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Criminal Justice in Colorado - My Experience

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  • Criminal Justice in Colorado - My Experience

    So, I spent 4 days in Colorado Springs with my wife as a "getaway", and got a whole bunch of things off my bucket list...
    Ride the Royal Gorge Train - check
    Visit the USAF Academy - check
    See the USAF Academy Chapel (it was closed for renovation )
    Have a wonderful buffet breakfast at the USAF Academy Hotel - wow, it was sorry - but check
    Ride the Cog Rail to Pike's Peak - check
    Visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - check
    Visit the Garden of the Gods - check, and WOW

    And quite a number of other spectacular things, including just "looking around" and seeing the Rockies

    HOWEVER, never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to experience my very first (and hopefully only) Home Invasion attempt!

    We had just gotten "home" (to our AirB&B home away from home) and were relaxing for a bit before our next adventure.

    We were both on the couch watching the weather on TV, when we heard a pounding on the back sliding glass window.
    There was a man standing there beating on the glass, trying to open the sliding door, staring right at my wife.

    I got up, grabbed my 'tactical flashlight' and ran to the door, yelling at him to go away, and shining the light in his face.
    He looked startled, and stepped back a bit, then tried opening the door again.
    I yelled again (in my superior 'police presence' voice) for him to back away, and told my wife to call 911.

    I began my "identify the suspect" routine, noting white male, about 40-50, 5'9", 180lbs, baggy shorts, oversized tennis shoes, dark blue horizontally striped shirt, baseball cap --- and wasn't sure, but maybe only ONE arm! Wife relayed the description to the police while I kept an eye on him.

    He backed away, and headed down an alley. I stepped outside to keep an eye on direction of travel for police, but noted that he stopped at an overflowing dumpster across the alley, and began digging through it, even though it was under a bright street light and made him clearly visible.

    Police are still on the way, so I saw my job as keeping an eye on him. I came back into the house to put on shoes (I had been in my bare feet), and went outside to see where he was. I didn't see him, but I did a good job of looking around before I stepped away from the house, and noted there was a little "alcove" to the left of the porch where somebody could hide if they wanted to.

    Sure enough, as I stepped around that corner, he was standing there, and I, again, yelled at him to leave, shining the light in his face, and chased him down the alley, where he began digging in the dumpster again.

    I went back into the house to check on my wife, and she was very calmly updating the police department on what I was telling her. I stepped outside again, and this time, I saw him walking from the dumpster toward the other end of the alley (to my right) but this time with a baseball bat or club or stick in his hand, swinging it and mumbling something.

    Back inside, updated my wife so she could relay information, and she told that dispatch was saying a patrol unit was in my neighborhood. Looking outside, the man had returned to the dumpster.

    Sure enough, Police arrived, down at the other end of the alley, so I walked down, my hands in the air away from my body, and identified myself as the complainant. The first cop to approach me thanked me for that, as they thought immediately I might be the suspect. I pointed down the alley to the dumpster, and said "that's him - he's still there, and I think he only has one arm".

    They kept an eye on him, but kept talking to me, asking if he did, in fact, attempt to break in, and was I positive that was the same man.
    Yes, absolutely, multiple times, he was banging on the back sliding glass door, and yanking on the handle, and, yes, that's absolutely positively the man I saw.

    They approached the guy, who was still focused on digging through the dumpster, throwing some stuff up in the air, and stuffing some other things into a black garbage sack. I could see them talking to him, he was gesturing (and this time I could clearly see he had only one arm) and talking to them, but things seemed under control.

    After a while, one of the officers came to me and asked if I wanted to press charges. I explained that we were just AirB&B residents, and would be leaving Saturday morning with no plans on coming back. At that point, the officer sadly explained there wasn't much he could do, because the laws had changed, and what used to be "aggravated attempted burglary" no longer was, and drug laws had been so relaxed, and they were seeing TONS of this stuff, but there wasn't anything they could charge him with, and all they could do was encourage him to move to some other place in the city.

    The cop seemed clearly frustrated that they were seeing more and more of this, and not only were they not allowed to charge, but even if they did, the guy would get a free pass at bail, and be released to do it all over again. The asked to speak to the owner of the house, so my wife called the B&B owner, and the cops just wanted to make sure that THEY didn't want to press charges, because the guy also appears to have tried to kick open a wooden gate around that "alcove" I mentioned. The owners didn't want to press charges, but they immediately offered to put us in a hotel if we didn't want to stay there. That wasn't a problem, but they refunded us two nights anyway.

    Two things...
    • I never experienced an attempted home invasion - I can add that to my bucket list.
    • The frustration of the Colorado Springs Police in how quickly their city is going downhill with regard to crime and criminal justices, and drugs...

    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

  • #2
    We've gone from policing broken windows to waiting until there's kicked in doors

    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by CP
      Visit the USAF Academy
      See the USAF Academy Chapel
      Visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
      Visit the Garden of the Gods
      Me, too!

      And what a sad testimony to the breakdown of the system. No wonder police officers are quitting in large numbers.

      You did good, though!


      Securely anchored to the Rock amid every storm of trial, testing or tribulation.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
        We've gone from policing broken windows to waiting until there's kicked in doors
        All three of these officers (first the two, then a shift commander) were very open about their situation, and very apologetic that the system was broken, admitting, "yeah, we've dealt with this same guy before, and he just keeps up the same ol' same ol'".

        I specifically asked about Colorado Springs and "defunding the cops", and they said it hadn't gotten to that, yet, but they wouldn't be surprised if it eventually caught up with them.
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
          So, I spent 4 days in Colorado Springs with my wife as a "getaway", and got a whole bunch of things off my bucket list...
          Ride the Royal Gorge Train - check
          Visit the USAF Academy - check
          See the USAF Academy Chapel (it was closed for renovation )
          Have a wonderful buffet breakfast at the USAF Academy Hotel - wow, it was sorry - but check
          Ride the Cog Rail to Pike's Peak - check
          Visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - check
          Visit the Garden of the Gods - check, and WOW

          And quite a number of other spectacular things, including just "looking around" and seeing the Rockies

          HOWEVER, never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to experience my very first (and hopefully only) Home Invasion attempt!

          We had just gotten "home" (to our AirB&B home away from home) and were relaxing for a bit before our next adventure.

          We were both on the couch watching the weather on TV, when we heard a pounding on the back sliding glass window.
          There was a man standing there beating on the glass, trying to open the sliding door, staring right at my wife.

          I got up, grabbed my 'tactical flashlight' and ran to the door, yelling at him to go away, and shining the light in his face.
          He looked startled, and stepped back a bit, then tried opening the door again.
          I yelled again (in my superior 'police presence' voice) for him to back away, and told my wife to call 911.

          I began my "identify the suspect" routine, noting white male, about 40-50, 5'9", 180lbs, baggy shorts, oversized tennis shoes, dark blue horizontally striped shirt, baseball cap --- and wasn't sure, but maybe only ONE arm! Wife relayed the description to the police while I kept an eye on him.

          He backed away, and headed down an alley. I stepped outside to keep an eye on direction of travel for police, but noted that he stopped at an overflowing dumpster across the alley, and began digging through it, even though it was under a bright street light and made him clearly visible.

          Police are still on the way, so I saw my job as keeping an eye on him. I came back into the house to put on shoes (I had been in my bare feet), and went outside to see where he was. I didn't see him, but I did a good job of looking around before I stepped away from the house, and noted there was a little "alcove" to the left of the porch where somebody could hide if they wanted to.

          Sure enough, as I stepped around that corner, he was standing there, and I, again, yelled at him to leave, shining the light in his face, and chased him down the alley, where he began digging in the dumpster again.

          I went back into the house to check on my wife, and she was very calmly updating the police department on what I was telling her. I stepped outside again, and this time, I saw him walking from the dumpster toward the other end of the alley (to my right) but this time with a baseball bat or club or stick in his hand, swinging it and mumbling something.

          Back inside, updated my wife so she could relay information, and she told that dispatch was saying a patrol unit was in my neighborhood. Looking outside, the man had returned to the dumpster.

          Sure enough, Police arrived, down at the other end of the alley, so I walked down, my hands in the air away from my body, and identified myself as the complainant. The first cop to approach me thanked me for that, as they thought immediately I might be the suspect. I pointed down the alley to the dumpster, and said "that's him - he's still there, and I think he only has one arm".

          They kept an eye on him, but kept talking to me, asking if he did, in fact, attempt to break in, and was I positive that was the same man.
          Yes, absolutely, multiple times, he was banging on the back sliding glass door, and yanking on the handle, and, yes, that's absolutely positively the man I saw.

          They approached the guy, who was still focused on digging through the dumpster, throwing some stuff up in the air, and stuffing some other things into a black garbage sack. I could see them talking to him, he was gesturing (and this time I could clearly see he had only one arm) and talking to them, but things seemed under control.

          After a while, one of the officers came to me and asked if I wanted to press charges. I explained that we were just AirB&B residents, and would be leaving Saturday morning with no plans on coming back. At that point, the officer sadly explained there wasn't much he could do, because the laws had changed, and what used to be "aggravated attempted burglary" no longer was, and drug laws had been so relaxed, and they were seeing TONS of this stuff, but there wasn't anything they could charge him with, and all they could do was encourage him to move to some other place in the city.

          The cop seemed clearly frustrated that they were seeing more and more of this, and not only were they not allowed to charge, but even if they did, the guy would get a free pass at bail, and be released to do it all over again. The asked to speak to the owner of the house, so my wife called the B&B owner, and the cops just wanted to make sure that THEY didn't want to press charges, because the guy also appears to have tried to kick open a wooden gate around that "alcove" I mentioned. The owners didn't want to press charges, but they immediately offered to put us in a hotel if we didn't want to stay there. That wasn't a problem, but they refunded us two nights anyway.

          Two things...
          • I never experienced an attempted home invasion - I can add that to my bucket list.
          • The frustration of the Colorado Springs Police in how quickly their city is going downhill with regard to crime and criminal justices, and drugs...
          Yep, sounds about on par for Colorado as of late (at least here on the front range - Up by me in Denver and the suburbs around it its about the same.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post

            All three of these officers (first the two, then a shift commander) were very open about their situation, and very apologetic that the system was broken, admitting, "yeah, we've dealt with this same guy before, and he just keeps up the same ol' same ol'".

            I specifically asked about Colorado Springs and "defunding the cops", and they said it hadn't gotten to that, yet, but they wouldn't be surprised if it eventually caught up with them.
            I can just imagine how high morale is.

            I'm always still in trouble again

            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Gondwanaland View Post

              Yep, sounds about on par for Colorado as of late (at least here on the front range - Up by me in Denver and the suburbs around it its about the same.
              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by mossrose View Post

                Me, too!

                And what a sad testimony to the breakdown of the system. No wonder police officers are quitting in large numbers.

                You did good, though!
                One of the cops told me that he had seriously thought about signing on with a different PD, but wanted to stay in Colorado, and he, so far, has not found a better situation with equivalent pay.

                It really is sad.
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                  So, I spent 4 days in Colorado Springs with my wife as a "getaway", and got a whole bunch of things off my bucket list...
                  Ride the Royal Gorge Train - check
                  Visit the USAF Academy - check
                  See the USAF Academy Chapel (it was closed for renovation )
                  Have a wonderful buffet breakfast at the USAF Academy Hotel - wow, it was sorry - but check
                  Ride the Cog Rail to Pike's Peak - check
                  Visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - check
                  Visit the Garden of the Gods - check, and WOW

                  And quite a number of other spectacular things, including just "looking around" and seeing the Rockies

                  HOWEVER, never in my wildest dreams would I have expected to experience my very first (and hopefully only) Home Invasion attempt!

                  We had just gotten "home" (to our AirB&B home away from home) and were relaxing for a bit before our next adventure.

                  We were both on the couch watching the weather on TV, when we heard a pounding on the back sliding glass window.
                  There was a man standing there beating on the glass, trying to open the sliding door, staring right at my wife.

                  I got up, grabbed my 'tactical flashlight' and ran to the door, yelling at him to go away, and shining the light in his face.
                  He looked startled, and stepped back a bit, then tried opening the door again.
                  I yelled again (in my superior 'police presence' voice) for him to back away, and told my wife to call 911.

                  I began my "identify the suspect" routine, noting white male, about 40-50, 5'9", 180lbs, baggy shorts, oversized tennis shoes, dark blue horizontally striped shirt, baseball cap --- and wasn't sure, but maybe only ONE arm! Wife relayed the description to the police while I kept an eye on him.

                  He backed away, and headed down an alley. I stepped outside to keep an eye on direction of travel for police, but noted that he stopped at an overflowing dumpster across the alley, and began digging through it, even though it was under a bright street light and made him clearly visible.

                  Police are still on the way, so I saw my job as keeping an eye on him. I came back into the house to put on shoes (I had been in my bare feet), and went outside to see where he was. I didn't see him, but I did a good job of looking around before I stepped away from the house, and noted there was a little "alcove" to the left of the porch where somebody could hide if they wanted to.

                  Sure enough, as I stepped around that corner, he was standing there, and I, again, yelled at him to leave, shining the light in his face, and chased him down the alley, where he began digging in the dumpster again.

                  I went back into the house to check on my wife, and she was very calmly updating the police department on what I was telling her. I stepped outside again, and this time, I saw him walking from the dumpster toward the other end of the alley (to my right) but this time with a baseball bat or club or stick in his hand, swinging it and mumbling something.

                  Back inside, updated my wife so she could relay information, and she told that dispatch was saying a patrol unit was in my neighborhood. Looking outside, the man had returned to the dumpster.

                  Sure enough, Police arrived, down at the other end of the alley, so I walked down, my hands in the air away from my body, and identified myself as the complainant. The first cop to approach me thanked me for that, as they thought immediately I might be the suspect. I pointed down the alley to the dumpster, and said "that's him - he's still there, and I think he only has one arm".

                  They kept an eye on him, but kept talking to me, asking if he did, in fact, attempt to break in, and was I positive that was the same man.
                  Yes, absolutely, multiple times, he was banging on the back sliding glass door, and yanking on the handle, and, yes, that's absolutely positively the man I saw.

                  They approached the guy, who was still focused on digging through the dumpster, throwing some stuff up in the air, and stuffing some other things into a black garbage sack. I could see them talking to him, he was gesturing (and this time I could clearly see he had only one arm) and talking to them, but things seemed under control.

                  After a while, one of the officers came to me and asked if I wanted to press charges. I explained that we were just AirB&B residents, and would be leaving Saturday morning with no plans on coming back. At that point, the officer sadly explained there wasn't much he could do, because the laws had changed, and what used to be "aggravated attempted burglary" no longer was, and drug laws had been so relaxed, and they were seeing TONS of this stuff, but there wasn't anything they could charge him with, and all they could do was encourage him to move to some other place in the city.

                  The cop seemed clearly frustrated that they were seeing more and more of this, and not only were they not allowed to charge, but even if they did, the guy would get a free pass at bail, and be released to do it all over again. The asked to speak to the owner of the house, so my wife called the B&B owner, and the cops just wanted to make sure that THEY didn't want to press charges, because the guy also appears to have tried to kick open a wooden gate around that "alcove" I mentioned. The owners didn't want to press charges, but they immediately offered to put us in a hotel if we didn't want to stay there. That wasn't a problem, but they refunded us two nights anyway.

                  Two things...
                  • I never experienced an attempted home invasion - I can add that to my bucket list.
                  • The frustration of the Colorado Springs Police in how quickly their city is going downhill with regard to crime and criminal justices, and drugs...
                  Garden of the Gods is awesome. I love that place. Never took the cog railway, but did the drive a number of times. Wife and I would do a Rocky Mountain day road trip on our anniversary when we lived out in Denver. The timing was such that the aspens would be gold and red during the drive.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by CivilDiscourse View Post

                    Garden of the Gods is awesome. I love that place. Never took the cog railway, but did the drive a number of times. Wife and I would do a Rocky Mountain day road trip on our anniversary when we lived out in Denver. The timing was such that the aspens would be gold and red during the drive.

                    I think we picked a really good time to go -- apparently "winter" is only a few days away, and we made it out of there before The Great SOUTHEST AIRLINES cancellations.
                    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post

                      I think we picked a really good time to go -- apparently "winter" is only a few days away, and we made it out of there before The Great SOUTHEST AIRLINES cancellations.
                      Yeah. (Point of note, the Air Force Academy is where I ended up having laser eye surgery. 20 years later and I still don't need glasses.

                      By the way those pics were all from the pikes peak drive (If my facebook photos are accurate). I can't seem to find any of my Garden of the Gods pictures.

                      I miss the mountains, but the people, overall, are nicer here Indiana.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Also,
                        Glad everything turned out ok for you. (To be honest, when I responded I actually hadn't read the entire post, I stopped at the garden of the Gods and was like "AWESOME!")

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by CivilDiscourse View Post

                          Yeah. (Point of note, the Air Force Academy is where I ended up having laser eye surgery. 20 years later and I still don't need glasses.

                          By the way those pics were all from the pikes peak drive (If my facebook photos are accurate). I can't seem to find any of my Garden of the Gods pictures.

                          I miss the mountains, but the people, overall, are nicer here Indiana.
                          garden of gods 01.jpg
                          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            So, I'm conflicted.

                            The owners of the AirB&B place refunded two nights, and I'm very grateful for that.

                            However, when I write a review, I'm sure I'm expected to leave out this little episode.

                            That makes me wonder -- how may others have used that same place, had a similar experience, but were "refunded" into not being totally honest in a review?

                            The FRONT of the house is "in a nice neighborhood", but the "back of the house" is in a rather shady neighborhood, if you can imagine that.
                            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Here's the layout - makes it easier to understand....

                              layout.jpg
                              Attached Files
                              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                              Comment

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