Timnath pursues police potential

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Timnath is not exactly a hotbed for crime. But with its tiny population already tripled to perhaps 600, the town may not forever maintain its trusting Mayberry-like flavor forever.

The town council hopes to preserve that character while preparing for the future by taking measured steps toward establishing its own police department. That process will start next year with the hiring of a chief to assess the possibility of bringing on the first two officers as early as 2009.

"If we want to do this we have to plan well," said Town Manager Becky Davidson.

The $250,000 for beefing up public safety is contained in the 2008 budget. It is scheduled for final reading and adoption in a public hearing on Dec. 5.

Davidson said that figure includes the cost of bringing the chief on mid-year, in addition to expanding its contract with the Larimer County Sheriff's Department. Mayor Donna Benson said the town currently pays $2,000 a month for 40 hours of law enforcement a month - primarily trolling for speeders frequently flying down the town's Main Street. Deputies also respond to crimes in the town, which total less than two dozen a year, according to Sheriff Jim Alderden.

But Davidson said those numbers are bound to climb with the opening of the Wal-Mart Supercenter scheduled for next year, along with the continued construction of homes eventually bringing the town's population to an estimated 10,000.

"We don't see a lot of crime happening, but we do see a lot of change coming," said Davidson.

Benson said the town wants to stay ahead of that change by easing into its own kind of department committed to community-oriented policing. That approach generally is less focused strictly on enforcement and more on establishing relationships with residents. They are encouraged to partner with police in preventing crime and addressing other community issues. Often officers work consistently in the same area to develop those relationships.

"We've always known that 40 hours a month is not enough," Benson said. The question is, "Do we stay with the sheriff or go with our own law enforcement?"

Beyond that, Benson said she was informed that the sheriff's department could not hire enough deputies to provide the level of service the town desired. "They just don't have the personnel to do it," she said.

"That wasn't my understanding," Alderden responded.

He said Timnath instead asked for five full-time deputies. While they could be hired over time, "that's a pretty expensive proposition," he said, especially given the considerable start-up costs for cars, uniforms and equipment.

Wellington Town Administrator Larry Lorentzen said that capital cost similarly has discouraged the town of 5,300 residents from forming its own police department. "We talk about it probably every other year at budget time," he said.

This year, Lorentzen said, Wellington budgeted $446,713 for its contract with the sheriff's department to provide the town with four deputies and a sergeant. "We probably have as much (law enforcement) as if we had our own police department," he said.

The cost would be far greater if the town established it's own department, Lorentzen added. He estimated that seven officers would be required to provide 24-hour coverage, in addition to an office, records department, evidence room and acceptable holding facilities.

Alderden said he suggested that Timnath consider alternatives such as hiring two deputies, paying overtime for additional coverage or sharing Wellington's sergeant.

"The sheriff is very supportive," said Benson, predicting that the town for the time being will contract for more coverage from the department. Later, she hopes to partner with the sheriff during the transition. She envisions a hybrid approach in which deputies would supplement the two-officer force sharing, appropriately enough, a hybrid patrol car.