
Office about twenty five years ago, and my main role
for many of those years was as a corrections counselor,
so I was in charge of providing direct mental health
care to the inmate population and was fortunate enough to
(19:48):
continue my education as I went through my career. Received
a master's degree in community counseling, licensed by the state
as a professional counselor, and that served me well to
provide some mentorship and some oversight to the mental health
team and associated programming at the Well County Jail for
many years. I did that up until about twenty eighteen
(20:10):
when I decided to take a little bit of a
left turn in my career and excuse me, went back
to get post certified and made the switch over to
the law enforcement side of the house when I was
promoted to lieutenant in the jail, and thankfully I was
able to sort of continue some of that overside of
the mental health team and associated programming in that role.
(20:32):
But you know, starting on the civilian side, being a
mental health practitioner and then almost having a second career
as a law enforcement official within the agency has helped
me with that perspective and hopefully, I said, usund a
good path for the Well County Sheriff's Office and the
jail specifically.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
And you still do some of that mental health work
in a private setting, is that correct?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Yeah, certainly more on the private sector side of things.
Perform psychiatric evaluations on folks in nursing homes who are
having behavioral health issues, or folks who may be in
a hospital setting looking at transitioning to a nursing home
facility who have some similar issues.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And I only bring that up because I think when
we talk about your perspective on these competency issues with
inmates that are sitting in the Weld County Jail facing
this very big, this growing concern that we're facing in Colorado.
Like I said, you speak to this from a very
professional level, not just somebody who came through the ranks
of the Weld County Sheriff's Office as a detention's deputy,
(21:34):
but someone who's a clinician and can recognize the issues
that we're facing on these competency concerns. So as we
discussed this issue, let's take we referenced this in an
earlier interview with the District Attorney, Michael Rourke without using
a specific name, We've got people that are in the
Weld County Jail that are currently sitting on these competency evaluations.
(21:56):
And where do you see these things going wrong on
a common basis?
Speaker 6 (22:04):
Sure, so you know, when we talk about competency and uh,
the issue of competency being raised in a criminal proceeding
and certainly having those folks in secure custody with us
in the jail, it prevents presents a unique situation where
you know, even more so than on a regular daily basis,
we're sort of charged with being an impatient forensic hospital.
(22:25):
If you think about the idea of competency and competency
being raised with somebody who ultimately doesn't have the capacity
to be an active participant in their own defense because
of a mental health concern. Those folks are typically, you know,
fairly acute when it comes to a symptoms presentation standpoint,
and so, you know, managing those folks and what their
(22:47):
needs are in a jail setting, when when everyone involved
in the in the system and all the stakeholders have
determined that they likely need an inpatient level of care
certainly presents some some unique challenges.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
To back up just a little bit, Let's say, you know,
we get a guy that comes in off the streets,
same scenario I talked about with the district attorney. You know,
a guy beats the tar out of someone out in
the community, he gets arrested for assault, comes to the jail,
and he's sitting on these assault charges. He's going to
face some pretty heavy felonies, and he or she as
the defendant. You know, they raise a question that his
(23:20):
public defendant raises a question of competency. What what does
it look like mechanically for that person to actually see
a qualified person or or someone at the State Hospital. Mechanically,
how does that occur, you know, that transportation down to
the state hospital or someone coming in what kind of
timeframe are you are you expecting for someone like that
(23:42):
in the weld Kenny jail.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Sure, well, we'd like to be quick, we'd like it
to be quicker than it is. And you know, historically
that's that's been the case. And again, you know, thinking
about the level of care that this individual likely needs,
it's difficult to manage that in the jail setting. But
you know, mechanically, once that order is is established by
the court, the clock should start ticking in regards to
(24:05):
you know, when an approved evaluator can get to that
individual to perform that evaluation. Now, there's some discretion with
the court to order that competency evaluation to occur while
the person is in custody with us in the jail,
but it could also be ordered to be performed at
the State hospital down in Pueblo more rarely down at
(24:26):
Port Logan.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Just to interrupt. That's usually decided by the perceived level
of problem that this person presents. Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (24:35):
That that's correct? So, depending on the acuity of the
person's symptoms and if it's believed that the jail can
continue to manage that person. The evaluation may be ordered
to be done in custody, but you know that that
should be happening within thirty days. That oftentimes doesn't happen,
And so we're constantly working with state officials to sort
(24:56):
of look at the admission list and make sure that
folks are getting the appropriate places for those evaluations and
quite honestly, so that criminal proceeding can continue as everything
pauses once that competency evaluation is ordered.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So let's say, in a good scenario, this person gets
sent down to the state hospital. Good as you know
in air quotes, they get sent down to the state hospital,
it's determined that they their competency has been restored to
the point where they can go through a trial. They
get shipped back to the Well County Jail. Where can
things go wrong at that point?
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Yeah, so as as can be the case, I mean,
just because somebody either has been found competent to proceed
or has been restored to being competent to proceed, and
they return to the Well County Jail, as is the
case alpen times with mental illness, you know that person
may not always maintain that level of competency as they
(25:49):
move through those CORP proceedings. As we know, CORP proceedings
can can can take some time to get through, and
so competency may be an issue that's raised again. You know,
it's it's been, it's happened to where folks come back
to the Well County Jail restored to being competent based
on force medications and a specific medication regiment the state
hospitals provided. However, when they come back to jail, perhaps
(26:12):
they stop taking those medications, or just the stress of
a jail environment can lead folks to sort of relapse
of those symptoms and present as being not competent again.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
So when that occurs, there's a chance to send them
back yet again. Or oftentimes what we see is and
this just isn't working, and that's when we kind of
get that ruling of this person's incompetent to stand trial.
Then what do you face, Well, what.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
We stand to face is if somebody is found to
be incompetent to stand trial, and ultimately if its restoration
is determined to be to not be a viable solution,
then as the law is written, the case would likely
be dismissed by the courts.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And as the jail. Even if you have massive concerns
for this person, are you your hands pretty well tied
at that point as to what you can do with
that individual? Are you forced to release them? I mean,
do you what other options do you have available to you?
Speaker 6 (27:09):
I mean, really, the only options we have available would be,
you know, the attempt at extensive case management services and
transition services. There is the civil side of involuntary hospitalization,
but a that doesn't come with accountability for perhaps any
criminal transgressions the person's been charged with, and also doesn't
come with a whole lot of teeth. When someone enters
(27:32):
the civil side of hospitalization and behavioral health treatment, that's
a whole nother ballgame that the criminal justice system isn't
involved with and doesn't have accountability too.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So twenty five years of doing this kind of work
in the world county jail, how much worse has this
problem gotten over that length of time. That's a true questions.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
A couple of different monster heads to it too, So
I mean, definitely the acuity of folks coming in just
from a symptoms perspective, and that's been, you know, ever
evolving and ever increasing, and we've seen that over the
twenty five years that I've been there. Certainly, the issue
of competency being raised and the ambount of people who
(28:16):
are proceeding through the competency process and restoration process is
absolutely astronomical and numbers that we've really never seen before.
And then that's been the case for quite a few years.
It's just been on a study incline, so certainly, again
from the presentation perspective, but also from people who are
involved in that process, it's just ever growing.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Well, I appreciate you coming on with us, Matt. I
know it's after hours of your work time, but sometimes
when the boss asks you to do this interview, you
just kind of got to get with it. So thanks
for coming on. And you bring a very unique perspective
to all this, and I'm sure the listeners are at
a little surprised at just how difficult it is to
(28:57):
maintain some kind of order with this chaos we see
in our Weld County Jail. So thank you for your work.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
I appreciate you. Inviye, thanks sure, you bet.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
That's Matt LB captain with the Weld County Jail. The
guy offers a wealth of knowledge that is pretty much
unmatched for anybody who's running a jail in Colorado. And
I'm very grateful to have the guy, even though I
don't usually tell him that, But we'll do that on
the air. So we're gonna cut the break. When we
come back, we'll finish out, wrap up the show, get
to a few last minute texts that have come in,
(29:28):
and we'll just say our goodbye, So we'll go to break.
Listen to the Dan Caples Show here with Well Kunty
Sheriff Steve Riams.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
And now back to the Dan Tapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Welcome back to the Dan Kaplas Show. Here for the
last segment of this two hour whirlwind. Every time I
set in this Well County Sheriff Steve Riams as your
guest host, but every time I set in to cover
Dan's show, I'm amazed at how fast two hours go.
And there's just so much more you could cover with
some of these guests that you just don't have time for.
So you know, you get just a little bit of
(30:00):
the meat off the bone, but not all of it.
And yeah, I hope today was a little informative to
those of you that are out there wondering how someone
like Solomon Gallaghan gets gets out of jail and goes
back on a crime spree and hopefully this is the
last time he does it. But she I'm sorry, I'm
bad with the pronoun thing on some of these folks.
(30:20):
But if you're wondering how that thing happened or how
that issue happened, look at House Built twenty four, ten
thirty four. It's not a great read, it's a difficult read,
but it gives you a little understanding of why the
judge's hands are tied, the court's hands are tied, and
quite honestly, why public defenders are weaponizing this law to
(30:41):
benefit their clients and not benefit citizens. So ugly, ugly situation.
But in happier notes, I got my dog back, and
the text that you guys sent in today about that
story was pretty awesome. Glad I got to share something happy,
and just like with anything, when it's a pet story,
people love it. So uh, if you don't know what
(31:02):
I'm talking about because you just came to the show,
go listen to the podcast. It's a way to way
to get the whole show all in one big fell
swoop and Ryan Gilly, you guys always make it fun
down here. We didn't interact a bunch in the last
couple of shows, but you guys look like you're having
a great time behind the glass.
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Really, mostly it's about the music that we're going to
pick for you coming back and break.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yeah, so stinging the police as that was okay.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I saw at Red Rocks a couple of months ago myself.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You've always got to tie into something. You're like the
mental wizard.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Well, yeah, everything can be told in the story of song.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I love it because my wife says that I'm an idiot, savant,
mostly idiot when it comes to when it comes to
song lyrics when driving down the road, and I got
to sing along with everything, even if I'm not good
at it.
Speaker 7 (31:54):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
You have to sing like nobody's listening and dance like
no one's watching.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Sheriff. I don't dance. But there's there's a rule in
the jail that don't do anything you don't want on video.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
Because okay, well there.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Are very few places in the jail that are not
on camera. And yeah not not a not a very
private place. It could be a viral video for you.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Though.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I'm good. I'm good. I don't need any viral videos.
I'm totally okay with being non viral. Well.
Speaker 7 (32:34):
I have been on my best behavior the last couple
of days because usually I throw stuff at Ryan because
it deserves I have been.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
So sheriff.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Quick question here in our final minute, have you thought
about what you're going to do on your last day.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
In office in the job? No, mostly because I'm hoping
that day comes before my official last day. Like I
hope there's a transition point. We're not that kind of
transition another dancing in the jail, another job. Obviously, I
got to go do something else after being the sheriff.
So I got got some feelers out there maybe that
(33:13):
maybe that opportunity to come before my official last day.
But I don't want any fanfare. I honestly I want
people to come up to come to work and go
where did I go? I plan on packing up all
my stuff after everybody's out of the office and just
not being there the next day.
Speaker 7 (33:27):
What about like a meal are you going to do?
Is there a particular meal that maybe your staff is
going to give you?
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, Like I said, they're not going to know when
my last day's fun I'm not a fanfair guy like birthdays,
all that kind of staff. That's not me.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
The last day of school though, yeah, no more teachers,
no more books.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So they'll celebrate in my absence and there'll be a
better party without me there. They can celebrate my absence,
so they will, I'm sure. Yeah, I'm certain they will
behind your back, no doubt about that. Well, it's been
an honor and a pleasure to fill in here once
again for Dan Caplis, and I'm sure we'll get a
chance to do that again down the road at some point.
(34:13):
But to Kelly and Ryan and behind the glass, thanks
for keeping me on the rails and keeping me on point.
This is well. Kenny Sheriff Steve Raimes signing off on
the Dan Caplis Show.
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis 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 platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to the Dan capless Show here in an
hour two of day two with Well Kenny Sheriff Steve
Reims setting in as your guest host once again. And
it's always a pleasure to do so, but it's even
more of a pleasure when I get a chance to
talk to one of my favorite guys, Congressman Gabe Evans
for the fighting Congressional District eight out of Colorado, and
Gabe's been a fireball since taking over this seat. It's
(00:38):
great down at the state legislature, but he's been even
better out in Washington, DC. And Gabe, thanks for being
on the phone with us, and I want to talk
to you a little bit about President Trump's actions out
in Washington, d C.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Sheriff always good to be on with you, and yeah,
Washington DC was honestly Denver's competition. Denver, Colorado's competition for
all of the wrong categories, the one that comes immediately
to mind is carjacking and auto theft.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
There for a while when Colorado was leading the nation
in auto theft, the national competitor to us was Washington.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
D C.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And so, yeah, just in the last few months, we've
had congressional staffers murdered in drive by shooting. We've had
we've had members, we've had, you know, members of President
Trump's cabinet who have been victims of crimes. Some of
my own staffers have told me about, you know, chalk
out lines effectively on the on the lobby of the
(01:34):
apartment buildings where they live. Because the crime in Washington,
d C. Is out of control. And that's doubly horrible
because it's an international city. This is the national capital
of the United States, and we're just waiting for an
international incident to happen when we're having dignitaries, when you've
got all of these folks from other countries that are
coming to the United States. I mean, in fact, we
already had one earlier this year. We had really diplomats
(01:56):
who were killed in Washington, D C. And so it's
time the city got cleaned up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, I know that you're in fundraising mode as you know,
getting ready to run for reelection. I know that your
time is valuable tonight, but we really appreciate you taking
a little bit of time away. Are you in Washington,
d C right now?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Nope, I am actually back in Colorado for the month
of August. We've been burning up the roadways that you know,
and when we talk about roadways, you know, we got
to make sure we mentioned Colorado's got the fourth worst
rural roadways in the country, the eighth worst urban roadways
in the country because our state and are our governor
misprioritize all of our transportation dollars. But yeah, we're burning
(02:36):
up the roadway meeting with stakeholders and getting out into
the district, talking to people and listening to their concerns
and trying to highlight the ways we're working in DC
to fix a lot of these issues.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, I bring the question up of whether you're in
Colorado or whether you're in d C. Because you're only
marginally safer here in Colorado. I know that you say
this quite often that Colorado's number two in the nation
for in a bad way for crime by But if
you if you rank the district of Columbia as a state.
Colorado actually comes in third, and that's because Washington d C.
(03:08):
Is number one in crime per capita. To go to
the point you made earlier, you'd like to think when
you leave home and go to Washington, d C. At
least you're getting you're going there to do, you know,
good work, but you're also going there to watch your back.
I can only imagine that that Washington d C is
the is one of the few places that's less safe
(03:30):
than Colorado. Doesn't that just bother you in so many ways? Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Absolutely, it bothers me. Not just from the pride perspective
of this is the national capital of the United States.
This is where the rest of the world comes when
they want to have conversations and interactions with our government.
But yeah, absolutely at a personal level. I mean, my
wife and kids sometimes go back to me to Washington
d C. A lot of other members of Congress, you know,
(03:55):
they'll bring their kids with them sometimes. And so to
have all of these crime problems in our national capital,
it's just unsafe and wrong from so many different levels.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Well, and kind of transitioning just a little bit. The
last time I was I had you on the show
we were talking about the Big Beautiful Bill, and yesterday
I was highlighting some of the mess that Colorado has
gotten itself into with their forty four billion dollar budget
and still having to try to figure out how to
cut another eight hundred million because of misspending. But the
Dems are blaming that on the Big Beautiful Bill and
(04:27):
cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. You had talked a little
bit about, Hey, there's going to be some cuts because
we're not going to fund I llegals anymore. You know,
do you see this as a good thing for Colorado
to have to figure out how to tighten the belt
And is this forcing an issue that has been swept
under the rug in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
So here's the three numbers you got to remember when
it comes to the State of Colorado's budget. In the
last seven years, the population of Colorado has increased by
five percent, right, inflation has increased by twenty six percent,
but state spend and the state budget has increased by
fifty percent. So even adjusted for inflation and population, Colorado
(05:08):
has more money and more purchasing power per propata really
than at any other time in Colorado's history. And so
what we have here in the state of Colorado is
not a revenue problem. It's a spending problem. And what
we did in Washington, DC with the Big Beautiful Bill,
Americans were facing the largest tax hike in history if
(05:30):
we didn't pass that big beautiful bill. But we did.
We saved Americans from the largest tax hike in history.
The average family of four in Colorado, you know, just
depending on where you fall, your average family of four,
you know, so we're not talking millionaires here, We're talking
working class people. They're looking at anywhere to a five
to ten thousand dollars per family increase in their taxes
(05:54):
and loss of effectively real wages. Had we not passed
this bill, Colorado's counting on that tax increase, and they
already spent the money. So when we saved Colorado's from
the biggest tax hike in American history, now all of
a sudden, the Dems that run the state of Colorado
got caught with their hand in the cookie jar because
they were counting on that tax hike. They already spent
(06:16):
the money. And you know, of course, now even though
they still have more money than at any point in
Colorado's history, even adjusted for population and inflation. You know
now they're trying to find a scapegoat.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, I can tell you this, they're certainly not spending
the money on the roads. As to the point you
made just a little bit earlier, because I don't know
where you can drive in this state where the roads
aren't just trash, unless it's maybe Weld Country Road forty
nine that is maintained by Wellds County.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Again, it is a priority problem. The state of Colorado
is barking up the wrong tree for all of the
different things that they spend money on. And if we
want to talk about Medicaid, let's talk about Medicaid. Under
the big beautiful bill, Medicaid spending still in increases by
twenty five percent, two hundred billion dollars. We're just being good.
(07:06):
Steward's a taxpayer money, and we're not spending that money
on illegal immigrants. We're not spending that on able bodied people,
young men who refuse to work but still demand taxpayer
funded healthcare. And we're not giving it to people who
are not eligible for the program. But Biden let him
stay on the program when he was paying people to
stay home during COVID and nobody ever got removed from
the program. That's all we did with medicaid. Medicaid spending
(07:29):
still increases. It's just again Colorado mismanages the program horribly
and they refuse to stop funding illegal immigrants. And again
they're trying to blame that all on the Feds. In
the Big Beautiful Bill.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Well, and one more point I'd like to make here.
That big beautiful Bill added some funding for ICE and
border patrol to be able to do the things they
need to do to resecure our country. And one of
those things is has a personal nexus right back to
close to your home in the town of Hudson, where
we're hearing that ICE facility is about to be stood
up in the old Hudson Prison. What do you think
(08:04):
about that that facility being reopened right near your backyard.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, that's right right in my district. I know right
where it's at. And look, we go back to the
numbers that we got from ICE last year when a
letter was written asking how many people that we know
about are illegally present in the United States and have
committed other crimes, and the answer that came back was
about six hundred and sixty thousand people illegally present in
(08:32):
the United States with criminal convictions. This isn't there in
the criminal justice process or you know they're waiting courtated.
This is criminal convictions. Thirteen thousand of them are convicted
murderers illegally present in the United States. So and we asked.
I was a group of Republicans that asked for an update,
(08:55):
I don't know, maybe two months ago, just asking how
many of these people have we found yet and how
any more do we still have to go? And the
shorter answer is we've still got a long ways to hear. Yeah, absolutely,
to be able to yeah, to be able to find
these these drug dealers, these cartels, these gang bangers, these
people that are illegally in our country and committing other
heinous crimes to again include as of last summer, thirteen
(09:16):
thousand convicted murderers. So we've got to have the facilities
to be able to when we find these people, detain
them and not do what the Biden administration did, which
was just turn them loose back into the community with
the court date and hope they show.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Up, which didn't work. I wanted to hit that point
because we're getting all kinds of texts coming in saying hey,
thanks for the work on the ice facility, and you
deserve just as much credit as anybody because you're representing
your district. You're doing the thing that helps keep Colorado
safe by providing the funding so that that facility can
be opened back up through the big beautiful bill and
(09:49):
the passage of such. So you've been a champion for Colorado.
You've been a champion for CD eight. You know, like
I said, it's campaign season. Those campaign funds are important.
How can people we'll get out there and help you.
How can they donate to your campaign? How can they
be of service to making sure that you get re elected?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, so it's Electgabevans dot com. You'll have two e's
right next to each other. Elect g A, D E
E v a ns dot com. That's going to have
all of the information there. And you really hit the
nail on the head. Here's what we got going in Washington,
d C. Other than a city that's kind of primy
right now and getting cleaned up. Republicans have a three
vote majority in the US House. I won the second
(10:29):
closest race in the nation of any Republican. It was
actually the only seat in the country where we defeated
an incumbent Democrat in a state that unfortunately Kamaa carried,
And so I have a massive target on my back
from all of the folks across the other side of
the aisle because they only need to flip three seats,
and Jakeem Jeffries has the Speaker's gabble, and all of
(10:51):
the work that we've been doing to secure America, to
get the gang bangers, the drug dealers, the cartels, all
of these folks apprehended and out of our communities, all
of that stops if we lose the house. So on
tip of the spear in that fight, I'm gonna keep
fighting for it. And then, you know, while we're on
the criminal justice and public safety topic, here I was,
I was refreshing up on the Big Beautiful Bill because
(11:13):
there's just so much good stuff in there. And I
remember we had talked about it, we being some of
the members had talked about it, and then I'd forgotten
about it for for a couple of months, and I
saw it again this morning when I was, you know,
refreshing on the Big Beautiful Bill. One of the other
programs we created in there was the uh oh Man.
Then I just forgot the acronym. The the actual acronym. Now,
(11:36):
it's a bridging bridging immigration related deficiencies encountered nationwide, which
of course fells Biden. We all know trumplex control people.
But it's the the Biden grant bridging immigration and deficiencies
encountered nationwide three point five billion dollars to the Department
of Justice to be able to work with state and
(11:58):
local partners to be able to go after for these
drug dealers, these gang bangers, these cartels, these auto fees,
anybody that's illegally present in the country and committing other crimes.
Wish we could use that in Colorado, but we can't
get Colorado sanctuary state laws.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Well, let's we'll keep crossing our fingers. At some point
we're going to get some normalcy back in the state.
You know, your breath of fresh air and you're leading
by example. Keep doing that and keep fighting the fight.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Gabe.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
We appreciate you being on the show. Congressman Evans, thank
you so much for the work you're doing. And you know,
hopefully the listeners get out there and realize your seat matters.
Even if you don't live in CD eight, people need
to be donating to your campaign and making sure we
retain that seat.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Always appreciate being on with you, Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You bet that's Congressman gave Evans on And as I say,
with any state legislature seat, they're all important. You can't
let one go. We'll go to break. When we come back, well,
we'll kind of wrap up all that information that Gabe
gave us and we'll take your calls, we'll take your
text and we'll get caught up before the half hour
of our number two. You listening to the Dan Capleas
(13:02):
Show here with Well Kenny Sheriff, Steve Dreams.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
And now back to the Dan Kaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Welcome back to the Dan Caplas Show here with Well
Kenny Sheriff Steve Riams. And if you're wondering why we're
playing such a steamy song, we have to because that's
the name of my dog. And many of you were asking,
actually through my personal phone, what's a dog's name. I
left that out of the story. I didn't know if
it was important. But her name is Lady. So in
(13:31):
honor of the fine young man who brought my dog home,
Lady is safe at home with my family. Such a
touching moment, especially with the great musical selection for you,
Ryan Schueling and go ahead, Ryan, Well you're like Cliff
Claven when it comes to this stuff.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
My mom's kitchen.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yes, that's the jeh pretty question.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
So has Lady you've heard this million times as Lady
met the Tramp?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Well, I don't know. She was gone for a little while.
Oh I don't think so, hopefully not. Yes she has.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Okay, well then okay, don't have to worry about anything
like that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
But yeah, we're safe. I don't think she's bringing home
any extras.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
But what makes.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Lady unique, she's just the most chill dog ever. You know.
When we when we went to the Humane Society to
pick her out, I was a little skeptical. I'm like,
all right, great, we're going to the Humane Society. And
I hate to say this, but it used to be
you go to the Humane Society in Greeley, there's a
whole bunch of really ticked off pit bulls and you're
not going to take any of them home because they're
(14:37):
they're angry. Well, much to my surprise, they bring this
dog in, introduce her to my family, and I'm a
little like, eh, this is a bigger dog than what
we wanted. And again that story. She goes over and
licks my kid across the face and basically lays down
on the floor and like, I'm yours. Yeah, so she
went home, and the thought of her escaping and coming
(15:00):
back that would have destroyed my family. So I'm so
grateful to the fine gentleman that brought her home. And yeah,
it's just good story all the way around. So if
you weren't listening at the top of the show, go
back and listen to the podcast. So I don't have
to tell the whole story here. You go all right
with that. You know, we just had Congressman Gabe Evans on.
That guy is he's been a shining star. And you
(15:23):
know I've told this story before on the radio. When
he said he wanted to leave, leave the House of
Representatives here and run for Congress, I was a skeptic.
I said, man, you've only been down there two years.
He's been he'd been a rock star down at the
State House. Didn't want to lose him. Boy, was I wrong.
And I'm okay with saying that because he's been he's
been great out in DC, probably more suited for that
(15:43):
environment than he was here even at the State House,
and he's he's definitely on top of stuff. I can't
give him enough praise because I think he deserves it.
And again I want to reiterate that that Biden comment
that he made the bridging immigration related deficiencies encountered nationwide. Yeah,
that's just this pretty pretty clever stuff that they put
(16:05):
into the big beautiful bill. So I think he said
three point five million dollars of funding that could go
to joint Task Force to help locals cooperate with ICE
and pick people up who are here illegally criminal aliens
and send them back home. Unfortunately, in Colorado that will
not be available to us because we are a sanctuary state.
(16:26):
Thanks Governor Posts. That's very snarky and in case you
weren't picking it up, but some of the texts that
came in came in Congressman gave Evans. We need more
representation like him. So proud of him. And that's from
a loyal listener up in Welld County. Also, thank you
to Gabe Evans. I've been very impressed with how he
represents Colorado. Keep up the good work. Again, that's loyal
(16:48):
listener Patty. That first text was from Natalie Tenant. Here
we have, let's see a couple more of these. Oh
so please ask the well Kennedy Da if that law
that we were talking about is in the Statutes of Colorado.
And it is I mentioned that was house built twenty
four ten thirty four that enacted the idea of releasing
(17:10):
offenders early before releasing offenders who are deemed mentally incompetent
back out to the street. But the actual statute is
sixteen eight point five to one to oh three. If
you're a blue book guy and want to go read
the actual statute for yourself. Another one here from Steve
and Lyttleton, retired l EO. It's regrettable that those laws,
(17:32):
that those who passed the criminal coddling laws aren't the
first ones to be victimized by those same laws. And
I don't want to see anybody be a victim of it.
Quite frankly, you got to point there, Steve. They need
to fill the consequences of their actions at times. So
we're going to break when we come back, We're going
to have a very unique individual on. He's one of
my captains in the weld Kenny Jail, and he's going
(17:54):
to give us another perspective on the same issue. You're
listening to the Dan Caplis Show here with Well Kenny
Sheriff Steven.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
You're listening to the Dan Kapliss Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Welcome back to the Dan capless Show here with Well
County Sheriff Steve Raim setting in as your guest host
for day two of two, And as I promised you
going into the break, we're going to have a rather
unique guest's I say that in the most positive ways.
It's my jail captain for the Well County Sheriff's Office.
His name's Matt elb and Matt has been at the
Sheriff's office for just a few years, less than I have.
(18:32):
But his rise to the rank of captain as a
very non traditional, non traditional rise through the ranks of
the Sheriff's office, and I think he brings a perspective
to this competency issue that we've been talking about here
in the state of Colorado and in Weld County specifically
that will be very unique to the listeners out there.
Matt LB, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
Good? Thank you, Sheriff, appreciate having me on. Longtime listener,
first time yes, great.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
To hear, Matt, You're always a crack up. But I
think the listeners would probably be best suited to hear
a little bit about your background and how you kind
of came through the sheriff's office because it is non
traditional from what most people would expect, and it gives
you a very unique perspective of the issue we're talking
about when it comes to competency and competency restoration for
(19:21):
inmates going through the judicial system, and say, how to
your dog for us?
Speaker 6 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, so a little bit of an unorthodox, I
guess career path, you know. I started with the Sheriff's
Office about twenty five years ago, and my main role
for many of those years was as a corrections counselor,
so I was in charge of providing direct mental health
care to the inmate population and was fortunate enough to
(19:48):
continue my education as I went through my career. Received
a master's degree in community counseling, licensed by the state
as a professional counselor, and that served me well to
provide some mentorship and some oversight to the mental health
team and associated programming at the Well County Jail for
many years. I did that up until about twenty eighteen
(20:10):
when I decided to take a little bit of a
left turn in my career and excuse me, went back
to get post certified and made the switch over to
the law enforcement side of the house when I was
promoted to lieutenant in the jail, and thankfully I was
able to sort of continue some of that overside of
the mental health team and associated programming in that role.
(20:32):
But you know, starting on the civilian side, being a
mental health practitioner and then almost having a second career
as a law enforcement official within the agency has helped
me with that perspective and hopefully, I said, usund a
good path for the Well County Sheriff's Office and the
jail specifically.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
And you still do some of that mental health work
in a private setting, is that correct?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
Yeah, certainly more on the private sector side of things.
Perform psychiatric evaluations on folks in nursing homes who are
having behavioral health issues, or folks who may be in
a hospital setting looking at transitioning to a nursing home
facility who have some similar issues.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And I only bring that up because I think when
we talk about your perspective on these competency issues with
inmates that are sitting in the Weld County Jail facing
this very big, this growing concern that we're facing in Colorado.
Like I said, you speak to this from a very
professional level, not just somebody who came through the ranks
of the Weld County Sheriff's Office as a detention's deputy,
(21:34):
but someone who's a clinician and can recognize the issues
that we're facing on these competency concerns. So as we
discussed this issue, let's take we referenced this in an
earlier interview with the District Attorney, Michael Rourke without using
a specific name, We've got people that are in the
Weld County Jail that are currently sitting on these competency evaluations.
(21:56):
And where do you see these things going wrong on
a common basis?
Speaker 6 (22:04):
Sure, so you know, when we talk about competency and uh,
the issue of competency being raised in a criminal proceeding
and certainly having those folks in secure custody with us
in the jail, it prevents presents a unique situation where
you know, even more so than on a regular daily basis,
we're sort of charged with being an impatient forensic hospital.
(22:25):
If you think about the idea of competency and competency
being raised with somebody who ultimately doesn't have the capacity
to be an active participant in their own defense because
of a mental health concern. Those folks are typically, you know,
fairly acute when it comes to a symptoms presentation standpoint,
and so, you know, managing those folks and what their
(22:47):
needs are in a jail setting, when when everyone involved
in the in the system and all the stakeholders have
determined that they likely need an inpatient level of care
certainly presents some some unique challenges.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
To back up just a little bit, Let's say, you know,
we get a guy that comes in off the streets,
same scenario I talked about with the district attorney. You know,
a guy beats the tar out of someone out in
the community, he gets arrested for assault, comes to the jail,
and he's sitting on these assault charges. He's going to
face some pretty heavy felonies, and he or she as
the defendant. You know, they raise a question that his
(23:20):
public defendant raises a question of competency. What what does
it look like mechanically for that person to actually see
a qualified person or or someone at the State Hospital. Mechanically,
how does that occur, you know, that transportation down to
the state hospital or someone coming in what kind of
timeframe are you are you expecting for someone like that
(23:42):
in the weld Kenny jail.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Sure, well, we'd like to be quick, we'd like it
to be quicker than it is. And you know, historically
that's that's been the case. And again, you know, thinking
about the level of care that this individual likely needs,
it's difficult to manage that in the jail setting. But
you know, mechanically, once that order is is established by
the court, the clock should start ticking in regards to
(24:05):
you know, when an approved evaluator can get to that
individual to perform that evaluation. Now, there's some discretion with
the court to order that competency evaluation to occur while
the person is in custody with us in the jail,
but it could also be ordered to be performed at
the State hospital down in Pueblo more rarely down at
(24:26):
Port Logan.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Just to interrupt. That's usually decided by the perceived level
of problem that this person presents. Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (24:35):
That that's correct? So, depending on the acuity of the
person's symptoms and if it's believed that the jail can
continue to manage that person. The evaluation may be ordered
to be done in custody, but you know that that
should be happening within thirty days. That oftentimes doesn't happen,
And so we're constantly working with state officials to sort
(24:56):
of look at the admission list and make sure that
folks are getting the appropriate places for those evaluations and
quite honestly, so that criminal proceeding can continue as everything
pauses once that competency evaluation is ordered.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So let's say, in a good scenario, this person gets
sent down to the state hospital. Good as you know
in air quotes, they get sent down to the state hospital,
it's determined that they their competency has been restored to
the point where they can go through a trial. They
get shipped back to the Well County Jail. Where can
things go wrong at that point?
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Yeah, so as as can be the case, I mean,
just because somebody either has been found competent to proceed
or has been restored to being competent to proceed, and
they return to the Well County Jail, as is the
case alpen times with mental illness, you know that person
may not always maintain that level of competency as they
(25:49):
move through those CORP proceedings. As we know, CORP proceedings
can can can take some time to get through, and
so competency may be an issue that's raised again. You know,
it's it's been, it's happened to where folks come back
to the Well County Jail restored to being competent based
on force medications and a specific medication regiment the state
hospitals provided. However, when they come back to jail, perhaps
(26:12):
they stop taking those medications, or just the stress of
a jail environment can lead folks to sort of relapse
of those symptoms and present as being not competent again.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
So when that occurs, there's a chance to send them
back yet again. Or oftentimes what we see is and
this just isn't working, and that's when we kind of
get that ruling of this person's incompetent to stand trial.
Then what do you face, Well, what.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
We stand to face is if somebody is found to
be incompetent to stand trial, and ultimately if its restoration
is determined to be to not be a viable solution,
then as the law is written, the case would likely
be dismissed by the courts.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And as the jail. Even if you have massive concerns
for this person, are you your hands pretty well tied
at that point as to what you can do with
that individual? Are you forced to release them? I mean,
do you what other options do you have available to you?
Speaker 6 (27:09):
I mean, really, the only options we have available would be,
you know, the attempt at extensive case management services and
transition services. There is the civil side of involuntary hospitalization,
but a that doesn't come with accountability for perhaps any
criminal transgressions the person's been charged with, and also doesn't
come with a whole lot of teeth. When someone enters
(27:32):
the civil side of hospitalization and behavioral health treatment, that's
a whole nother ballgame that the criminal justice system isn't
involved with and doesn't have accountability too.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So twenty five years of doing this kind of work
in the world county jail, how much worse has this
problem gotten over that length of time. That's a true questions.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
A couple of different monster heads to it too, So
I mean, definitely the acuity of folks coming in just
from a symptoms perspective, and that's been, you know, ever
evolving and ever increasing, and we've seen that over the
twenty five years that I've been there. Certainly, the issue
of competency being raised and the ambount of people who
(28:16):
are proceeding through the competency process and restoration process is
absolutely astronomical and numbers that we've really never seen before.
And then that's been the case for quite a few years.
It's just been on a study incline, so certainly, again
from the presentation perspective, but also from people who are
involved in that process, it's just ever growing.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Well, I appreciate you coming on with us, Matt. I
know it's after hours of your work time, but sometimes
when the boss asks you to do this interview, you
just kind of got to get with it. So thanks
for coming on. And you bring a very unique perspective
to all this, and I'm sure the listeners are at
a little surprised at just how difficult it is to
(28:57):
maintain some kind of order with this chaos we see
in our Weld County Jail. So thank you for your work.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
I appreciate you. Inviye, thanks sure, you bet.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
That's Matt LB captain with the Weld County Jail. The
guy offers a wealth of knowledge that is pretty much
unmatched for anybody who's running a jail in Colorado. And
I'm very grateful to have the guy, even though I
don't usually tell him that, But we'll do that on
the air. So we're gonna cut the break. When we
come back, we'll finish out, wrap up the show, get
to a few last minute texts that have come in,
(29:28):
and we'll just say our goodbye, So we'll go to break.
Listen to the Dan Caples Show here with Well Kunty
Sheriff Steve Riams.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
And now back to the Dan Tapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Welcome back to the Dan Kaplas Show. Here for the
last segment of this two hour whirlwind. Every time I
set in this Well County Sheriff Steve Riams as your
guest host, but every time I set in to cover
Dan's show, I'm amazed at how fast two hours go.
And there's just so much more you could cover with
some of these guests that you just don't have time for.
So you know, you get just a little bit of
(30:00):
the meat off the bone, but not all of it.
And yeah, I hope today was a little informative to
those of you that are out there wondering how someone
like Solomon Gallaghan gets gets out of jail and goes
back on a crime spree and hopefully this is the
last time he does it. But she I'm sorry, I'm
bad with the pronoun thing on some of these folks.
(30:20):
But if you're wondering how that thing happened or how
that issue happened, look at House Built twenty four, ten
thirty four. It's not a great read, it's a difficult read,
but it gives you a little understanding of why the
judge's hands are tied, the court's hands are tied, and
quite honestly, why public defenders are weaponizing this law to
(30:41):
benefit their clients and not benefit citizens. So ugly, ugly situation.
But in happier notes, I got my dog back, and
the text that you guys sent in today about that
story was pretty awesome. Glad I got to share something happy,
and just like with anything, when it's a pet story,
people love it. So uh, if you don't know what
(31:02):
I'm talking about because you just came to the show,
go listen to the podcast. It's a way to way
to get the whole show all in one big fell
swoop and Ryan Gilly, you guys always make it fun
down here. We didn't interact a bunch in the last
couple of shows, but you guys look like you're having
a great time behind the glass.
Speaker 5 (31:20):
Really, mostly it's about the music that we're going to
pick for you coming back and break.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Yeah, so stinging the police as that was okay.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I saw at Red Rocks a couple of months ago myself.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You've always got to tie into something. You're like the
mental wizard.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Well, yeah, everything can be told in the story of song.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I love it because my wife says that I'm an idiot, savant,
mostly idiot when it comes to when it comes to
song lyrics when driving down the road, and I got
to sing along with everything, even if I'm not good
at it.
Speaker 7 (31:54):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
You have to sing like nobody's listening and dance like
no one's watching.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Sheriff. I don't dance. But there's there's a rule in
the jail that don't do anything you don't want on video.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
Because okay, well there.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Are very few places in the jail that are not
on camera. And yeah not not a not a very
private place. It could be a viral video for you.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Though.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I'm good. I'm good. I don't need any viral videos.
I'm totally okay with being non viral. Well.
Speaker 7 (32:34):
I have been on my best behavior the last couple
of days because usually I throw stuff at Ryan because
it deserves I have been.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
So sheriff.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Quick question here in our final minute, have you thought
about what you're going to do on your last day.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
In office in the job? No, mostly because I'm hoping
that day comes before my official last day. Like I
hope there's a transition point. We're not that kind of
transition another dancing in the jail, another job. Obviously, I
got to go do something else after being the sheriff.
So I got got some feelers out there maybe that
(33:13):
maybe that opportunity to come before my official last day.
But I don't want any fanfare. I honestly I want
people to come up to come to work and go
where did I go? I plan on packing up all
my stuff after everybody's out of the office and just
not being there the next day.
Speaker 7 (33:27):
What about like a meal are you going to do?
Is there a particular meal that maybe your staff is
going to give you?
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, Like I said, they're not going to know when
my last day's fun I'm not a fanfair guy like birthdays,
all that kind of staff. That's not me.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
The last day of school though, yeah, no more teachers,
no more books.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So they'll celebrate in my absence and there'll be a
better party without me there. They can celebrate my absence,
so they will, I'm sure. Yeah, I'm certain they will
behind your back, no doubt about that. Well, it's been
an honor and a pleasure to fill in here once
again for Dan Caplis, and I'm sure we'll get a
chance to do that again down the road at some point.
(34:13):
But to Kelly and Ryan and behind the glass, thanks
for keeping me on the rails and keeping me on point.
This is well. Kenny Sheriff Steve Raimes signing off on
the Dan Caplis Show.
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