“I took the position as Parachute Police Chief in 1984 and I was there for 22 years before retiring. I came way after the oil boom, so there weren’t many officers at the time. It was just me and one other police officer when I got there. I had worked at the Rifle Police Station for a few years before that, and since Parachute is really a ‘hometown’ type of place, they really like their home-grown people. So, since I was coming from Rifle, which was considered a ‘big town’ to the people in Parachute, I was sort of seen as an outsider for the first few years. Everyone believed that I was going to bring the big city type of enforcement to Parachute, and mess up what they had going. I used to get confronted all the time in my car, even if I was just parked on the side of the road. People would tell me they didn’t want me sitting around sharking the bars or setting up speed traps, even though I wasn’t doing anything like that. It took a long time for everyone to really get to know me and accept me as a part of them. But once they did, things were really great. This community is really tight-knit. Being a cop in a small town is really different. You have to really understand the citizens and take part in what’s going on in the community. Whether that means visiting schools, sitting in on committees, or going to town council meetings, you’ve got to be there. That’s how you gain people’s trust. If you find yourself trying to isolate, you aren’t going to make it.”
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