Western Slope Law Enforcement Officers Honored as Traffic Safety Heroes

April 20, 2012 - Traffic Safety - Grand Junction – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) this week recognized several Western Slope law enforcement agencies and individual officers for their outstanding dedication to traffic safety in 2011.

“The work these officers, troopers and deputies do to enforce traffic safety laws are often overlooked, but they should be credited for saving lives on Colroado roadways each and every day,” said Glenn Davis, manager of impaired driving programs at CDOT.  “It is CDOT’s privilege to be able to honor them for their hard work, which is truly making an impact on reducing serious injuries crashes and needless deaths on our highways.”

CDOT provides grants to statewide law enforcement agencies to support them in conducting overtime enforcement of DUI laws for the “Heat Is On” campaign, as well as enforcing seat belt and child passenger safety laws during “Click It or Ticket” enforcement periods.  The programs are having an impact on the number of traffic fatalities in Colorado, which declined to a record low in 2011, with 443 deaths.  That is a 40% percent decline since 2002, when 743 people were killed on Colorado roadways.  Seat belt use has also increased during this time, from 72% in 2002 to 82% in 2011.  And the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes declined 53% during the same ten year period.

Awards were also given to law enforcement agencies in Southern Colorado on April 11th.  And a similar awards recognition event is planned for Denver on May 2nd.

The following agencies and individuals are being recognized as Traffic Safety Heroes:

Impaired Driving Enforcement

Top Agencies (Metro Category)

  1. Denver Police Department – 1,451 DUI arrests
  2. Colorado Springs Police Department – 753 DUI arrests
  3. Larimer County Sheriff’s Office – 396 DUI arrests
  4. Lakewood Police Department – 359 DUI arrests
  5. CSP Troop 2B Colorado Springs – 343 DUI arrests

Top Agencies (Rural Category)

  1. Avon Police Department – 141 DUI arrests
  2. Durango Police Department – 108 DUI arrests
  3. CSP Troop 5B Alamosa – 98 DUI arrests
  4. Glenwood Springs Police Department – 82 DUI arrests
  5. Alamosa Police Department – 76 DUI arrests

 

Seat Belt Enforcement

Top Agencies (Metro Category)

  1. Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office - 1,021 citations
  2. CSP Troop 4A Fruita – 726 citations
  3. Aurora Police Department - 677 citations
  4. Lakewood Police Department – 460 citations
  5. CSP Troop 1D Commerce City – 402 citations

Top Agencies (Rural Category)

  1. CSP Troop 4C Glenwood Springs – 433 citations
  2. CSP Troop 5B Alamosa – 352 citations
  3. CSP Troop 4B Craig – 162 citations
  4. CSP Trop 2C Lamar – 157 citations
  5. Monte Vista Police Department – 149 citations

 

Top Individual Law Enforcement Awards

During 2011, the following law enforcement officers wrote a combined 3,746 seat belt citations and made 1,660 DUI arrests.

Deputy Beau Baggett              Arapahoe County SO

Lt. Gregg Daly                        Avon PD

Officer David Trujillo               Denver PD

Agent Jason Bush                   Lakewood PD

Deputy Tyson Russell               Larimer County SO

Deputy Ted Wilson                  Larimer County SO

Deputy Jason Hart                   Larimer County SO

Officer Casey Cashman              Parker PD

Trooper Blake Hancey              CSP Troop 1C Castle Rock

Trooper David Gurule               CSP Troop 1C Castle Rock

Trooper Michael Tafoya            CSP Troop 2A Canon City

Trooper Emily Warren               CSP Troop 2B Colo. Spgs.

Trooper Michael Carr               CSP Troop 2B Colo. Spgs.

Trooper Duane Lewis                CSP Troop 3A Greeley

Corporal Eric Wynn                   CSP Troop 3A Greeley

Trooper Ian Jones                    CSP Troop 3C Fort Collins

Trooper Howard Thompson       CSP Troop 3C Fort Collins

Trooper Chad Kissler                CSP Troop 3C Fort Collins

Trooper Kevin Richard              CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Lucas Johnson            CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Andrew Gardner         CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Joshua Curtis             CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Dan Chermok              CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Kemitt White              CSP Troop 4A Fruita

Trooper Rusty Sanchez            CSP Troop 5A Durango

Kristina Galvez                         CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Colin Fowler                CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Jesse Bartunek            CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Travis DePriest             CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Jon Strickland              CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper J. Vince Benavides        CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Darrin Rodriguez           CSP Troop 5B Alamosa

Trooper Garrett Reich               CSP Troop 5C Montrose

Trooper Brett Hilling                  CSP Troop 5C Montrose

Trooper Nick Carnival                 CSP Troop 6A Golden

Trooper Brendon Simmons          CSP Troop 6B Frisco

Officer Evan Driscoll                   Steamboat Springs PD

Sr. Officer Terry Haase               Westminster PD

Sr. Officer Rodney Sanchez         Westminster PD

Officer Talon Darling                   Wheat Ridge PD