Denver cops frustrated by low funding, job restrictions should consider moving to Wyoming, sheriff says

A Wyoming sheriff is looking to poach competent and committed law enforcement officials from departments in Denver and other Colorado cities beleaguered by low funding and severe restrictions on proper police procedures.

Last month, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, announced that the budget for the Denver Police Department would be cut by more than $8 million to fund resources for the thousands of illegal aliens who have recently been bused into the city, as Blaze News previously reported.

"We actually hired some law enforcement officers from the Denver area, and in talking to them, and on our contact sheets ... we learned that a lot of the officers are frustrated there because they feel like the ability to do their job is restricted."

Colorado lawmakers have likewise taken steps to hamper police officers from doing their duties. In the wake of the BLM riots in 2020, lawmakers removed cops' qualified-immunity protections. Then earlier this month, they barred police from pulling vehicles over for minor traffic violations, claiming that such traffic stops do little to lower crime rates overall, the Daily Mail reported.

With morale in some Colorado police departments low, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak decided to seize the opportunity to invite frustrated Colorado cops to take a second look at Wyoming. Kozak coughed up $2,500 for a 30-day billboard that features a picture of several smiling deputies and a message that reads: "Work in Wyoming, where breaking the law is still illegal & cops are funded!"

The billboard is located just a few miles from the DPD police administration building.

"We actually hired some law enforcement officers from the Denver area, and in talking to them, and on our contact sheets ... we learned that a lot of the officers are frustrated there because they feel like the ability to do their job is restricted," Kozak said. "So, we're really focusing on that aspect of it to recruit people."

Kozak, who became sheriff in 2023, claimed that he has spent roughly $40,000 on recruitment advertising in the last fiscal year. He sees that investment as a drop in the bucket compared to the $1.3 million he has spent in overtime because of staffing shortages.

"[$40,000 is] less than half of what the salary is for one employee," he said.

"We’ve got to get aggressive on our recruiting efforts to save money and hire people, and eliminate that overtime budget."

Thus far, his attempts to lure officers from other states, especially Colorado, appear to be working. In 2023, the Laramie County Sheriff's Office hired 72 new recruits, many of them from Colorado, Kozak said.

Kozak's chief deputy, Aaron Veldheer, once worked for a Colorado department that he loved, but he moved to Wyoming because the Colorado state government was so unfriendly to law enforcement in general. "The [Colorado] General Assembly makes it so the cops are the bad guys," Veldheer said.

Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas countered that top-ranking DPD officers make considerably more than top-ranking LCSO deputies. And Mayor Johnston's office has previously claimed that the DPD budget cuts will not affect cops' interactions with the public, just in-house expenditures, like "new furniture."

"To say that Denver is 'defunding the police' is a willful mischaracterization of the budget reductions, which actually just delays the purchase of new furniture and shifts the funding source for one cadet class," a previous statement from the mayor's office said. "In fact, Mayor Johnston has invested millions to add 167 new police recruits to our force in 2024, and will continue to invest in public safety to ensure every Denverite is safe in their city."

Still, Kozak is confident that Wyoming has much more to offer to officers who love what they do: "We do enforce the rules and the law, and I want people to know [that] about Wyoming."

"That’s our culture here."

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