Sheriff Reggie Marinelli briefed the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners on July 22 about the law enforcement authority's second-quarter activity, including recruitment gains, a new proactive wildland fire mitigation capability and continued use of automated camera systems for vehicle identification.

Marinelli said the department has graduated two classes and opened a new academy this month with 30 recruits, moves he said should raise sworn staffing toward authorized levels "in the next year and a half, two years at the most." He also described hiring for the wildland fire mitigation team approved by voters in ballot measure 1A and said the unit's smaller Type 4/5 mitigation truck will be deployed daily to do proactive roadside and mitigation work.

"This fire mitigation fire truck will be out seven days a week with our new staff," Marinelli said, adding it is intended for mitigation and roadside work rather than full-structure fire response. He thanked voters for approving the wildland fire measure and singled out Wildland Fire Manager Brian Keating for leadership.

Marinelli outlined community programs, including a newly launched reentry event for soon-to-be-released custody residents focused on housing, job training and addiction recovery, and a "Blue Envelope" program practiced in recent large-scale emergency exercises to improve evacuation communication.

On investigative work, Marinelli described arrests resulting from fingerprint, DNA and surveillance evidence and said two high-risk search warrants executed with the SWAT team produced 10 arrests and yielded 13 firearms, a stolen motorcycle and drugs. He also credited Flock automated license-plate cameras for solving vehicle-based crimes. "Just in the last quarter we have been able to capture 12 suspects in 12 different cases based on the FLOC cameras," Marinelli said.

Marinelli said a widely publicized attempted abduction of an 8-year-old at a Safeway parking lot in South Jeffco was solved in minutes because investigators obtained a partial plate and tracked the vehicle through the Flock network. He emphasized legal safeguards: "Flock cameras do not follow people. It is a tool for us to be able to go after the vehicles that are used in crimes. We still have to have probable cause that a crime was committed."

Crime statistics for Jefferson County remain generally down year over year, Marinelli said, but he warned the department continues to monitor trends and said traffic operations have been an area of public attention. He also highlighted community engagements, including the Evergreen Parade and the Courage Walk for crime victims and survivors.

The board thanked the sheriff for the report. No formal policy changes or new funding decisions were made at the July 22 meeting based on the presentation.