Two Woodland Park Police officers no longer with department after ‘neglect of duty’ violations
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) - KRDO13 Investigates has uncovered that two officers with the Woodland Park Police Department (WPPD) are no longer with the department after multiple "neglect of duty" policy violations were found related to their investigations in two separate criminal cases.
Those officers are Nathan Humphrey and Patrick Vigil. Humphrey was "terminated for cause" on March 19 and Vigil "resigned in lieu of termination" on March 18. KRDO13 Investigates has obtained administrative investigation reports detailing how Woodland Park Police recommended their termination.
In October 2023, Officer Humphrey responded to multiple noise complaints made by residents in Woodland Park. After an investigation, the report states he filed for an arrest warrant for two charges: harassment and prohibited noise.
A month later in November, Officer Humphrey opened a new case against the same suspect, but this time the charge was for felony menacing related to the same incident he responded to in October. The internal affairs (IA) report into Humphrey's conduct states, "It is not Woodland Park Police Department policy to pull a second case for the same incident and initiate more charges. The Double Jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for the same offense(s)."
As the investigation unfolded it was revealed that Humphrey initially attempted to get a warrant for felony menacing signed off by a supervisor on the night of the noise complaints. His supervisor told him he did not have probable cause for the felony menacing charge. The sergeant, his supervisor, told him he needed additional witness statements to meet the threshold for probable cause.
According to the IA report, the suspect in the case was booked into the Teller County Jail on the "bad warrant" despite discussing that "the Felony Menacing statute and that Ofc. Humphrey’s view on the charge was not applicable as it did not fit within the statute," the report states.
In an email to the Fountain Police Chief obtained via Humphrey's WPPD email, he explains his opinion of the department and inquires about employment opportunities with Fountain PD. His email states:
“Good morning sir,
I was wondering if you had time to sit down and talk about possible future employment opportunities.
- Nathan Humphrey email to Fountain PD Police Chief
Recently at my agency it has come to light that extremely proactive officers are coming under fire. I along with these officers are not rogue officers or doing anything illegal but our discretion is being stripped from us. New admin, are requesting us to violate citizen's 5th amendment rights by signing a property receipt if we seize narcotics from them legally. I love my job and I like to think I make a difference, but not being able to do my job is not what I signed up for. I am the top DUI Officer here, a Ken Jordan nominee, and hold the most drug seizes here, I do work jointly with Teller Counties TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team) and just want to work. I attended the Pueblo PD academy with Marcus Howard and have remained in touch with him since. He has said nothing but great news about the agency. Even my father, the Chief of Florence PD states Fountain PD is the place to be.”
On Dec. 5, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was called in to investigate Humphrey for potential criminal charges related to this conduct. An investigator with CBI investigated and referred charges of official misconduct, a misdemeanor, to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office.
The IA report states that a Senior Deputy District Attorney with the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office chose not to file criminal charges against Officer Humphrey.
KRDO13 Investigates contacted the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office to ask why they declined to charge official misconduct. A spokesperson said they declined to file charges because of "insufficient evidence."
In Feb. 2023, Woodland Park Police also began an investigation into Officer Patrick Vigil. His IA investigation is related to his response to a domestic disturbance on Feb. 4 in Woodland Park. Vigil is accused of failing to make an arrest in a domestic violence case when probable cause existed to do so.
The IA report into Vigil's conduct says he changed his report after responding to the domestic disturbance to say that the victim did "not wish to pursue criminal charges." In a review of the body-worn camera footage, the investigating officer found that neither Vigil nor another officer on the scene asked the victims if they wished to pursue criminal charges.
The report states Vigil later admitted that parts of his narrative in his report were not stated and he was found to be untruthful in his police report.
KRDO13 Investigates sat down with Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler to discuss the actions of his former officers. He feels speaking publicly and releasing these documents is paramount to establishing transparency for police work in Woodland Park.
"You try to empower people to make good decisions, put them in a position to be successful, and you turn them loose and let them do their thing with the best of intentions. Those will rise and sometimes those will not," Chief Deisler said.
Deisler said he is "disappointed" in the actions of his former officers, but says he would never consider keeping people on the force for the sake of "manpower" when these types of untruthfulness policy violations were found.
"My staff and I are committed to the community that we will not empower the wrong people to join this force just for the sake of staffing," Deisler said.
He has been the police chief in Woodland Park for just over two years now. In that time, he tells KRDO13 Investigates, he has worked tirelessly to be committed to policing the right way and building trust with the community.
"Law enforcement requires that the people who are entrusted to do this job by the public have certain qualities, the qualities that we embrace in this profession and are not negotiable with me. And quite honestly, if folks just cannot understand it or just refuse to understand it, then we have to make sure we're doing the right thing for the community," Deisler said.
In an email to KRDO13 Investigates, Patrick Vigil says he was told to make changes to his report by a lieutenant within Woodland Park PD. He says he plans to bring a lawsuit against the department over their handling of his placement on administrative leave and the internal affairs investigations.
