Colorado POST Newsletter

September 2018 Edition

Welcome to Fall! Things have been busy here at POST, with a few personnel

changes and some exciting new programs. Below, you will find information on the

new faces and personnel adjustments at POST, we will outline some of our new

programs, find our new “SME Corner” to highlight the fantastic work our volunteer

committees undertake, and we will introduce you to the new POST Board

Members, as well as some gentle reminders on POST Rules and other topics of

interest. We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it provides you with

useful and helpful information. We are always open to your feedback on how to

make this newsletter more relevant and to provide you with the information you

feel is important, so let us know how we can improve!

Erik J. Bourgerie

POST Director

HB15-1287 (24-31-315, C.R.S.)

This legislative mandate requires certified peace officers to complete four hours of “proper holds and

restraints training,” four hours of anti-bias training, two-hours of community policing/community

partnerships training program, and a two-hour situation de-escalation training program at least once

every five years. If a certified peace officer fails to complete these four training courses within five years,

POST must suspend the officer’s POST certification until the courses are completed. However, if the of-

ficer is not serving as a full-time peace officer, they have six months from their return to complete all of

the courses. The five year clock begins as soon as the last class in the cycle is completed. This applies to

the vast majority of certified peace officers, but it becomes much more complicated for Provisional

certificate holders, and those who have had long breaks in service or had to go through the Renewal

process. For questions, please contact Dan Griffin at Dan.Griffin@coag.gov.

The following trainings are being provided to Colorado Law

Enforcement Officers at no charge. Click on the class title

for more information:

Introduction to Marijuana for Law Enforcement (Half

day class)

9/19/18: Intro to MJ (Highlands Ranch)

9/24/18: Intro to MJ (Craig)

Intro to Marijuana Train-the-Trainer (16 hour class)

10/11/18: MJ T-T-T (Golden)

***There will be an additional Intro to MJ class in Alamosa

in October. The training will be added to the POST Training calendar at a later time

Mental Health First Aid Instructor (40 hour class)

9/17/18: Mental Health First Aid Instructor (Denver)

SFST Operator certification (24 hour class)

10/16/18: SFST Operator (Trinidad)

***There will be November SFST Operator classes in the

Denver / Metro Area as well as Lamar. The trainings will be

added to the POST Training calendar at a later time.

SFST Instructor certification (32 hour class)

12/3/18: SFST Instructor (Northglenn)

ARIDE Certification (16 hour class)

10/8/18: ARIDE (Montrose)

***There will be a November ARIDE class in the Denver / Metro Area. The training will be added to the

POST Training calendar at a later time

Except for the Mental Health First Aid Instructor, registrations for each of these trainings is handled through your POST portal account. For information on accessing your account, click here: POST Portal

Access Additional law enforcement trainings can be found on the POST training calendar by following this

link. POST Training Calendar: https://www.coloradopost.gov/training/training-calendar-0

POST has a full time marijuana trainer! Jared Torsney came to POST from the

U.S. Coast Guard, where he taught interdiction (among other cool duties). Jared is

currently traveling the state teaching Marijuana 101, an introductory marijuana

course. He will soon be developing new classes on Marijuana 201 (Everything You

Could Possibly Want to Know About Legal Marijuana), and Marijuana 301 (How to

Detect and Interdict Black Market Marijuana).

Rule 28

POST Rule 28 mandates certified peace officers to complete 24 hours of annual

in-service training every calendar year (January 01—December 31), with at least

twelve of those hours in the perishable skills of firearms, arrest control, and

driving. The perishable skills can be split up in to four hour blocks each, or one

could take an hour of firearms training, an hour of driving training, and ten hours

of arrest control training, so long as the total perishable skill training

adds up to at least12 hours. However, firearms qualification in and of

itself is not sufficient to meet this mandate as there must be a training

component. And, yes, the training required under 24-31-315, C.R.S.

(above) can be used toward the 24 hour requirement.

One persisting confusion is whether or not a course of instruction is

approved by POST for credit toward the Rule 28 requirement. POST no

longer “approves” courses for credit. Each Agency Executive (or their

designee) is responsible for determining whether or not a specific training

meets their requirements to qualify for credit, as they ultimately hold the

liability for training their staff. While POST would encourage all certified

officers to participate in physical skill training for the perishable skills, an Agency Executive may

determine that courses taken through PoliceOne or other online learning qualify for credit.

Rule 28 only applies to certified peace officers who, per 16-2.5 part 100, “shall” be POST certified. As an

example, 16-2.5-105, C.R.S., states a police officer shall be

POST certified, while 16-2.5-133, C.R.S., states a district

attorney investigator may be POST certified.

Lastly, certified peace officers who do not perform a certain

perishable skill, like driving, or who is not able to complete

the training hours due to partial year employment, military

service, medical reasons, or administrative leave may apply

for a waiver. All waivers must be submitted by January 31

for the preceding year. However, all training must be

completed by December 31st.

POST strongly encourages agencies to enter Rule 28 training into Acadis as the classes occur. In 2017,

POST approved over 30,000 training entries, the vast majority of which were entered at the end of the

year. Entering training early will help POST help you achieve compliance. A single non-compliant peace

officer can cost the entire agency training grant funding (including PoliceOne) for six months. DON’T

PUT YOUR TRAINING GRANT FUNDING AT RISK!

Becky Calomino, our long-time stalwart leader of the Grants Program is

retiring! After 16 years of dedicated service to the state of Colorado, with six

of those years at POST, Becky has decided to hitch her horse and ride off

into the sunset. Please join us here at POST in

wishing Becky a grand and restful retirement.

We will miss you!!

We expect Kim Hernandez, who is currently a

Grant Specialist, to take the helm of the Grants

Program upon Becky’s retirement. Susan

Carter has been permanently assigned to the

Grants Program from Training, and we will be

hiring another Grant Specialist soon to fill out the program!

Equipment to be used in law enforcement training can be

purchased either through the regional training grants or the

in-service training grants, but only if approved by POST prior to the purchase?

Based off of feedback POST received from the 2016 audit by the

International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards

and Training (IADLEST), the POST Board has agreed to fund two new

initiatives designed to help peace officers in small, rural jurisdictions!

The first is a partnership with DU’s Daniel School of Business to

bring their Public Safety Leadership Program to each of the four

corners of the state. This leadership program is designed to incorporate line level supervisors

and command staff from all first responder disciplines (law enforcement, fire, and EMS services) in

order to break down historical barriers and foster better working relationships. It packs in cutting edge

leadership philosophies into five days, spread out over two to three months (with homework in between),

in order to minimize the impact on staffing schedules. It starts out with a personality assessment focused

on communications with others. Interspersed with the top-notch leadership training are outdoor

activities designed to build teamwork and to put the new leadership lesson to work. The POST Grant

Program is ironing out the final details with DU and expect to release details on the program soon!

The second initiative creates a backfill

program, primarily for agencies with fewer than

10 peace officers. These “very small” agencies often do not have staff to cover shifts to allow someone to

attend training. This is especially true when the training is something as important as CIT, which can

only be scheduled in their proximity once a year, requiring multiple staff members to attend at once.

Through this new backfill program, POST will connect these agencies needing help to agencies willing to

provide help. A short application to POST will need to be completed by the requesting agency, for funding

purposes. POST will provide templates for Interagency Agreements and/or Intergovernmental Agreements

that agencies can use to work out details. POST will reimburse the providing agency $50/hr for each

hour their staff works under this program, plus lodging. This program is very close to being finalized. If

your agency would like to help out our very small agency brethren, please contact POST Director Erik J.

Bourgerie at Erik.Bourgerie@coag.gov for placement on the list!

There are a host of unsung heroes who tirelessly

work behind the scenes at POST to help

accomplish our missions, as well as contributing

to the advancement of law enforcement training

throughout Colorado. With the approval and

support of their agencies, these Subject Matter

Experts recommend changes to Law Enforcement

Training Academy (LETA) curriculum, conduct

inspections of LETA’s, administer Test-Outs for

Provisional and Renewal applicants, and weigh in

on changes to POST Rule. The consummate

professionals who make up these committees do not get the recognition and

praise they deserve. So, we at POST have decided to give them their own

piece of the newsletter. This edition will introduce the Chairs of several of

the committees, with Firearms coming in a later edition. Interested in

joining an SME Committee? Check out the information on our webpage,

here. Currently, agencies can only have one member on each committee.

My name is Ike Beers and I am the new committee chair for the POST ACT SME

Committee which is comprised of 14 sworn representatives and 1 civilian representative

from across the entire state of Colorado. The members vary from larger agencies like

Denver PD, Aurora PD, and Colorado Springs PD, to smaller agencies like Yuma County

Sheriff's Office and Loveland PD. I started my career in law enforcement in 1998 with the Lakewood Police Department

which is where I am currently employed as a training agent for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office/Lakewood Police

Department Regional Training Academy. I am the lead instructor for our ACT program for the academy. Taking part in the

POST ACT SME committee over the past two years has been extremely enjoyable and rewarding as I have met and worked

with wonderful people who all want to see Arrest Control training in Colorado continue to excel and improve as we train

folks in this critical area of law enforcement.

One of the main areas of focus that the ACT SME committee has addressed is the test out process for incoming officers that

want to challenge POST and start working immediately as a peace officer in Colorado. It is accurate to say that historically

over the last several years, the inherent subjective nature of the evaluation process for challenging the POST ACT block has

allowed some folks to potentially be approved when some further training could have been warranted. We know that

getting these folks on the street is vital to agencies battling retirement, attrition, resignation, etc., but we also have a

responsibility to ensure applicants can demonstrate the physical skills standards that are set in place by POST. Based on

several meetings that we have had as a committee, the decision has been made to update the test out packet for the ACT

portion of the POST test out to reflect the applicant has, in some way, prepared for the physical skills test. This will give

evaluators some assurance that the participant has a basic knowledge of the Arrest Control Tactics used at their

departments. Two evaluators will assess a participant who does not successfully complete the ACT physical skills

test. Information will be given to any participant who needs further training. We felt that this direction was important to

communicate to all agencies who use the test out as a way to hire and fill their patrol ranks. These changes will go into

effect on January 1, 2019. Please contact our committee through POST if you have questions or concerns about our plans

moving forward in regard to this information. We look forward to the coming year and the opportunities we'll have to

continue to improve ACT training in Colorado!

December 7, 2018

0800 hrs

Department of Law

1300 Broadway, Denver

November 9, 2018

0930 hrs

Flatrock Training Center

23600 E 128th, Commerce City

September 14, 2018

0800 hrs

Department of Law

1300 Broadway, Denver

Graham Dunne is a Sergeant with the Aurora Police Department. He has been in law enforcement for 26 years and a supervisor for 17 of those years. Sergeant Dunne has served as a

SWAT officer, SWAT sniper, a full-time Academy instructor, a full-time Range

instructor, a Field Training officer, and a personal fitness trainer. He is an

accomplished athlete, as a multiple Golden Gloves champion and MMA fighter, with

medals in fitness and competitive shooting. Sergeant Dunne served in the U.S.

Marine Corps prior to police work, and is a police Medal of Honor recipient. He has served as a Subject Matter Expert to Colorado POST for well over a decade, and is

currently the chairman of the POST curriculum committee. Sgt. Dunne currently

serves as a patrol supervisor in Aurora’s District 1. After honorably serving POST

and the Curriculum Committee as the Chair for over four years and spearheading a

huge project to update the lesson plan bibliographies, Sgt. Dunne is stepping down. His last POST meeting will be on September 14, 2018. Thank you for your dedicated

service, Sir!

Commander Karl Smalley of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office has been a

member of the Driving SME Committee since January of 1997 and has been the

Committee Chair since 2005. He has been a driving instructor since 1992 and the lead driving instructor for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office since 1997. He

developed the driving programs for the Colorado Sheriff’s Training Institute,

Commonwealth University Law Enforcement Academy and the Adams County

Sheriff’s Academy. He assisted in the PIT program development and provided PIT

instructor training for the Louisiana State Police and the Maine State Police.

Commander Smalley is the Region IV Representative for the Association of Law Enforcement Emergency Response Trainers International and has trained about

1000 students over his career.

The Driving Program and Driving Instructor Program

have been reviewed and some minor changes to each

program were made after much deliberation to keep program costs down in an already expensive program to

meet the requirements of all agencies within the

state. One of the biggest challenges were determining

instructor requirements to maintain quality program

instruction without creating undue hardships on agen-

cies on replacement instructors due to promotions, transfers, etc. Previous inspections revealed the acade-

mies inspected had outstanding programs which exceed-

ed POST requirements. We expect to find this in the

future as well. If anyone has any questions regarding

Rule 28 compliance for driving, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to assist.

December 7, 2018

0800 hrs

Department of Law

1300 Broadway, Denver

September 14, 2018

0800 hrs

Department of Law

1300 Broadway, Denver

December 7, 2018

0800 hrs

Department of Law

1300 Broadway, Denver

The POST Board is created by 24-31-302, C.R.S. The POST Board is a Type 2 board and consists of 24

members:

Ex Officio Members:

Attorney General (Chair) Hon. Cynthia H. Coffman

Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Denver Field Office SAC Calvin Shivers

Executive Director of Public Safety Stan Hilkey

Local Government Representative Hon. Ron Rakowsky

(Mayor, Greenwood Village)

Governor Appointees:

Six Chiefs of Police John Minor (Silverthorne PD)

Dan Brennan (Wheat Ridge PD)

Mike Phibbs (Auraria Campus PD)

Debra Funston (Palisade PD)

John Collins (Englewood PD)

Cory Christensen (Steamboat Springs PD)

Six Sheriffs Chad Day (Yuma County SO)

Steve Nowlin (Montezuma County SO)

Justin Smith (Larimer County SO)

Anthony Mazzola (Rio Blanco County SO)

Shawn Mobley (Otero County SO)

Anthony Spurlock (Douglas County SO)

Three Active Peace Officers, with Rank of Sgt or Below Amanda Cruz-Giordano (Arapahoe Co SO)

Tonya Barnes (18th JD DA’s Office)

Lonnie Chavez (Grand Junction PD)

Five Community Members Kara Hoofnagle (Wheat Ridge)

Susan “Zeke” Knox (Denver)

Ashley Beck (Denver)

Jane Quimby (Grand Junction)

Bradley Taylor (Weldona)

The Board works extremely hard to improve the quality of law enforcement training in Colorado, as well

as supporting all of the excellent work done by law enforcement. The Board also has the unenviable task

of decertifying errant peace officers.

If there are matters you would like to see POST address, or changes made, not only can you contact

POST staff, but you can also reach out to these dedicated public servants!

We would like to welcome the newest members of the POST Board, who were appointed by the Governor on August 21, 2018.

Deputy District Attorney Ashley Beck, Denver District Attorney’s Office

Lay Member

Ms. Beck is a native Coloradan and a resident of Denver. A proud alumna of

Mullen High School, she graduated maxima cum laude from the University of Portland (OR) with a B.A. degree in Political Science and Spanish. After

completing an externship in the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C., Ms. Beck

moved abroad and taught at a bilingual school in Spain for two years, and

also spent a month trekking across the country along the historic Camino de

Santiago. Upon her return to the U.S., she obtained her law degree (J.D.) from the University of Colorado Law School. She currently works as a

Deputy District Attorney at the Denver District Attorney’s Office. When not at

work, Ms. Beck enjoys frequenting different trails and dog parks with her

canine companion, spending time outdoors running and hiking, travelling,

and volunteering as a member of her neighborhood home improvement association.

Sheriff Anthony Mazzola, Rio Blanco County Active Sheriff

Sheriff Mazzola took office as the Sheriff of Rio Blanco County in January of

2015. He served with the US Army, and was first appointed to Rio Blanco

County as a jailer, later holding positions as patrol deputy, investigator and

undersheriff. In 2008, he went to work for the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s

Office, and prior to his election to Sheriff, held the chief investigator position. Sheriff Mazzolla was born in Denver, moved to Steamboat Springs, and later to

Meeker. He is active in the Meeker Lions Club, and serves as Board president of

the White River Electric Association. He is a current member of the FBI’s

Western Slope Joint Terrorist Task Force and the National White Collar Crime

Center. He has taught crime scene investigations class at the CNCC Police Academy, and has a great deal of specialized law enforcement and search and

rescue training.

Sheriff Shawn Mobley, Otero County

Active Sheriff

Sheriff Shawn Mobley was sworn in as Sheriff of Otero County on January 13,

2015, and is running for a second term in the 2018 general election. A US Army veteran, he began his career in law enforcement with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s

office, after serving as Deputy Coroner for both the Otero and Lincoln County

Coroner's offices. He has taught multiple courses at the Otero Junior College Law

Enforcement Academy over the years. He is a member of the County Sheriffs of

Colorado, National Tactical Officer’s Association, NRA, and Western States Hostage Negotiatior Association. His goal with the Board is to improve

curriculum, training and the requirements for POST-certified officers.

Sheriff Justin Smith, Larimer County

Active Sheriff

Sheriff Smith assumed office in Larimer County in January of 2011 after serving

with the agency since 1991. He has completed both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the

National Sheriffs Institute and the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development

Seminar. He is a member of the Executive Advisory Board for the Front Range

Community College Police Academy, has been an adjunct professor in Criminal

Justice at Colorado State University, and an instructor, presenter and panelist at dozens of leadership programs.

We would like to take a moment to introduce you to

some new POST Staff.

Cathy Rodriguez, Compliance Manager

Cathy is a Colorado native with an undergraduate

degree from Metro Sate in Psychology. She has 18

years of experience with the judicial and executive

branches of he state of Colorado and over 20 years

of work in the criminal justice field. She was a pro-

bation officer in Adams County for ten years, staff

to the Sex Offender Management Board through the Division of Criminal Justice for eight years, a Program

Director for mental health boards at DORA for one year and managed Victim Witness at the 17th Judicial

District District Attorney’s Office for two years.

Tiffiny Black-Majekodunmi, Compliance Specialist

Tiffiny was born in Nassau, Bahamas, moved to Florida as a child, and became a US citizen in 2015. She

holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Colorado Christian University, an MBA with a specialization

in Management from Colorado Technical University, an MPA with a specialization in Management, Organi-

zational Development and Public Policy from Colorado Technical University and is currently attending Colo-

rado Technical University for a Doctorate of Management degree.

Erik J. Bourgerie - Director

Lori Jencks – Administrative Assistant

Open – Administrative Assistant

Grant Program

Becky Calomino – Grant Manager

Kim Hernandez – Regional Grant

Susan Carter – In-service Training Grant

Training Program

Bob Baker – Training Manager

Dan Griffin – Training Coordinator

Jared Torsney – Marijuana Training Coordinator

Open – Training Coordinator

Compliance Program

Cathy Rodriguez – Compliance Manager

Tiffiny Black-Majekodunmi – Compliance Specialist

Open – Compliance Specialist

Joe Piccinetti – Program Assistant