Jefferson/Douglas County SO

[Utah]

Anyone have any insight on these agencies? Would like to hear from someone who works there....or someone who knows a good deal about them. Any info would be good.

Thanks

[Utah]

Any good agencies in the area you know of and why?

[Hazardless]

Douglas Isn't that bad of a dept. Just went thru a changing of the guards so to speak. The Sheriff Resigned and took another job with the Colo State Dept. But the undersheriff was elected in. So far he seems like a great guy. The Pay is on the top side of the scale for sheriffs dept. If your new your going to spend a few years (roughly 15 months) in the jail before your can transfer to the road. The jail however holds about 400 inmates and is pretty much a state of the art area. Douglas County isn't your non stop action area though. We are pretty busy but with petty stuff. But the crap is moving south and we are starting to get busier everynight. The county has money and because of that we have decent equipment. The Majority of our county is Mountains , which we have 2 resident Deputies patrol. However On the North Part of the county is Highlands Ranch which keeps things rocking. Good group of guys to work for .. Come on down and ride.... see what you think.

[Utah]

Wow finally a reply. How can you guys as deputies not have take home cars? What kind of training do you guys have and how often?

I called up and they said i wouldnt have to start in the jail with prior experience is that true?

Thanks for responding.
Utah

[Hazardless]

Well , As far as take home cars, The old sheriff (acree) took take home cars away in an effort to save money from my understanding. He assigned 2 deputies to each car( 1 for each side of the week) So basically car sharing. The only people allowed to have take come cars are, The brass (of course) Fto's and K9. I don't think swat is allowed take home cars since it's a part time team. If you work a special assignment such as investigations then the oncall investigator may take a car home. This take home car program is only available to Deputies living within the county. However, This rule has been slightly bent in the past normally with Oncall Deputies.

The training we have had for the last year consisted of 1 day a month (120 hrs yearly) and 2 weeks a year (80 hrs) at a min. ( this doesn't sound like much but it's actually a little over 1 month of training each year) However, since the new sheriff took office several officers have complained that the training is too much and doesn't fit well in the schedual. The new sheriff (Weaver) stated that he plans on cutting back the training a bit.

The inservice training consits of recerts on ACT,OC, Taser, Hazmat, Driving, Firearms ect. This training is the same for all Deputies. There are several more topics but i can't remember them right now. The monthy training consists of diffrent topics with relation to the division you work. Detentions vs. patrol.

As far as comming to the Dept as a lateral with exp. from another agency you'll more than likely go straight to the road. (As long as you pass our post and do not go thru the academy here)

The Dept. is a good place though moral is down quite a bit. The new sheriff is rebuilding that slowly but surely. He's working on a decent retirement plan for all commissioned personel. I believe it's something like a pension type set up. Currentally we have 401K. We recieve a Benifit package which includes about 600 bucks towards medical, dental, vision, Aflac. Ect. The money that is not used maybe be cut back to you or placed in a retirement account.

If you have anymore questions let me know.

[co911]

I'd be interested to know at what pay level CPOST certified lateral officers start. Does it depend on yrs in the job? Also what is your top out and how long does it take to reach it as an entry deputy and as a lateral?

Thanks.

[ShortSeven]

However On the North Part of the county is Highlands Ranch which keeps things rocking.

Highlands Ranch is your "rocking" area? That doesn't sound like much fun to me.

[Utah]

Why do you say Highlands Ranch keeps you busy? i just visited this week and that looks like a great area.

I also hear you dont do any report writing on the computers..is that true??

Morale seems to be a bit low there....any other good SO's or local agencies you can recommend in the area?

[Hazardless]

Utah,

Alright Guys, Rocking may have not been the best word to describe Highlands Ranch. How about, Highlands Ranch Consumes the majority of the calls in the county. The calls are really across the spectrum. Hope that clarifies somewhat.

As far as report writing on Computer, That is still in the testing phases. Hopefully with in the next few months that will be up and running.

As far as pay is concerned, I'm not exactly sure what a lateral officer pay is. New Officers start out at 3807 a month. With a 3-4 percent raise at 6 months then another raise after a year. There is no "top out" pay. .

[Utah]

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like DCSO is not hiring any time soon though.

[Hazardless]

Utah, they are saying they are not hiring but I've heard they are setting up testing dates in December. So you might want to keep checking back. Right now they are switching our shifts to a rotating 10 hr shift instead of 10 hr shifts with 2 diffrent sides. What I'm saying is.... The the work days would be diffrent for each deputy. One deputy would be Tues-friday the other wen-sat and so on. Currentally we are divided into 2 sides of the week. A and B. A side is Sun-Wen B is Wen-Sat. So they may be just waiting to see how well that goes over first. We are bidding on shifts next wen and should start those shifts sometime in November.

Haz-

[DenverDevilDog]

Jefferson County SO is a good dept to work for. The sheriff, Ted Mink is an awesome guy. I was an explorer there for 4 years before I joined the Marines. The deputies in the jail and the road are all in high morale. They have some pretty nice equipment. The reports are written on computers, plus they are always updating, the last thing new before I left were the led low pro light bars. I know new deputies are assigned to the jail and test out to the road, but I don't know about lateral transfers. JCSO covers a wide variety of terrain from mountains to city. They stay pretty busy, most of the calls come from the south part of the county that borders Denver and Littleton near Columbine HS. Hope the info helps.

[co911]

DDD has it right. I was at the jail last week and there was a new JCSO black and white with an infra-red camera on it parked in the bay. Nice. The lateral pay starts around $53,000 and the rumor is that laterals don't have to start in the jail. Best SO in the state IMHO. (Although Douglas CSO's cars also look awesome and they have a stack of money).

[Utah]

JCSO looks like a decent agency but the people i spoke to said everyone must start in the jail...even laterals. Any opinion on Araphahoe SO?

[DenverDevilDog]

Arapahoe County SO isn't bad. I don't know a whole lot about them, but I believe you also have to start in the jail as a newbie, don't know about laterals. Most SO's in that general region require jail time.