STAFF MEMO June 16, 2017 Special Council Meeting DATE: June 16, 2017 AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: 4 TOPIC: Staff Updates, Mounted Rangers Discussion TIME FRAME: · The Town entered into the first agreement with the Colorado Mounted Rangers in July 2014. SUMMARY: Since July of 2014, The Dillon Police Department has had a relationship with the Colorado Mounted Rangers (Rangers) to assist us providing security, crowd control, and traffic control at large special events. In 2015, Colorado POST implemented a requirement of a minimum of 40 hours of annual training for every sworn police officer to maintain POST certification. Being comprised of all- volunteers, the Rangers found it very difficult to achieve the required training hours to maintain their POST Certifications for their sworn personnel. Legislation was passed which defined a reserve officer, detailed the duties a reserve officer may perform under of a host agency (Dillon Police Department), and established the Rangers as the Colorado Rangers Law Enforcement Shared Reserve (still to be known simply as Colorado Rangers). This intergovernmental agreement with the Rangers and the listed law enforcement agencies establishes the group of member agencies who will share in the services of the Rangers. As you know, the Colorado Rangers are an integral part of this agency, enhancing our abilities to police the large special events the Town produces. BUDGET IMPACT: The Rangers provide support free of charge, resulting in a positive budget impact. DEPARTMENT HEAD RESPONSIBLE: Mark Heminghous, Police Chief QUESTIONS/INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM COUNCIL: · Is Council comfortable with moving forward with the Mounted Rangers and allowing the Manager to sign the agreement? INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE COLORADO RANGERS LAW ENFORCEMENT SHARED RESERVE This Intergovernmental Agreement Establishing the Colorado Rangers Law Enforcement Shared Reserve (this “Agreement”), dated as of _________, 2017, (the “Effective Date”) is between the City of Idaho Springs, Colorado, the Town of Nederland, Colorado, the Town of Monument, Colorado, the City of Fountain, Colorado, the Town of Elizabeth, Colorado, the City of Fort Lupton, Colorado, Eagle County, Colorado, and the Town of Dillon, Colorado (collectively, the “Member Jurisdictions”), and the Colorado Mounted Rangers, a Colorado nonprofit corporation (“CMR”), which is a party solely for the limited purposes set forth below in Sections 3.2 and 4. RECITALS WHEREAS, pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes 24-33.5-116, the Colorado Mounted Ranger Task Force (the “Task Force”) was created to make recommendation to the Colorado General Assembly regarding Peace Officer Standards and Training (“POST”) certification for CMR; WHEREAS, on December 19, 2016, the Task Force unanimously recommended that an intergovernmental agreement be executed to fulfill the Task Force’s charge to create a statewide shared reserve peace officer force and a POST certified reserve academy; WHEREAS, the Task Force further recommended the creation of a state grant program to fund the costs associated with the establishment of the reserve academy; WHEREAS, C.R.S. 24-33.5-1616 authorized the funding of a reserve academy grant fund within the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; WHEREAS, the parties mutually agree the formation of the Colorado Rangers Law Enforcement Shared Reserve (“CLER”) will serve a public purpose and will promote the safety, security and general welfare of all Coloradoans by establishing a POST certified statewide shared peace officer reserve force; and WHEREAS, pursuant to C.R.S. 29-1-203, the formation of CLER and the establishment of its reserve academy is a proper exercise of the parties’ governmental powers and duties and will also permit the parties to make the most efficient and effective use of their powers and responsibilities by cooperating with each other. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of their mutual rights and obligations as set forth below, the Parties agree as follows: TERMS AND CONDITIONS Section 1: Statewide Shared Peace Officer Reserve Force Established and Appointment of Colorado Rangers as Peace Officers. 1.1. Establishment. The Colorado Rangers Law Enforcement Shared Reserve (to be known as the “Colorado Rangers” and its sworn personnel as a “Colorado Ranger”), an all-volunteer, unpaid statewide shared peace officer reserve force, is hereby established pursuant to C.R.S. 29-1-203 and 29-1-203.5. CLER shall be a separate legal entity, political subdivision and a public corporation of the State of Colorado (the “State”), separate from the parties to this Agreement, and shall be a validly created 1 and existing political subdivision and public corporation of the State, irrespective of whether a Member Jurisdiction withdraws (whether voluntarily, by operation of law or otherwise) from CLER subsequent to its creation under circumstances not resulting in the rescission or termination of the contract establishing CLER pursuant to its terms and so long as there are at least two continuing Member Jurisdictions. It shall have the duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities and disabilities of a public body politic and corporate. 1.2. Qualifications. Each Colorado Ranger, including the Chief, shall meet the requirements of C.R.S. 16.2.5-110(c)(I) or (II) to serve as a sworn Colorado Ranger. 1.3. Designation as Peace Officers. Each Colorado Ranger, including the Chief, shall be deemed to be a reserve officer, as defined by C.R.S. 16-2.5-110(a), of each Member Jurisdiction whose authority shall be limited to the authority granted by any Member Jurisdiction while serving in that jurisdiction. Any Colorado Ranger who is a fully POST certified peace officer may be granted full peace officer status by any individual Member Jurisdiction. Each Colorado Ranger, including the Chief, shall be deemed a peace officer appointed and authorized by each Member Jurisdiction, collectively and individually, pursuant to C.R.S. 30-10-506, 31-4-306 and 31-15-401(a). 1.3.1. Duty Status of Certain Colorado Rangers. Each Member Jurisdiction acknowledges and agrees that a limited number of Colorado Rangers, as designated by the Chief, shall be considered as on-duty at all times by those Member Jurisdictions authorized to act as peace officers. The Chief or his/her designee shall be responsible for providing a roster of those designated Colorado Rangers to the Member Jurisdictions. The purpose of this cadre of senior personnel is to ensure CLER (i) can fulfill the daily administrative and operational responsibilities necessary for its effective management and (ii) provide an effective command structure to respond to critical incidents. 1.4. Transition Period for Existing Rangers. As of the Effective Date of this Agreement, sworn personnel, including new candidates, of CMR (“Existing Rangers”) shall continue to serve and operate under CMR’s current organizational structure and pursuant to existing MOUs with its law enforcement agencies. Upon the official start date of the CLER operated reserve academy, Existing Rangers, irrespective of any previous training, shall have 36 months from that date to complete the requirements of a certified reserve peace officer unless granted a variance by POST (“Transition Period”). Any Existing Ranger qualified to renew an expired POST certification may fulfill the requirements of this subsection through any process authorized or approved by POST. The requirements of this Subsection shall not apply to any Existing Ranger with an active POST certification so long as that certification remains active throughout the Transition Period. 1.5. Administration of CLER during Transition Period. For the purposes of implementing this Agreement and the administration of CLER during the Transition Period, the Chief, the Deputy Chief, and certain command staff officers, designated by the Chief, are not required to be POST certified. Until POST certified, the Chief, the Deputy Chief, and those designated command staff officers shall not have the authority to act as peace officers under the provisions of this Agreement. 1.6. Termination of Existing CMR MOUs. Upon the conclusion of the Transition Period, all existing CMR MOUs will be terminated and any Existing Rangers who have not completed the required training or obtained a variance shall not be sworn-in as a Colorado Ranger or permitted to participate as a sworn Colorado Ranger in any CLER sanctioned activity. 2 Section 2: Purpose. CLER is established as an all-volunteer, unpaid statewide shared peace officer reserve force for the purposes of providing law enforcement, emergency management, emergency medical service and search- and-rescue services to Member Jurisdictions and, as requested, by non-Member Jurisdictions pursuant to a mutual aid agreement. Section 3: Governance. 3.1. Governance. CLER shall be governed by a Board of Directors (the “Board”) in which all legislative power of the Board is vested by C.R.S. 29-1-203.5(1)(b)(II). Power and authority is vested in the Board as described below. 3.2. Board of Directors. The Board shall be composed of nine (9) directors. Three (3) of the directors shall be current sworn Colorado Rangers selected by the Board of Directors of the Colorado Mounted Rangers (the “CMR Directors”). The Chief of CLER shall be a voting ex officio member of the Board. Three (3) directors shall be a police chief or a sheriff of a Member Jurisdiction (the “Member Jurisdiction Directors”) based upon recommendations received from any Member Jurisdiction. All Member Jurisdiction Director appointments must be approved by a majority of the incumbent directors. Two directors shall be either local, county, or state level elected officials (the “Elected Official Directors”) nominated and approved by a majority of the incumbent Directors. From its membership, the Board shall annually elect a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The CMR Directors and the Chief are ineligible to serve as either Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson. The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Board. 3.3. Director Terms. The terms of the initial directors shall be seven (7) years to allow for and ensure consistency during the initial operationalization of CLER.