Special Operations Division

Commander Jason Lyons manages the Special Operations Division. This division includes: 2-sergeants, 3-Community Partnership Unit officers, 2-school marshal officers, 3-school resource officers, 1-community response team officer, 4-traffic officers and 1-downtown liaison officer. The division is supported by 2-animal control officers, 10-community safety volunteers and 2-administrative volunteers. The Special Operations Division specializes in the following units: • Animal Control Unit (ACU) • Bike Unit • Community Events • Community Partnership Unit (CPU) • Community Response Team (CRT) • Downtown Liaison Officer (DLO) • School Resource Officers (SRO) • School Marshal Officers (SMO) • Traffic Unit • Volunteers in Policing (VIPS)

Animal Control Unit

The Animal Control Unit is comprised of two full-time animal control officers and is responsible for animal licensing, animals at large, dangerous animals, returning lost animals to their owners, barking dogs, investigating dog bites and animal cruelty. Information on how to license your pet is found within our police pages on the Town’s website: CRgov.com/ AnimalLicensing.

Community Events

This division works closely with other agencies and is responsible for staffing the appropriate police personnel for Town-sponsored events and many outside vendors. More information is found under “Find an Event” or navigating directly to: CRgov.com/Events. Note: Most of the Town’s 2020 special events were canceled due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Community Partnership Unit

The CPU addresses community issues and works in several programs including the Crime Free MultiHousing and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) programs. Both proactive programs assist in reducing crimes within our community. Our CPU officers utilize problem-solving methods to address a variety of community issues: homeowners associations, downtown parking, community events, graffiti and school-related concerns.

Community Response Team

The Community Response Team is a partnership with Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and numerous civilian agencies in the Metro area dealing with mental health concerns in our community. The collaborative unit is comprised of four teams, consisting of an officer or deputy teamed up with a mental health clinician. These teams go into the field and work with those in crisis, freeing up patrol officers to deal with assigned duties. A case manager supports and guides those in need to available community resources. Currently, each team works 40-hours per week dealing with people in crisis and conducting follow-up sessions.

Officers in Schools

The department provides three full-time school resource officers who dedicate their time during the school year to Castle View High, Mesa Middle and Castle Rock Middle schools. The School Marshal program is a partnership between the police departments of Douglas County, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Douglas County School District. Our two school marshals work at the various elementary and middle schools throughout Town, providing additional school security and student mentoring.

Traffic Unit

Castle Rock promotes traffic safety by requiring specifically-trained officers to be dedicated to crash investigation, enforcement of state and municipal traffic laws, traffic complaints and drunk-driving recognition. The unit consisted of four officers enforcing traffic laws and improving road safety.

The Traffic Unit investigated 49.5 percent of all roadway crashes in 2020. Newly implemented 3D-animated crash diagramming provides more complex crash scenes allowing officers to open roadways faster with a more detailed overview of a crash scene. The Traffic Unit continues to partner with Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in making local and state roadways safer through programs such as Click-It or Ticket, DUI campaigns and the Traffic Incident Management Program.

Volunteers in Policing

The department utilizes Volunteers in Policing who serve our department selflessly.

• Community Safety Volunteers (CSV)

provide community policing in its most basic form. It is a structured way for residents to help provide for the safety and security of their community. CSVs support major activities of the department, such as patrol, traffic, community policing, special events and activities where their unique expertise or life experience is of benefit.

Over the past year, we added several new CSVs.

The unit provided 1,018 service hours showing a significant 73.4 percent decrease from their 2019 hours (3,831), which was largely due to the

COVID-19’s restrictions in place during 2020. • Administrative volunteers work alongside staff in many capacities. These volunteers provided 483 hours in 2020, which was a 30 percent decrease from 2019 (694 hours). More information regarding volunteering is available on our website: CRgov.com.

New Senior Outreach Program: R-U-OK

It can be lonely and a bit scary for the elderly living on their own. That feeling of isolation was only worsened with the Coronavirus pandemic. CRPD instituted a new way to keep up with seniors living alone, while providing a little peace of mind. During a chance encounter with a resident living alone after the loss of her husband, CRPD Officer Lane led the effort to create the R-U-OK program for seniors or anyone with a disability living on their own. “Seeing what she was experiencing firsthand left me with a strong desire to make sure she, and others in her same situation, have a connection to the community and don’t feel lonely, even though they’re living alone,” said Lane. The goal of the R-U-OK program is to regularly connect with the most vulnerable populations to make sure they are doing well, are safe and help identify any needs they may have. There is no charge for the program, and it is available to any senior citizen over 65 years old or any disabled individual living alone. “Individuals over 65 represent 9.5% of the residents in Castle Rock, and that percentage continues to increase,” said Chief Cauley. “This is an ideal time to establish the R-U-OK program and improve outreach and connections with this important group within our community.” For more information on the R-U-OK program (or to apply), visit our website: CRgov.com/ruok

Play Video