The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
No long-term solution reached yet
By Mark Reaman
One of the top priorities of new Gunnison County sheriff John Gallowich is coming to a long-term solution for law enforcement coverage in the north valley. For years the county contracted with the Mt. Crested Butte Police Department to provide the county coverage, but former sheriff Rick Besecker and the previous Board of County Commissioners were making initiatives to bring the coverage back under more direct control of the county department. In fact, Besecker began hiring additional deputies and having county deputies patrol the north end of the valley in 2018.
Gallowich indicated in his campaign that from a financial and safety perspective it made sense to continue the relationship with Mt. Crested Butte, with some adjustments. Shortly after being sworn in on January 8, Gallowich struck a deal with Mt. Crested Butte police chief Nate Stepanek to have the town return to handling the north valley calls and county coverage, while a more permanent solution is achieved.
“There is no formal contractual extension agreement yet and right now the county is not paying Mt. Crested Butte, but this gives us all time to review the situation and look at alternatives,” explained Gallowich on Tuesday, January 15. “Nate was kind enough to say they would cover it. It is business as usual without them being paid by the county, but it gives us some time.”
“The Mt. Crested Butte police officers are functioning as they have in the past as defined by the expired Law Enforcement Agreement under a directive from Sheriff Gallowich while a new formal Law Enforcement Agreement is being worked through,” confirmed Mt. Crested Butte town manager Joe Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick acknowledged that Mt. Crested Butte “is not being reimbursed at this time.”
Gallowich made it clear it is the county commissioners who control the “purse strings” of the budget and he met with the commissioners on Tuesday in a closed-door executive session. While not at liberty to say much about the details of the meeting, Gallowich said he was encouraged by the conversation and they all agreed to explore how best to provide north valley law enforcement protection. “It is still on the front burner and we will all be talking to look at options,” Gallowich said.
After the executive session, no formal action was taken by the BOCC. “They authorized county manager Matthew Birnie to work in conjunction with sheriff Gallowich to explore potential solutions for the challenges in patrolling the north end of the valley and requested that they report back to the BOCC ways in which the board can be helpful and effective in moving those pieces forward,” summarized county administrative assistant Elizabeth Mense.
“There is no timeline but I’ll be working diligently to conclude this issue,” said Gallowich. “It will take a little time and we are looking for a long-range decision. We don’t want to have this same discussion every year. We want something for the long term.”
Mt. Crested Butte police chief Nate Stepanek echoed that “Sheriff Gallowich has requested that the Mt. Crested Butte Police Department, along with the support of the Crested Butte Marshals Office, continue to provide law enforcement services as both agencies have historically done. We are both hopeful that formal agreements can come to fruition within the next few weeks.”
