El Paso and Teller Co. Sheriff’s partner to allow pursuits and arrests in each other’s jurisdictions
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - While standing along the border between El Paso County and Teller County, the sheriff's offices for each county pledged a new partnership to one another to allow arrests and pursuits of criminal activity in one another's jurisdictional boundaries, when necessary.
Around 70 deputies between the El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPCSO) and the Teller County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) were present for the ceremony along Highway 24 entering Woodland Park on Monday. El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal said the partnership has been developing over the last year.
The partnership is not only a historic agreement for southern Colorado law enforcement but also what's believed to be the only one like it in all of Colorado.
"Behind me, you see not only the black uniforms, or the gray uniforms, you see a sea of blue. We're all in this together," said Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell.
The partnership allows deputies from either agency to be able to follow a suspected criminal from one county into the other, and not have to worry about jurisdictional lines.
"We're able to focus on the investigation, focus on the criminal," said Sheriff Roybal.
Members of the TCSO say that calls for service happen "almost daily" in areas like Green Mountain Falls, Catamount, Rampart Range, Gold Camp Road, Old Stage Road, and the Pikes Peak Highway, which all straddle the Teller and El Paso County lines.
Teller County Sheriff's Office Commander Kevin Tedesco describes one recent case that came to mind immediately, which left both agencies working to track a dangerous criminal.
"In one particular case, there was a man armed with a firearm and he was assaulting and threatening people with a firearm on both sides of the border," explained Tedesco, "We had deputies from El Paso County, deputies from Teller County, both responding to that incident. [This agreement] allows the deputies to better perform their duties without the jurisdictional boundaries."
It's why fellow Commander Sven Bonnelycke, with over three decades of experience, says the ability to avoid the hassle of transferring a pursuit, or an investigation over to the opposite agency, helps tremendously.
"Sometimes that could be something that will take enormous amount of time, days even, depending on what the circumstances are," explained Bonnelycke.
The two agencies say that between training in the same academy, performing practice exercises together, and having mutual aid agreements in place, the new partnership just boosts an already strong relationship.
"Just look behind us," said Sheriff Mikesell, referencing the dozens of deputies behind him at the press conference Monday, "It's going to be hard to run from that many deputies all the time. So we've always had good information going back and forth, this just enhances that," he added.
The new jurisdictional rules begin as of Monday.
