General Information

The Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) is a team that supports the Law Enforcement and Detention operations of the Sheriff’s Office.  The CRU consists of a sergeant, four deputies and an officer from the Fountain Police Department who work a constantly-changing schedule to meet the needs of the Office and the community.  The addition of the Fountain Police Department to the unit is a significant step towards regional partnerships and a collaborative effort to combat crime and increase the delivery of law enforcement services to the community.  

The daily duties and responsibilities of CRU deputies vary greatly, but can generally be summed up as encompassing fugitive apprehension, case follow-up, rapid response to crime-related tips and self-initiated investigations.  Any of these duties may take priority at any given time.

CRU deputies regularly work interactively with officers and agents from a number of local and federal agencies including the ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshal’s Service, U.S. Postal Inspectors, local police departments as well as many others.  Additionally, CRU deputies work tips and leads received from a number of sources, including Crime Stoppers, anonymous calls, requests from other agencies, information shared by other deputies and more.

Much of the work typically done by CRU deputies originates as a simple warrant service or traffic stop, but these contacts have often been taken further by the deputies developing probable cause to secure search warrants for motel rooms, apartments, vehicles and houses.  The search warrants have resulted in the recovery of several methamphetamine labs and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs, weapons and stolen property.

CRU deputies also focus on problems such as pattern crimes.  These include rashes of vandalism, vehicle break-ins, and burglaries.  In recent years, CRU deputies have successfully cleared numerous pattern crimes with successful prosecutions, which in some cases involved organized crime charges against some offenders.

CRU deputies have made a number of “high-profile” arrests in the last five years, including suspects wanted for crimes locally and across the nation.  These arrests involved crimes of murder, bank robbery, home invasion, vehicle theft, identity theft, drug distribution, sexual assault, arson, criminal mischief and many others.  Several dozen CRU arrests have led to subsequent sentences in the Colorado Department of Corrections resulting in noticeable reductions of certain types of crime in our community (motor vehicle theft, motorcycle theft, mail theft).

CRU members also have secondary duties such as SWAT, Instructor for Recruit Academies, and In-Service Training.