Estes Park Police Chief Ian Stewart started the New Year off Thursday morning with a community forum in the Town Hall boardroom. Dressed in a dark blue police uniform with a an external body armor carrier vest and what looks like 30 pounds of gear strapped to his chest and hips—a side arm, a taser, a BolaWrap de-escalation tool, radios, a body cam, ammo clips, and other safety equipment—Stewart exudes both a professional confidence and an approachable warmth.
One of the first things he told the audience was that as 2025 kicked off, police departments across the country, including the Estes Park Police Department, were on hyperalert because of a car bombing in Las Vegas and a domestic terror incident in New Orleans. “What do Bourbon Street and Vegas have in common with Estes?” Stewart asked. Tourism. “If you do something here, it will be noticed nationally,” Stewart said.
Public safety is one of his priorities, as is protecting the health and safety of the EPPD officers. Stewart told his listeners that policing is a dangerous job with many hazards from blowing out knees or getting your hand cut when smashing out a car window to rescue someone. “Injuries happen in law enforcement,” said Stewart.
In a follow up interview after the forum, Stewart explained that even the special vest he wears is part of protecting officers’ health because it distributes the weight of law enforcement tools to the chest and reduces strain on the lower back.
When he entered the profession 25 years ago, Stewart says there were 100 candidates for every three jobs. Today, he is lucky to find three qualified candidates when there are 100 openings in police departments in other communities that can pay more than the EPPD.
When Stewart took the reins of the EPPD as the interim chief a year ago on loan from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, he walked into a department that that was in turmoil.
First there was the suicide of Captain Eric Rose in the fall of 2021 who faced charges of domestic assault. That was followed by the early retirement of Police Chief Wes Kufeld in May 2022.
David Hayes was hired in the fall of 2022, but after a 360-degree review which showed a vote of no confidence by the members of the department, he decided to “retire” after 13 short months on the job. Three months after leaving the EPPD, with a severance package of $117,000, Hayes took a job with the Adams County District Attorney’s Office as an Investigator II with an annual listed salary in 2023 of between $72,579 to $101,611.
During Hays’ tenure, problems came to light that led to internal affairs investigations and several officers were placed on administrative leave. One of these officers, Deputy Chief Jim Hughes, was terminated and another, Sergeant Calib Robertson, a 15-year veteran with the department, who was on administrative leave 11 months, retired in September.
Speaking on background, several officers said morale was at an all-time low. The previous four years had been tough, beginning with the stresses of the COVID pandemic coupled with the problems within the department.
Hired to serve as the community’s top cop in July, Stewart is proactively working to turn things around and move the department forward by making data-driven decision and by listening to his officers.
Thursday morning, he held a community forum in the Town Hall boardroom to share his vision for the department, including a new chain of command management flow chart and a revamped 28-day rotating schedule to better provide supervision and to align the EPPD’s calendar with the LCSO calendar.
One of the changes is the elimination of a deputy chief and bringing on a professional services director. Many administrative duties that sworn officers now do, such as overseeing evidence and conducting the department’s internal affairs, will be shifted to this new position which will be filled by David Moore, who has held a similar role with the LCSO.
Stewart stressed the importance of both skills training and transparency in managing the 50-person department which included officers, administrative staff, and auxiliary members.
Additionally, Stewart told the audience of some 30-people that he is working with Paul Fetherston, the Town’s Internal Service’s Director and Derek Pastor, a project manager for the Town, to review and update plans that were drawn up several years ago for a modern public safety building.
The police department is housed in a building built in the 1930s as a school and it is not adequate to the needs of the department today, Stewart said. The offices are cramped, the evidence room is a former cell, and the facility can not operate as an emergency command center. He expects to have many conversations with members of the community and Town staff before any decisions are made, but he knows a new facility needs to be part of the department’s future.
Thanks to the EVV for covering this very informative meeting and getting facts out to the interested members of the community!