April 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Sheriff Darren Weekly is working in tandem with 23rd District Attorney George Brauchler on a law and order agenda in Douglas County, but spillover criminal elements from Denver and statewide make this a daunting challenge on a daily basis. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams, filling in for Dan, asks him about the direction of public safety and law enforcement in Colorado.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to hour two of the Dan Caplass Show.
You got well, Kenny Sheriff, Steve Reims setting in again.
I'm on day two for Dan. I'll be here again
with you tomorrow again. We're an hour two of day two.
Kind of a fun time and in the first hour
had a couple I had a couple of sheriffs on
our sheriff candidate and a shriff from Masa County. We've
been talking about do you feel safer in Colorado? Do
(00:35):
you think do you think that this state is getting better?
Is it a better place for you to live than
it was a year ago or five years ago? Is
this state going in the right direction or is it
falling apart? And you know I pose that question to
you still, So if you want to text in, text
Dan at five seven, seven, three nine, or you can
call in at three O three seven one three eight
two five five. The text line you guys have been
(00:57):
lighting it up, and I want to. I want to
go to this text definitely, because the way it's written
is it tells you where we're at in the state
of Colorado, and it says, maybe don't read this one
on air, but I'm going to because it makes a
very good point and there's no cuss words in it.
It says, can the FBI, ATF for the US Marshalls
act as an intermediary to transfer illegals from local custody
(01:19):
to federal custody? And the simple answer to that is yes.
Under the Trump administration, every federal agent, whether they're FBI, ATF,
Homeland Security, it doesn't matter. They were all told that
they're ICE agents first, because that is the primary mission
of the new administration, the Trump administration. The interesting part
(01:42):
and the reason I read that on air isn't because
I want to flaunt that to the Democrats down at
the State House, but I want to make a point.
If ICE is the big evil enemy, and you say, okay, well,
anybody that has ICE powers, you would basically be telling
the state of Colorado, we don't want the help of
the FBI, the ATF, the US martials, all of those
functions that are very critical to federal law enforcement in
(02:05):
the state of Colorado, to making sure that the federal
courts are maintained properly, to making sure that you know,
these gun laws that the Democrats keep passing have some
kind of backing for you know, atf checks and those
kind of things. So you know, you can't have it
both ways. So if you want to limit ICE, you
better limit them all, or maybe just say, hey, ICE
(02:27):
has a mission and they're fulfilling that mission and the
people in the state of Colorado probably benefit from that.
Another text here, Steve, if I have a CHP, does
that qualify me to purchase a semi auto under the
new law or do I still still need the new
classes as required by Senate Build three. These two laws
are independent of each other. The CHP stuff that is
(02:49):
currently on the books in the state of Colorado is
independent of Senate Buil three. Senate Bill three requires you
to go through a whole new process, So you got
to come down, do a background, go take a gun
safety class. You can take a lets class if you
have some previous firearms training, basically a hunter safety course,
but you still have to go take a class. And
(03:09):
again I didn't write the law. I don't like the law.
I wish it would go away. I don't think it's constitutional.
But you asked the question. I'm trying my best to
answer it. A couple more texts. This textter says, I
definitely do not feel safer and way less free in Colorado.
I've been in Colorado since ninety three, and now I
am retired and I have time to enjoy the beauty
(03:30):
of the state. I am seriously considering leaving, though, thanks
to the leftist policies in this state. I think I
caught that one earlier. Let's see here, spent the nineties
working and living in Denver. This thing keeps jumping. I
spent the nineties working and living in Denver, enjoyed it.
In thirteen, twenty thirteen, after observing what was happening in
(03:52):
the state, my intuition told me to buy more guns.
Ammo on train extensively. Twenty fifteen started they started writing
the capitol abouts of illegal immigration. Today we can see
that instincts were absolutely correct and avoiding Denver unless absolutely necessary,
which I assume a lot of you are doing. I
don't think a lot of people say Denver's the place
I want to go hang out for the weekend, but
(04:12):
some of you may if you've got free Rockies tickets
or whatever. I don't know if anybody pays for those anymore.
This one's actually positivele Dan. I live in the suburbs.
I feel good about my life. I don't feel unsafe.
I know that in many areas it is worse, and
I still think we need to get tougher on crime, boy,
don't we. And then another Texter, Chief new Banks, from
(04:34):
the town of Mead, which is in Weld County, wrote
a letter, sent it down to the state capitol and
posted on social media. It's against most of the bills
that are being proposed, and the Texter says it's a
very interesting read. I work with Chief new Banks quite often.
He's a good guy down there in the town of Mead.
I think that kind of covers it for us here. Oh,
(04:55):
we do have one from Alexa. It says I grew
up and worked in downtown for many years. I never
was really concerned for my safety until the two thousand
and nine summer of violence in downtown Denver. It is
really sick that politicians care more about an image than safety.
After four people were stabbed downtown. A few months ago.
Mayor Mikey told us how safe and vibrant Denver is
going to be. I encouraged everybody to go back down there,
(05:16):
and I don't think Alexa agrees with that. She says
complete lies. I no longer feel safe, you know. And
I guess one last one here says glad you're back
on the radio.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I think.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Colorado started going downhill when marijuana was legalized. Yeah, the
question is are you looking at two thousand or twenty thirteen,
because two thousand is when medical marijuana was actually legalized
in the state. Twenty thirteen is when recreational marijuana came
in at the start of twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I think both.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Were bad marks for the state of Colorado, but regardless,
it's the state we live in. One more just rolled
in the frequency of use of legit law is irrelevant.
The Enemy Alien Act of seventeen ninety eight is still
a valid law. Has it ever once been challenged? How
long has murdered been on the books. I'm not sure
exactly where that text is going, but I think the
(06:06):
the idea is, you know, using the Alien Enemies Act
is probably well, it may be controversial and has been
temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court or put on pause.
I think a lot of people out there say, you
got to do something. You know, there's there's no way
that we can just allow the country to have eleven
million unvetted folks that have invaded the country, especially when
(06:28):
they're associated with designated terror organizations like Trenda a RAG
or MS thirteen, which are also in most of our communities,
even in Wild County, we're seeing the effects of those
two criminal organizations, either through drug trafficking, human trafficking, you
name it. Who knows there's a good possibility that that
crime release or that press release I read at the
(06:51):
very start of hour one. You know, it wouldn't it
be ironic if those folks were tied back to some
kind of illegal gang, illegal gang type. But in this
how we're going to continue to focus on the perspective
of is Colorado better now than it was a year ago,
five years ago? Can it come back under Democrat policy?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Can Colorado get right again if you will? And I
don't mean that as in political, but can it get
to the place where people feel safe again? Can we
get off of the ten most worst lists? Out there
for everything. You know, we've got the highest crime rates
in many different categories. We got krthf's off the charts.
We have people just don't feel safe going into the
(07:30):
major metropolitan areas. Can we get off those lists? With
Democrats continuing to remain in charge, and especially with a
governor's election coming up in less than two years, you
know we're gonna We're going to get a new governor,
whether we like it or not. I think most of
the people listening to this show are saying anything but
poll us, but they have been it to look forward
to potentially or or feel wiser. Is that an improvement?
(07:53):
I would argue that it probably is not. But maybe
this is the time for a Republican candidate to come up,
and maybe the voters in this state have said, Okay,
the direction we're going is bad enough. I know that
most of you listening out there believe we've hit rock bottom.
But do the people on the other side of the aisle,
do the unaffiliated voters. I don't know how anybody can
(08:14):
drive through Denver and say this is a better place.
But then again, maybe they came from California, maybe they
came from Seattle. So Denver doesn't look so bad.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
A couple more texts and then we'll go to break,
says sheriff should in twenty four years of military service,
with multiple deployments to combat zones, kuint of sufficient training
to buy firearms.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Absolutely, it should.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I think you've probably covered everything, but this bill will
say otherwise. In fact, those people would probably say that
you're dangerous because you have military service and you've used
you've used firearms and combat zones, and so you're probably
a weapon of war by their definition.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's just it's sad to see where the state's going.
It's not in a positive direction in my mind. But
when we come back from break, we're going to have
Sheriff Darren Weekly on from Douglas County. He's going to
talk to us about his from a guy who's much
closer right here to the Denver metro area than even
I am. So we'll cut to break again. You're listening
to the dan capla show hosted by Well County Sheriff
Steve Raams here on six point thirty k how we'll
(09:11):
be back with Darren Weekly from Douglas County.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show Podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Welcome back to the Dan capla show hosted by Well
County Sheriff Steve raams As. Dan's out doing some important
work on behalf of his clients, but got a chance
to take the driver's seat. As I told you before
we went to break, we're going to have Sheriff Darren
Weekly from Douglas County on with us. Now again, Darren's
one of those guys that I work with quite often,
but we're going to have him on to talk about
his perspective of crime in Colorado. Sheriff Weekly, are you
(09:43):
with us?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
I am thanks for having.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Me you bet, Darren, and it's a pleasure to have
you on the show. I know that you're pretty well
known in the Denver metro area as you there are
the sheriff of Douglas County. But let's talk a little
bit about your background. What drew you to law enforcement,
what made you want to do the job of shriff,
and how did you get to this spot.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Well, I've wanted to be a cop ever since I
was a little kid. I always looked up to law
enforcement officers and they were just my heroes growing up.
And you know, I don't know what specifically it was,
but I just always admired them, you know, be honest
with you, I'm kind of the black sheep in my
family being a law enforcement officer. My dad was not
(10:23):
on the right side of the law for for a
lot of different reasons. But yeah, when I was younger,
I got involved in the Explorer program with the Cherry
Hills Police Department. And this was back in the late
eighties and just just my my love of law enforcement
only grew from there. And then, you know, shortly after
high school, you know, college was not available to me,
(10:47):
just because I was kind of having to make my
own way through life and my own bills. So I
went through the Rapple Community College Police Academy, you know,
on my own dime and had a full time job.
And after I got done with the academy, I became
a reserve police officer at Cherry Hills. And back then,
(11:07):
and this is like nineteen ninety three time frames, you know,
nobody was hiring in the devernmental area. Yep, yeah, yeah, please,
I mean, I mean there'd be you know, a couple
hundred applicants for every single open position, and you know,
obviously times have change, But I was reserved for Cherry Hills,
just kind of patiently waiting for a full time position.
(11:29):
And then Douglas County called me from nowhere and they
were looking for somebody that could still pass for a
high school student. And I got hired by Douglas County
to do twenty one jump streets and put me undercover
in one.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Of the high schools.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
And I did that for almost a full school year,
and then you know, got out on full time and
you know, I've done just about everything there is to do,
you know, at a sheriff's office, and I've just I've
just been very blessed in my career.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, our careers are quite a bit a mirror image
of each other in a lot of ways in our
path up through the agency. So I respect the heck
out of your career path through Douglas County. So I'm
gonna assume your family wasn't necessarily highly supportive of you
chasing a career in law enforcement. Is that Is that accurate?
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Well, yeah, my dad kind of resented it. He's passed
on now, but he my dad was he was a criminal,
and you know, him and my mom separated when I
was pretty young. My mom raised me, you know, by herself.
She was a single parent, and my dad just he
was not there for us. And when I decided to
go on in that career path, he thought I did
it to spite him. But you know, I just I
(12:40):
just did it because I had a pass and for
doing good and and helping people that needed help and
saving people. And you know, it's you know, I'm just
blessed to be in a sign of work. I've just
I've always looked at law enforcement as the heroes.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Absolutely, well, I think, you know, I think highly of
the work that law enforcement monsters around the state do.
But let's let's boils down to the topic. I've been
asking our listeners and callers today. Do you think that
Colorado is safer today than it was a year ago,
or five years ago, or ten years ago. And I'll
rephrase that a little bit differently to you. Is your
job easier now in the current climate in twenty twenty five,
(13:16):
or has the job gotten exponentially harder since you entered
into law enforcement back in the late eighties early nineties,
depending on you when you call your career officially starting.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
I'm a Colorado native I grew up in southeast Denver.
This job is I started almost thirty two years ago.
This job is nothing like it was thirty two years ago.
In some ways, law enforcement is adapt that it's grown
and it's gotten better. But the state of Colorado in
and of itself, it's just in terms of crime, it's
(13:50):
just tanked and this state is less safe than it
ever was. I pride myself on being the sheriff of
Douglas County and keeping crime out of my county. We're
still playing defense right. But the large, the large metro
agencies like Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, they're just doing everything
that they can to keep their head above water and
just trying to apprehend, you know, the serious offenders and
(14:13):
just do their job. But this state is just it's,
I don't know how to better describe it. It's it's
not the state that I grew up in.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, you definitely have job security if you're working in
law enforcement and in this state, but it's sometimes against
the will of the state legislature. So I'll go to
the next question. I've been asking a lot of our folks.
Do you think that this state can turn around under
the control of a Democrat governor and or a Democrat legislature.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
No, it's gonna unless we get some more moderate Democrats
in there, or we can take the governor's office and
get a Republican in there, we're going to keep going
down the same path.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
You know.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
I have heard things like there's there's some wealthy moderate
Democrats that are trying to get moderate Democrats in our
legislature because our state has just turned so far left.
And you know, I often talk to people, you know,
they're like, oh, they're trying to California, cake Colorado, and
I have family in California. Colorado is far worse than
(15:17):
California right now. And so for people to not realize
that and realize how far we've gone, you know, it's
it's everybody's got their their political opinions, whether you're left,
whether you're right. But we've got so far left and
some of the legislation, and every year where I think
it can't get worse, it gets worse. Yeah, And so
(15:37):
we just need to get some moderates in there, or
get a Republican governor that can start betilling some of
these bills.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I've been covering the show here for a couple of days.
And you know, we had some audio on yesterday about
Michael Bennett saying that he doesn't want Colorado to become California,
and it's it's so ironic that you just made the
statement that California may be in a better place than
Colorado is. And I said that to a lot of folks.
I think we're we're farther away from the turnaround, although
it could possibly happen faster in this state just because
(16:06):
of population size.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I think we may be farther down the down the
line of liberal policies and even the state of California.
And as a law enforcement guy, it's got to drive
you nuts, am I correct.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
It does.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
It's just very frustrating. I mean, you and your staff
have to go through the same thing mine do. And
every single year we go through legislative updates which we
have to do to keep our post certificate. And every
single year I look at the cops in the room
and it just looks because they're trying to I mean,
most cops, despite what you may think you know from
from from our legislature that to have you believe all
(16:43):
cops or biased, or have you know anything like that.
Most cops or they're honest men and women just trying
to do a good job and serve and protect their community,
putting their lives on the line every single day, and
then for them every single year to add to go
to the legislative updates and hear about what they can't do,
what they can't say.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
It's just it's.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Very disheartening and it's hard work. When you go put
your life on the lane every day and you get
made to feel like you're the bad guy and that
your legislature thinks you're the problem. It's tough, and it's
tougher and tougher to find good people that want to
do the shop. We get applications all day. I'm sure
you guys do it too, sure that they want to
(17:23):
do our job. But to find the ones that really
should be in this line of work, that can pass
our background, our polygraph, our p SSYDE tests, that really
want to do the job for the right reasons, those
folks are getting tougher and tougher to find because the
stakes are so high.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, we have a motto inside our agency we want
the best ten that we can hire, not the first ten.
And sometimes just finding ten is very difficult, So Darren,
I couldn't I couldn't thank you more for being on
with us. Your perspective is very valuable in this state.
We had Sheriff ral On earlier. You guys share a
lot of the same comments. Again, thanks for being on
the show, Darren. You represent Douglas County well and I
(18:00):
appreciate your time. You're listening to the Dan capless Show
here on six point thirty k how with will unty
Sheriff Steve Raams setting in. We'll be back in just
a few short seconds after this break.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
You're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Welcome back to the Dan Caplis Show. You're listening to
well Kunty Sheriff Steve Raims filling in for Dan on
day number two three. I'll be back with you tomorrow,
but in this segment, I want to really open it
up to the callers and the texters again. The text
line is five seven seven three nine starts your text
off with Dan or call in at three oh three
seven one three eight two five five. Yesterday we had
(18:50):
quite a bit of engagement from you guys talking about
your your opinion of illegal immigration, today, I'm asking you,
do you feel safer in Colorado than you did a
year ago or five years ago? The state going in
the right direction? Or is it going in the wrong direction?
And if it is going in the wrong direction, like
I believe, can it be turned around by the same
people that have driven it there? Which I lay this
solely at the feet of the Democrat left and the
(19:13):
governor's office, whether that's Polis or hicken Looper. It hasn't
been an overnight process, but it's been a fast one,
and I don't think it turns around under this same leadership.
So when you're talking about a Michael Bennett or somebody
like that running, I think it only gets worse. He
says he doesn't want Colorado to become California too late,
that it might actually be an improvement at this point.
So yesterday, towards the end of the show, I think
(19:35):
it was Joe Fromarvada that called in and he mentioned
an incident that happened in Weld County that I don't
talk about a lot because it's pretty personal to me,
but because it was asked and we were talking about
illegal immigration yesterday. Today we're talking about crime in Colorado.
This thing hits both.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Back.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
On September eighteenth of twenty twenty two, in Weld County,
one of my deputies, jail Deputy Deputy Lexis Highnotes, was
riding her motorcycle into work. She was working the night shift.
And it's about six o'clock in the evening or a
little before that, I guess about five thirty in the evening.
She's only about a mile away from the Weld County
Jail and a motorist pulls out in front of her
(20:15):
in a little mini van. And she's doing everything right,
she's falling the speed limit, she's not doing anything wrong,
just riding her motorcycle into work. This motorist pulls out
in front of her. She strikes us side of his
vehicle with her motorcycle and she's killed instantly because of
the speed of the crash. And you know, it just
it didn't go well for her, obviously. The driver of
(20:37):
that vehicle was an illegal alien named Norberto Garcia Gonzalez,
thirty seven year old male. He proceeded to get out
of that van and run through a cornfield like a
coward and fled the scene. Never rendered any aid to Alexis,
who was laying on the ground, bleeding and dying, and
this cruel and heart this idiot that pulled out in
(21:01):
front of her, fled the scene and went on the run.
To summarize the story, we the Wellcunny Sheriff's Office in
the Colorado State Patrol through a ton of resources at
this incident because it did involve one of our own.
And I got questioned by a few people in the
community of would we have responded to every call that way?
And I can tell you we would have responded to
(21:21):
every call that way, whether it been a deputy involved
or not. Had if we were able to respond that
quickly and have a chance at catching the suspect, yes
we would use the same resources. But we spent about
twenty four hours chasing this coward down and we finally
caught him at a househover in Fort Collins. And to
tell you that that was an easy process would be
(21:42):
a lie. My detectives did yeoman's work and worked throughout
the hours along with alongside the Colorado State Patrol detectives
who assisted on the case as well. We were able
to get this guy in custody and lo and behold,
would find out that he had a criminal record. Believe
it or not, he had been revoked for two prior
(22:02):
to UI incidents. One of those that had also required
that he was supposed to turn himself into jail nine
years earlier, but instead of doing that, he just decided
that he would change his name. So he assumed a
false name of Octavio Gonzalez and just kept living his
life as if nothing had ever happened, didn't have a
(22:23):
valid driver's license, continued to violate the law. I was
doing some kind of work in Weald County, and we're
still not certain exactly what that was, but living basically
living a life scot free. And then, of course, on
the day that he killed my deputy, there were open
alcohol containers found in his van, and again he fled
the scene. Luckily, in this particular incident, because it happened
(22:48):
in Weald County and because we were able to put
a good case together in conjunction with the State Patrol,
this individual was held accountable and sentenced to twenty four
years in the Department of Corrections. And I would like
to tell you that he'll spend all twenty four of
those years in the Department of Corrections, but he very
likely will not. There's a good chance he'll do less
than half of that time. My only hope is that
(23:11):
whoever is in the presidential office at that particular time
will have the same philosophy as President Trump, and when
this person does finally exit prison, they will also exit
our country. But if you want to summarize crime in
Colorado and you want to summarize the impacts of illegal immigration,
those two things they come together in that particular incident,
(23:34):
and it did cause the death of a very young woman.
I think she was twenty seven at the time, and
forgive me if I have her date or her birth
date off by just a little bit, but very young
in her career, very excited about a career in law enforcement.
She was an excellent officer, embodied what you want in
an officer, and had a bright future ahead of her
(23:56):
all but for this coward drinking and driving and pulling
out in front of her and taking her life in
a blink of an eye. And again, I don't share
that story a lot. I'm surprised they got through it.
But Joe from Rvada brought it up. He was paying
attention yesterday and knew that this thing had happened. I
believe it was Joe from Arvada, and so I promised
(24:16):
yesterday i'd share the story, and that's it. I will
tell you that when people ask me, you know, is
Colorado a better place?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Heck no, it's not.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
How can I say that when we have incidents like
that that happened involving not only my deputies but countless
motorists out there on the road. And that's just one
tip of the iceberg. I started the show out by
reading a very horrifying press release from the Colorado State
Patrol about another incident on I twenty five, just a
day ago. I mean, crime in Colorado is out of control.
(24:47):
There's no truth incentencaying. We got big problems in this
state and it's only going to get worse if we
don't get people engaged and involved and started electing some
people that care about us, that care about the future
of this state.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
So let me.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I'll get to some of these texts here. They're the
one that just really caught my attention, so it's a
good break from what we're talking about. But I'll read
a few of these others real quick. It says my
son lives in Denver County. He's completed his concil carry class.
He said, Denver County is not taking fingerprints or processing
consial weapons permits until they see what is going to
happen with the new gun laws, which makes no sense
to me because those have no effect on consill weapons permits.
(25:24):
It says, can you please comment on this? I just did.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I don't know why Denver would take that stance. I
don't oversee Denver. We do things very differently in Weld County.
My goal is to get you in and out of
the office as fast as you can, because I would
rather you not even have to come to my office
for a consill weapons permit. I would much rather this
state be a constitutional carry state. But unfortunately, again back
to the issue at hand, it is not controlled by
(25:49):
Republicans at this time. Another text are here Colorado is
a wasteland of crime, drugs, and illegals. Very positive posts there.
Colorado has lost. People blame crime on law enforcement, and
that's true. You hear a lot of that that law
enforcement's not doing its job, and that's so backwards. I mean,
you know, we don't make the criminals. We just try
to try to catch them in Right now, are we're
(26:11):
doing it with one hand tied behind our back most
of the time. Another one here Colorado is such a disgrace.
Thanks for all you do, Sheriff. This one is from
Steve down in Littleton, retired l e O. Says Sheriff.
We're going nowhere but downhill with dims in control. Glad
I'm retired, but so thankful for those of you that
continue to serve. Another guy asking about solicitations to protect
(26:33):
law enforcement places? Is there one that I recommend?
Speaker 3 (26:36):
You know?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
There's a couple of organizations out there that I know
are reputable. It's County Sheriff's of Colorado and the Colorado
Association a Chiefs the police. If you get phone calls
from those guys, they're probably legit. The rest of them,
you got to vet those on your own. And then
this was the text that really cracked me up. It says, please,
Sheriff Raimes, you need to threaten to arrest Dan if
he doesn't run for governor. I know it sounds extreme,
(26:59):
but I'm out of and I love that idea. So
with that, we're gonna cut to break. When we come back,
we'll finalize the show. We'll figure out how we're gonna
threaten Dan into running for governor. And you know, I've
got a little bit of room in my jail, so
maybe that'll be a good threat. So you're listening to
the Dan Capless Show here on six point thirty k
Haw you got Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Dreams filling in
and we'll get to that last segment and close out
the show.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Thanks for listening so far.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
And now back to the Dan Kapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Welcome back to the Dankaplass Show. You have Well Kenny
Sheriff Steve Riams filling in for Dan. Day number two here.
I'll be back with you tomorrow. We came back with
Colorado's theme song, Breaking the Law. I don't know what
else could be more appropriate. But you know, before we
went to break, I was talking about the text that
someone wanted me to threaten Dan with the rest so
that he had run for governor. And I can't help
but wonder Ryan Kelly. You know, you guys, you read
(27:48):
these texts that come in. There's a lot about you know,
I see, I don't get to read every one of
them on areas you guys will know, but there's a
ton of them asking you know, is Dan gonna run?
Is Dan gonna run? Have you heard one as inventive
as that to try threatening to run for governor?
Speaker 7 (28:02):
I like the twist on it, and I would love
to hear and see Dan's reaction, like if you just
played it straight for a minute sixty seconds, like, Dan,
I gotta do this.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, I'll just I'll have to catch him in the
parking lot or something.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
You know, you'll have a funny story about this.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Go for it.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
I was told by him, you have a very active imagination,
young girl.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Okay, about the suggestion that he might run for governor. Correct.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Look, I don't think that's an imagination. I think that's
a hope and a dream and hopefully he's gonna fulfill
it in my opinion.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
So it wasn't like a feature of your imagination like
Jared Paulas said about Daniel Jerinsky.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
Right, No, No, it was when uh not, Oh gosh,
who's the managing partner, John Kellner?
Speaker 4 (28:52):
The John Killner.
Speaker 8 (28:54):
John Killner came in here, okay, and he's now the
managing partner. So I asked Dan outright, I.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Said, I mean you can run.
Speaker 8 (29:05):
Interesting, you have a managing partner that ran for attorney
and Attorney General.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
It seems like a good fit.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
And that's what he said to me, you have a
very overactive imagination.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Well, you know, I don't know what Dan's future holds,
but I know that it's if there was a guy
that could run, I think that guy's got all the
chops to at least make a heck of a run
against Bennett. You know again, I think Dan's listening audience
is awesome and I would love to watch a debate
between the two of them. Oh my, I can't help boy. Yeah,
(29:45):
it's talking about fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
It's the only way to be fair.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Two things I'll say, just based on my insights talking
to Dan behind the scenes, is he would be chomping
at the bit for that opportunity to debate Bennett.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
I think he's thinking about that that part of it.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Now.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
As far as running, he was asked this on the
air by a listener, and what I noticed and turned
to Kelly and said, was that.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
He didn't say no.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Well that's a start.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
He didn't say no, whereas I think in the past
he has said no. He's always cites the concerns and
we were aware of that. Running for office. There's a
cost to that, yep, not just financially, but with your family,
with his wife Amy, Amy would have to be on
board with it. And there's a lot of factors that
go into that decision. But what I drew from that, Sheriff,
is that he has not made that decision yet.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, you know, I agree with you. I think he's
I think he's in a place where he can at
least contemplate or is this the race to get into
And as I said, you know, whether it was hosting
the show or privately amongst friends. You know, I think
if there's anyone that's beatable in the state of Colorado
on the Democrat side, it is Michael Bennett. I think
(30:53):
he's more beatable than Phil Wiser for the simple fact
that the guy is so boring and I don't mean
so bring so boring.
Speaker 7 (31:02):
And he's never back here in Colorado. He really got
his feathers roughly. Yeah, when Rob Dawson, my counterpart at
KOA here, just brought up the fact that there's criticism
out there, and there is. You can't deny that there
isn't criticism that you're never back here in the state
of Colorado.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
We don't see you. People don't know who you are.
Speaker 9 (31:19):
I did a really good job back here. A lot
take issue with the question.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't say didn't understand the question,
like you know half the other ones where he just
tries to skate out.
Speaker 9 (31:29):
Sound like the senator from Texas.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
To build a wall.
Speaker 7 (31:34):
Oh, and that was the other part that we didn't
talk about, Sheriff, was that was such a freezing cold take.
Speaker 9 (31:39):
The medieval border wall. I mean, why do we need
a wall like?
Speaker 7 (31:42):
Oh? All these years later? Yeah, fast forward a few
years and Jay, it was a good idea. Yeah, maybe
if we'd have done it back then, things would have
been different. Hey, this text just came in. It's just
it's so simple. Dan could win. I believe that too.
You know, I'll just say that because he gives me
the airwaves here. I think Dan's a phenomenal guy. He's
got a huge listening audience. He you know, he's got
(32:02):
name recognition beyond most, beyond most Republicans in this state.
And Dan's background is a little different. I think it's
more amenable to the voters of Colorado, whether they be Democrats, unaffiliateds,
or Republicans. I think he has the I think he
has one of those backgrounds that could potentially thread the needle.
And that's not to say that he would have an
easy march into the governor's mansion. But you know, the
(32:26):
guy's got enough fight in him, and he's very well
spoken and knows how to debate. I think he can
make a heck of an interesting run. We just need
some good candidates to run alongside of him, for say,
attorney General and maybe secretary of State, and you know,
somebody to run against taking Looper. And those are the
things that have to develop. And who knows, maybe Dan's
looking at all those seats too and trying to figure
(32:46):
out where he fits the best. But either way, I
know his reach is beyond these airwaves and beyond the
work that he does in private. So Dan's got my
support if he gets in. And you know it's you
to say that now, but I'm not gonna go threat
to arrest him just yet. But I do like the idea.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I just like the visual of that, the optics. Oh wow, Sheriff,
what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yeah, well, it wouldn't it be weird if he, like
you know, was really intrigued by the handcuffs and all that,
and this could go against me in a weird way too.
I have to make sure that I got him up
to well, counting where I was, at least working inside.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
I have the best impressions ever.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
He's great. He's great.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Where to god the Michael Bennett take, though, I mean,
you know, he sounds like a South.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Park character, right, yeah, counselor Mackie.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Yeah, that's him.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
That's really what it derives from.
Speaker 7 (33:38):
But especially when he gets worked up, like you heard
in the clip that you poll, he gets really really upset,
like you from Cata.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Hat, and he doesn't know what to do with his hands.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
You know, he doesn't, and he loses all of his enunciation, articulation,
and he.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Just gives it into the emotion of the moment.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
Okay, but you can do Dan Kapliss.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
All right, this text too, says Sheriff Raemes. Everyone with
an above room temperature, IQ knows that Bennett is the
Jeff Speculli of the center. Anybody want a pizza?
Speaker 3 (34:15):
All right?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, we're having a little bit of fun here at
the end of the show. Again, it's been a pleasure
being here with you. On day two, I'll be back
with you tomorrow. We've got some guests coming in that
I think you'll want to hear. We're gonna have Congressman
Gave Evans, the new GOP Chairwoman, Brenda Horn, will be
in studio with us. We'll have a couple of other
surprise guests on as well, so stick with us. We'll
see you tomorrow on The Dan Caplis Show. And thanks
(34:36):
for listening with well Kenny Sheriff Steve Rings
This is Dan Capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back to hour two of the Dan Caplass Show.
You got well, Kenny Sheriff, Steve Reims setting in again.
I'm on day two for Dan. I'll be here again
with you tomorrow again. We're an hour two of day two.
Kind of a fun time and in the first hour
had a couple I had a couple of sheriffs on
our sheriff candidate and a shriff from Masa County. We've
been talking about do you feel safer in Colorado? Do
(00:35):
you think do you think that this state is getting better?
Is it a better place for you to live than
it was a year ago or five years ago? Is
this state going in the right direction or is it
falling apart? And you know I pose that question to
you still, So if you want to text in, text
Dan at five seven, seven, three nine, or you can
call in at three O three seven one three eight
two five five. The text line you guys have been
(00:57):
lighting it up, and I want to. I want to
go to this text definitely, because the way it's written
is it tells you where we're at in the state
of Colorado, and it says, maybe don't read this one
on air, but I'm going to because it makes a
very good point and there's no cuss words in it.
It says, can the FBI, ATF for the US Marshalls
act as an intermediary to transfer illegals from local custody
(01:19):
to federal custody? And the simple answer to that is yes.
Under the Trump administration, every federal agent, whether they're FBI, ATF,
Homeland Security, it doesn't matter. They were all told that
they're ICE agents first, because that is the primary mission
of the new administration, the Trump administration. The interesting part
(01:42):
and the reason I read that on air isn't because
I want to flaunt that to the Democrats down at
the State House, but I want to make a point.
If ICE is the big evil enemy, and you say, okay, well,
anybody that has ICE powers, you would basically be telling
the state of Colorado, we don't want the help of
the FBI, the ATF, the US martials, all of those
functions that are very critical to federal law enforcement in
(02:05):
the state of Colorado, to making sure that the federal
courts are maintained properly, to making sure that you know,
these gun laws that the Democrats keep passing have some
kind of backing for you know, atf checks and those
kind of things. So you know, you can't have it
both ways. So if you want to limit ICE, you
better limit them all, or maybe just say, hey, ICE
(02:27):
has a mission and they're fulfilling that mission and the
people in the state of Colorado probably benefit from that.
Another text here, Steve, if I have a CHP, does
that qualify me to purchase a semi auto under the
new law or do I still still need the new
classes as required by Senate Build three. These two laws
are independent of each other. The CHP stuff that is
(02:49):
currently on the books in the state of Colorado is
independent of Senate Buil three. Senate Bill three requires you
to go through a whole new process, So you got
to come down, do a background, go take a gun
safety class. You can take a lets class if you
have some previous firearms training, basically a hunter safety course,
but you still have to go take a class. And
(03:09):
again I didn't write the law. I don't like the law.
I wish it would go away. I don't think it's constitutional.
But you asked the question. I'm trying my best to
answer it. A couple more texts. This textter says, I
definitely do not feel safer and way less free in Colorado.
I've been in Colorado since ninety three, and now I
am retired and I have time to enjoy the beauty
(03:30):
of the state. I am seriously considering leaving, though, thanks
to the leftist policies in this state. I think I
caught that one earlier. Let's see here, spent the nineties
working and living in Denver. This thing keeps jumping. I
spent the nineties working and living in Denver, enjoyed it.
In thirteen, twenty thirteen, after observing what was happening in
(03:52):
the state, my intuition told me to buy more guns.
Ammo on train extensively. Twenty fifteen started they started writing
the capitol abouts of illegal immigration. Today we can see
that instincts were absolutely correct and avoiding Denver unless absolutely necessary,
which I assume a lot of you are doing. I
don't think a lot of people say Denver's the place
I want to go hang out for the weekend, but
(04:12):
some of you may if you've got free Rockies tickets
or whatever. I don't know if anybody pays for those anymore.
This one's actually positivele Dan. I live in the suburbs.
I feel good about my life. I don't feel unsafe.
I know that in many areas it is worse, and
I still think we need to get tougher on crime, boy,
don't we. And then another Texter, Chief new Banks, from
(04:34):
the town of Mead, which is in Weld County, wrote
a letter, sent it down to the state capitol and
posted on social media. It's against most of the bills
that are being proposed, and the Texter says it's a
very interesting read. I work with Chief new Banks quite often.
He's a good guy down there in the town of Mead.
I think that kind of covers it for us here. Oh,
(04:55):
we do have one from Alexa. It says I grew
up and worked in downtown for many years. I never
was really concerned for my safety until the two thousand
and nine summer of violence in downtown Denver. It is
really sick that politicians care more about an image than safety.
After four people were stabbed downtown. A few months ago.
Mayor Mikey told us how safe and vibrant Denver is
going to be. I encouraged everybody to go back down there,
(05:16):
and I don't think Alexa agrees with that. She says
complete lies. I no longer feel safe, you know. And
I guess one last one here says glad you're back
on the radio.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I think.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Colorado started going downhill when marijuana was legalized. Yeah, the
question is are you looking at two thousand or twenty thirteen,
because two thousand is when medical marijuana was actually legalized
in the state. Twenty thirteen is when recreational marijuana came
in at the start of twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I think both.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Were bad marks for the state of Colorado, but regardless,
it's the state we live in. One more just rolled
in the frequency of use of legit law is irrelevant.
The Enemy Alien Act of seventeen ninety eight is still
a valid law. Has it ever once been challenged? How
long has murdered been on the books. I'm not sure
exactly where that text is going, but I think the
(06:06):
the idea is, you know, using the Alien Enemies Act
is probably well, it may be controversial and has been
temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court or put on pause.
I think a lot of people out there say, you
got to do something. You know, there's there's no way
that we can just allow the country to have eleven
million unvetted folks that have invaded the country, especially when
(06:28):
they're associated with designated terror organizations like Trenda a RAG
or MS thirteen, which are also in most of our communities,
even in Wild County, we're seeing the effects of those
two criminal organizations, either through drug trafficking, human trafficking, you
name it. Who knows there's a good possibility that that
crime release or that press release I read at the
(06:51):
very start of hour one. You know, it wouldn't it
be ironic if those folks were tied back to some
kind of illegal gang, illegal gang type. But in this
how we're going to continue to focus on the perspective
of is Colorado better now than it was a year ago,
five years ago? Can it come back under Democrat policy?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Can Colorado get right again if you will? And I
don't mean that as in political, but can it get
to the place where people feel safe again? Can we
get off of the ten most worst lists? Out there
for everything. You know, we've got the highest crime rates
in many different categories. We got krthf's off the charts.
We have people just don't feel safe going into the
(07:30):
major metropolitan areas. Can we get off those lists? With
Democrats continuing to remain in charge, and especially with a
governor's election coming up in less than two years, you
know we're gonna We're going to get a new governor,
whether we like it or not. I think most of
the people listening to this show are saying anything but
poll us, but they have been it to look forward
to potentially or or feel wiser. Is that an improvement?
(07:53):
I would argue that it probably is not. But maybe
this is the time for a Republican candidate to come up,
and maybe the voters in this state have said, Okay,
the direction we're going is bad enough. I know that
most of you listening out there believe we've hit rock bottom.
But do the people on the other side of the aisle,
do the unaffiliated voters. I don't know how anybody can
(08:14):
drive through Denver and say this is a better place.
But then again, maybe they came from California, maybe they
came from Seattle. So Denver doesn't look so bad.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
A couple more texts and then we'll go to break,
says sheriff should in twenty four years of military service,
with multiple deployments to combat zones, kuint of sufficient training
to buy firearms.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Absolutely, it should.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I think you've probably covered everything, but this bill will
say otherwise. In fact, those people would probably say that
you're dangerous because you have military service and you've used
you've used firearms and combat zones, and so you're probably
a weapon of war by their definition.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's just it's sad to see where the state's going.
It's not in a positive direction in my mind. But
when we come back from break, we're going to have
Sheriff Darren Weekly on from Douglas County. He's going to
talk to us about his from a guy who's much
closer right here to the Denver metro area than even
I am. So we'll cut to break again. You're listening
to the dan capla show hosted by Well County Sheriff
Steve Raams here on six point thirty k how we'll
(09:11):
be back with Darren Weekly from Douglas County.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show Podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Welcome back to the Dan capla show hosted by Well
County Sheriff Steve raams As. Dan's out doing some important
work on behalf of his clients, but got a chance
to take the driver's seat. As I told you before
we went to break, we're going to have Sheriff Darren
Weekly from Douglas County on with us. Now again, Darren's
one of those guys that I work with quite often,
but we're going to have him on to talk about
his perspective of crime in Colorado. Sheriff Weekly, are you
(09:43):
with us?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
I am thanks for having.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Me you bet, Darren, and it's a pleasure to have
you on the show. I know that you're pretty well
known in the Denver metro area as you there are
the sheriff of Douglas County. But let's talk a little
bit about your background. What drew you to law enforcement,
what made you want to do the job of shriff,
and how did you get to this spot.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Well, I've wanted to be a cop ever since I
was a little kid. I always looked up to law
enforcement officers and they were just my heroes growing up.
And you know, I don't know what specifically it was,
but I just always admired them, you know, be honest
with you, I'm kind of the black sheep in my
family being a law enforcement officer. My dad was not
(10:23):
on the right side of the law for for a
lot of different reasons. But yeah, when I was younger,
I got involved in the Explorer program with the Cherry
Hills Police Department. And this was back in the late
eighties and just just my my love of law enforcement
only grew from there. And then, you know, shortly after
high school, you know, college was not available to me,
(10:47):
just because I was kind of having to make my
own way through life and my own bills. So I
went through the Rapple Community College Police Academy, you know,
on my own dime and had a full time job.
And after I got done with the academy, I became
a reserve police officer at Cherry Hills. And back then,
(11:07):
and this is like nineteen ninety three time frames, you know,
nobody was hiring in the devernmental area. Yep, yeah, yeah, please,
I mean, I mean there'd be you know, a couple
hundred applicants for every single open position, and you know,
obviously times have change, But I was reserved for Cherry Hills,
just kind of patiently waiting for a full time position.
(11:29):
And then Douglas County called me from nowhere and they
were looking for somebody that could still pass for a
high school student. And I got hired by Douglas County
to do twenty one jump streets and put me undercover
in one.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Of the high schools.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
And I did that for almost a full school year,
and then you know, got out on full time and
you know, I've done just about everything there is to do,
you know, at a sheriff's office, and I've just I've
just been very blessed in my career.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, our careers are quite a bit a mirror image
of each other in a lot of ways in our
path up through the agency. So I respect the heck
out of your career path through Douglas County. So I'm
gonna assume your family wasn't necessarily highly supportive of you
chasing a career in law enforcement. Is that Is that accurate?
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Well, yeah, my dad kind of resented it. He's passed
on now, but he my dad was he was a criminal,
and you know, him and my mom separated when I
was pretty young. My mom raised me, you know, by herself.
She was a single parent, and my dad just he
was not there for us. And when I decided to
go on in that career path, he thought I did
it to spite him. But you know, I just I
(12:40):
just did it because I had a pass and for
doing good and and helping people that needed help and
saving people. And you know, it's you know, I'm just
blessed to be in a sign of work. I've just
I've always looked at law enforcement as the heroes.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Absolutely, well, I think, you know, I think highly of
the work that law enforcement monsters around the state do.
But let's let's boils down to the topic. I've been
asking our listeners and callers today. Do you think that
Colorado is safer today than it was a year ago,
or five years ago, or ten years ago. And I'll
rephrase that a little bit differently to you. Is your
job easier now in the current climate in twenty twenty five,
(13:16):
or has the job gotten exponentially harder since you entered
into law enforcement back in the late eighties early nineties,
depending on you when you call your career officially starting.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
I'm a Colorado native I grew up in southeast Denver.
This job is I started almost thirty two years ago.
This job is nothing like it was thirty two years ago.
In some ways, law enforcement is adapt that it's grown
and it's gotten better. But the state of Colorado in
and of itself, it's just in terms of crime, it's
(13:50):
just tanked and this state is less safe than it
ever was. I pride myself on being the sheriff of
Douglas County and keeping crime out of my county. We're
still playing defense right. But the large, the large metro
agencies like Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, they're just doing everything
that they can to keep their head above water and
just trying to apprehend, you know, the serious offenders and
(14:13):
just do their job. But this state is just it's,
I don't know how to better describe it. It's it's
not the state that I grew up in.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, you definitely have job security if you're working in
law enforcement and in this state, but it's sometimes against
the will of the state legislature. So I'll go to
the next question. I've been asking a lot of our folks.
Do you think that this state can turn around under
the control of a Democrat governor and or a Democrat legislature.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
No, it's gonna unless we get some more moderate Democrats
in there, or we can take the governor's office and
get a Republican in there, we're going to keep going
down the same path.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
You know.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
I have heard things like there's there's some wealthy moderate
Democrats that are trying to get moderate Democrats in our
legislature because our state has just turned so far left.
And you know, I often talk to people, you know,
they're like, oh, they're trying to California, cake Colorado, and
I have family in California. Colorado is far worse than
(15:17):
California right now. And so for people to not realize
that and realize how far we've gone, you know, it's
it's everybody's got their their political opinions, whether you're left,
whether you're right. But we've got so far left and
some of the legislation, and every year where I think
it can't get worse, it gets worse. Yeah, And so
(15:37):
we just need to get some moderates in there, or
get a Republican governor that can start betilling some of
these bills.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I've been covering the show here for a couple of days.
And you know, we had some audio on yesterday about
Michael Bennett saying that he doesn't want Colorado to become California,
and it's it's so ironic that you just made the
statement that California may be in a better place than
Colorado is. And I said that to a lot of folks.
I think we're we're farther away from the turnaround, although
it could possibly happen faster in this state just because
(16:06):
of population size.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I think we may be farther down the down the
line of liberal policies and even the state of California.
And as a law enforcement guy, it's got to drive
you nuts, am I correct.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
It does.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
It's just very frustrating. I mean, you and your staff
have to go through the same thing mine do. And
every single year we go through legislative updates which we
have to do to keep our post certificate. And every
single year I look at the cops in the room
and it just looks because they're trying to I mean,
most cops, despite what you may think you know from
from from our legislature that to have you believe all
(16:43):
cops or biased, or have you know anything like that.
Most cops or they're honest men and women just trying
to do a good job and serve and protect their community,
putting their lives on the line every single day, and
then for them every single year to add to go
to the legislative updates and hear about what they can't do,
what they can't say.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
It's just it's.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Very disheartening and it's hard work. When you go put
your life on the lane every day and you get
made to feel like you're the bad guy and that
your legislature thinks you're the problem. It's tough, and it's
tougher and tougher to find good people that want to
do the shop. We get applications all day. I'm sure
you guys do it too, sure that they want to
(17:23):
do our job. But to find the ones that really
should be in this line of work, that can pass
our background, our polygraph, our p SSYDE tests, that really
want to do the job for the right reasons, those
folks are getting tougher and tougher to find because the
stakes are so high.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, we have a motto inside our agency we want
the best ten that we can hire, not the first ten.
And sometimes just finding ten is very difficult, So Darren,
I couldn't I couldn't thank you more for being on
with us. Your perspective is very valuable in this state.
We had Sheriff ral On earlier. You guys share a
lot of the same comments. Again, thanks for being on
the show, Darren. You represent Douglas County well and I
(18:00):
appreciate your time. You're listening to the Dan capless Show
here on six point thirty k how with will unty
Sheriff Steve Raams setting in. We'll be back in just
a few short seconds after this break.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
You're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Welcome back to the Dan Caplis Show. You're listening to
well Kunty Sheriff Steve Raims filling in for Dan on
day number two three. I'll be back with you tomorrow,
but in this segment, I want to really open it
up to the callers and the texters again. The text
line is five seven seven three nine starts your text
off with Dan or call in at three oh three
seven one three eight two five five. Yesterday we had
(18:50):
quite a bit of engagement from you guys talking about
your your opinion of illegal immigration, today, I'm asking you,
do you feel safer in Colorado than you did a
year ago or five years ago? The state going in
the right direction? Or is it going in the wrong direction?
And if it is going in the wrong direction, like
I believe, can it be turned around by the same
people that have driven it there? Which I lay this
solely at the feet of the Democrat left and the
(19:13):
governor's office, whether that's Polis or hicken Looper. It hasn't
been an overnight process, but it's been a fast one,
and I don't think it turns around under this same leadership.
So when you're talking about a Michael Bennett or somebody
like that running, I think it only gets worse. He
says he doesn't want Colorado to become California too late,
that it might actually be an improvement at this point.
So yesterday, towards the end of the show, I think
(19:35):
it was Joe Fromarvada that called in and he mentioned
an incident that happened in Weld County that I don't
talk about a lot because it's pretty personal to me,
but because it was asked and we were talking about
illegal immigration yesterday. Today we're talking about crime in Colorado.
This thing hits both.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Back.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
On September eighteenth of twenty twenty two, in Weld County,
one of my deputies, jail Deputy Deputy Lexis Highnotes, was
riding her motorcycle into work. She was working the night shift.
And it's about six o'clock in the evening or a
little before that, I guess about five thirty in the evening.
She's only about a mile away from the Weld County
Jail and a motorist pulls out in front of her
(20:15):
in a little mini van. And she's doing everything right,
she's falling the speed limit, she's not doing anything wrong,
just riding her motorcycle into work. This motorist pulls out
in front of her. She strikes us side of his
vehicle with her motorcycle and she's killed instantly because of
the speed of the crash. And you know, it just
it didn't go well for her, obviously. The driver of
(20:37):
that vehicle was an illegal alien named Norberto Garcia Gonzalez,
thirty seven year old male. He proceeded to get out
of that van and run through a cornfield like a
coward and fled the scene. Never rendered any aid to Alexis,
who was laying on the ground, bleeding and dying, and
this cruel and heart this idiot that pulled out in
(21:01):
front of her, fled the scene and went on the run.
To summarize the story, we the Wellcunny Sheriff's Office in
the Colorado State Patrol through a ton of resources at
this incident because it did involve one of our own.
And I got questioned by a few people in the
community of would we have responded to every call that way?
And I can tell you we would have responded to
(21:21):
every call that way, whether it been a deputy involved
or not. Had if we were able to respond that
quickly and have a chance at catching the suspect, yes
we would use the same resources. But we spent about
twenty four hours chasing this coward down and we finally
caught him at a househover in Fort Collins. And to
tell you that that was an easy process would be
(21:42):
a lie. My detectives did yeoman's work and worked throughout
the hours along with alongside the Colorado State Patrol detectives
who assisted on the case as well. We were able
to get this guy in custody and lo and behold,
would find out that he had a criminal record. Believe
it or not, he had been revoked for two prior
(22:02):
to UI incidents. One of those that had also required
that he was supposed to turn himself into jail nine
years earlier, but instead of doing that, he just decided
that he would change his name. So he assumed a
false name of Octavio Gonzalez and just kept living his
life as if nothing had ever happened, didn't have a
(22:23):
valid driver's license, continued to violate the law. I was
doing some kind of work in Weald County, and we're
still not certain exactly what that was, but living basically
living a life scot free. And then, of course, on
the day that he killed my deputy, there were open
alcohol containers found in his van, and again he fled
the scene. Luckily, in this particular incident, because it happened
(22:48):
in Weald County and because we were able to put
a good case together in conjunction with the State Patrol,
this individual was held accountable and sentenced to twenty four
years in the Department of Corrections. And I would like
to tell you that he'll spend all twenty four of
those years in the Department of Corrections, but he very
likely will not. There's a good chance he'll do less
than half of that time. My only hope is that
(23:11):
whoever is in the presidential office at that particular time
will have the same philosophy as President Trump, and when
this person does finally exit prison, they will also exit
our country. But if you want to summarize crime in
Colorado and you want to summarize the impacts of illegal immigration,
those two things they come together in that particular incident,
(23:34):
and it did cause the death of a very young woman.
I think she was twenty seven at the time, and
forgive me if I have her date or her birth
date off by just a little bit, but very young
in her career, very excited about a career in law enforcement.
She was an excellent officer, embodied what you want in
an officer, and had a bright future ahead of her
(23:56):
all but for this coward drinking and driving and pulling
out in front of her and taking her life in
a blink of an eye. And again, I don't share
that story a lot. I'm surprised they got through it.
But Joe from Rvada brought it up. He was paying
attention yesterday and knew that this thing had happened. I
believe it was Joe from Arvada, and so I promised
(24:16):
yesterday i'd share the story, and that's it. I will
tell you that when people ask me, you know, is
Colorado a better place?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Heck no, it's not.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
How can I say that when we have incidents like
that that happened involving not only my deputies but countless
motorists out there on the road. And that's just one
tip of the iceberg. I started the show out by
reading a very horrifying press release from the Colorado State
Patrol about another incident on I twenty five, just a
day ago. I mean, crime in Colorado is out of control.
(24:47):
There's no truth incentencaying. We got big problems in this
state and it's only going to get worse if we
don't get people engaged and involved and started electing some
people that care about us, that care about the future
of this state.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
So let me.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I'll get to some of these texts here. They're the
one that just really caught my attention, so it's a
good break from what we're talking about. But I'll read
a few of these others real quick. It says my
son lives in Denver County. He's completed his concil carry class.
He said, Denver County is not taking fingerprints or processing
consial weapons permits until they see what is going to
happen with the new gun laws, which makes no sense
to me because those have no effect on consill weapons permits.
(25:24):
It says, can you please comment on this? I just did.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I don't know why Denver would take that stance. I
don't oversee Denver. We do things very differently in Weld County.
My goal is to get you in and out of
the office as fast as you can, because I would
rather you not even have to come to my office
for a consill weapons permit. I would much rather this
state be a constitutional carry state. But unfortunately, again back
to the issue at hand, it is not controlled by
(25:49):
Republicans at this time. Another text are here Colorado is
a wasteland of crime, drugs, and illegals. Very positive posts there.
Colorado has lost. People blame crime on law enforcement, and
that's true. You hear a lot of that that law
enforcement's not doing its job, and that's so backwards. I mean,
you know, we don't make the criminals. We just try
to try to catch them in Right now, are we're
(26:11):
doing it with one hand tied behind our back most
of the time. Another one here Colorado is such a disgrace.
Thanks for all you do, Sheriff. This one is from
Steve down in Littleton, retired l e O. Says Sheriff.
We're going nowhere but downhill with dims in control. Glad
I'm retired, but so thankful for those of you that
continue to serve. Another guy asking about solicitations to protect
(26:33):
law enforcement places? Is there one that I recommend?
Speaker 3 (26:36):
You know?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
There's a couple of organizations out there that I know
are reputable. It's County Sheriff's of Colorado and the Colorado
Association a Chiefs the police. If you get phone calls
from those guys, they're probably legit. The rest of them,
you got to vet those on your own. And then
this was the text that really cracked me up. It says, please,
Sheriff Raimes, you need to threaten to arrest Dan if
he doesn't run for governor. I know it sounds extreme,
(26:59):
but I'm out of and I love that idea. So
with that, we're gonna cut to break. When we come back,
we'll finalize the show. We'll figure out how we're gonna
threaten Dan into running for governor. And you know, I've
got a little bit of room in my jail, so
maybe that'll be a good threat. So you're listening to
the Dan Capless Show here on six point thirty k
Haw you got Well Kenny Sheriff Steve Dreams filling in
and we'll get to that last segment and close out
the show.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Thanks for listening so far.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
And now back to the Dan Kapless Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Welcome back to the Dankaplass Show. You have Well Kenny
Sheriff Steve Riams filling in for Dan. Day number two here.
I'll be back with you tomorrow. We came back with
Colorado's theme song, Breaking the Law. I don't know what
else could be more appropriate. But you know, before we
went to break, I was talking about the text that
someone wanted me to threaten Dan with the rest so
that he had run for governor. And I can't help
but wonder Ryan Kelly. You know, you guys, you read
(27:48):
these texts that come in. There's a lot about you know,
I see, I don't get to read every one of
them on areas you guys will know, but there's a
ton of them asking you know, is Dan gonna run?
Is Dan gonna run? Have you heard one as inventive
as that to try threatening to run for governor?
Speaker 7 (28:02):
I like the twist on it, and I would love
to hear and see Dan's reaction, like if you just
played it straight for a minute sixty seconds, like, Dan,
I gotta do this.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, I'll just I'll have to catch him in the
parking lot or something.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
You know, you'll have a funny story about this.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Go for it.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
I was told by him, you have a very active imagination,
young girl.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Okay, about the suggestion that he might run for governor. Correct.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Look, I don't think that's an imagination. I think that's
a hope and a dream and hopefully he's gonna fulfill
it in my opinion.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
So it wasn't like a feature of your imagination like
Jared Paulas said about Daniel Jerinsky.
Speaker 8 (28:43):
Right, No, No, it was when uh not, Oh gosh,
who's the managing partner, John Kellner?
Speaker 4 (28:52):
The John Killner.
Speaker 8 (28:54):
John Killner came in here, okay, and he's now the
managing partner. So I asked Dan outright, I.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Said, I mean you can run.
Speaker 8 (29:05):
Interesting, you have a managing partner that ran for attorney
and Attorney General.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
It seems like a good fit.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
And that's what he said to me, you have a
very overactive imagination.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Well, you know, I don't know what Dan's future holds,
but I know that it's if there was a guy
that could run, I think that guy's got all the
chops to at least make a heck of a run
against Bennett. You know again, I think Dan's listening audience
is awesome and I would love to watch a debate
between the two of them. Oh my, I can't help boy. Yeah,
(29:45):
it's talking about fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
It's the only way to be fair.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Two things I'll say, just based on my insights talking
to Dan behind the scenes, is he would be chomping
at the bit for that opportunity to debate Bennett.
Speaker 4 (29:58):
I think he's thinking about that that part of it.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Now.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
As far as running, he was asked this on the
air by a listener, and what I noticed and turned
to Kelly and said, was that.
Speaker 4 (30:08):
He didn't say no.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Well that's a start.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
He didn't say no, whereas I think in the past
he has said no. He's always cites the concerns and
we were aware of that. Running for office. There's a
cost to that, yep, not just financially, but with your family,
with his wife Amy, Amy would have to be on
board with it. And there's a lot of factors that
go into that decision. But what I drew from that, Sheriff,
is that he has not made that decision yet.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, you know, I agree with you. I think he's
I think he's in a place where he can at
least contemplate or is this the race to get into
And as I said, you know, whether it was hosting
the show or privately amongst friends. You know, I think
if there's anyone that's beatable in the state of Colorado
on the Democrat side, it is Michael Bennett. I think
(30:53):
he's more beatable than Phil Wiser for the simple fact
that the guy is so boring and I don't mean
so bring so boring.
Speaker 7 (31:02):
And he's never back here in Colorado. He really got
his feathers roughly. Yeah, when Rob Dawson, my counterpart at
KOA here, just brought up the fact that there's criticism
out there, and there is. You can't deny that there
isn't criticism that you're never back here in the state
of Colorado.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
We don't see you. People don't know who you are.
Speaker 9 (31:19):
I did a really good job back here. A lot
take issue with the question.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't say didn't understand the question,
like you know half the other ones where he just
tries to skate out.
Speaker 9 (31:29):
Sound like the senator from Texas.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
To build a wall.
Speaker 7 (31:34):
Oh, and that was the other part that we didn't
talk about, Sheriff, was that was such a freezing cold take.
Speaker 9 (31:39):
The medieval border wall. I mean, why do we need
a wall like?
Speaker 7 (31:42):
Oh? All these years later? Yeah, fast forward a few
years and Jay, it was a good idea. Yeah, maybe
if we'd have done it back then, things would have
been different. Hey, this text just came in. It's just
it's so simple. Dan could win. I believe that too.
You know, I'll just say that because he gives me
the airwaves here. I think Dan's a phenomenal guy. He's
got a huge listening audience. He you know, he's got
(32:02):
name recognition beyond most, beyond most Republicans in this state.
And Dan's background is a little different. I think it's
more amenable to the voters of Colorado, whether they be Democrats, unaffiliateds,
or Republicans. I think he has the I think he
has one of those backgrounds that could potentially thread the needle.
And that's not to say that he would have an
easy march into the governor's mansion. But you know, the
(32:26):
guy's got enough fight in him, and he's very well
spoken and knows how to debate. I think he can
make a heck of an interesting run. We just need
some good candidates to run alongside of him, for say,
attorney General and maybe secretary of State, and you know,
somebody to run against taking Looper. And those are the
things that have to develop. And who knows, maybe Dan's
looking at all those seats too and trying to figure
(32:46):
out where he fits the best. But either way, I
know his reach is beyond these airwaves and beyond the
work that he does in private. So Dan's got my
support if he gets in. And you know it's you
to say that now, but I'm not gonna go threat
to arrest him just yet. But I do like the idea.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I just like the visual of that, the optics. Oh wow, Sheriff,
what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Yeah, well, it wouldn't it be weird if he, like
you know, was really intrigued by the handcuffs and all that,
and this could go against me in a weird way too.
I have to make sure that I got him up
to well, counting where I was, at least working inside.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
I have the best impressions ever.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
He's great. He's great.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Where to god the Michael Bennett take, though, I mean,
you know, he sounds like a South.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Park character, right, yeah, counselor Mackie.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Yeah, that's him.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
That's really what it derives from.
Speaker 7 (33:38):
But especially when he gets worked up, like you heard
in the clip that you poll, he gets really really upset,
like you from Cata.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Hat, and he doesn't know what to do with his hands.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
You know, he doesn't, and he loses all of his enunciation, articulation,
and he.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Just gives it into the emotion of the moment.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
Okay, but you can do Dan Kapliss.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
All right, this text too, says Sheriff Raemes. Everyone with
an above room temperature, IQ knows that Bennett is the
Jeff Speculli of the center. Anybody want a pizza?
Speaker 3 (34:15):
All right?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, we're having a little bit of fun here at
the end of the show. Again, it's been a pleasure
being here with you. On day two, I'll be back
with you tomorrow. We've got some guests coming in that
I think you'll want to hear. We're gonna have Congressman
Gave Evans, the new GOP Chairwoman, Brenda Horn, will be
in studio with us. We'll have a couple of other
surprise guests on as well, so stick with us. We'll
see you tomorrow on The Dan Caplis Show. And thanks
(34:36):
for listening with well Kenny Sheriff Steve Rings
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