Five applicants seeking the top spot at Durango Police Department were swarmed with questions from residents, city officials and fellow law enforcement officers at a meet-and-greet held Wednesday at the Durango Community Recreation Center.
Several residents said Durango already has a good police department, and they want to see someone who will continue to lead the agency in a positive direction.
“We just don’t need any warriors,” said Jeff Mannix, chairman of the Community Correction Board in Durango. “We need a gentler approach. We shouldn’t recruit from armed services. We should recruit from human services.”
All five candidates have 24 to 30-plus years in law enforcement. None currently resides in Colorado, and all come from larger departments compared with the Durango Police Department, which has 55 sworn officers.
Residents asked candidates about homelessness, restorative justice, legalized marijuana, public marches, use of technology and mental health calls. They also inquired about their personal backgrounds, experience in law enforcement, methods for doing community policing, and their first impressions of Durango.
Brian Churchill, 48, started his career at a small department in Indiana but has spent the past 22 years at the Indianapolis Police Department, where he started a special unit that aims to address the root causes of crime while working with community agencies to address mental health, substance abuse an homelessness, among other social problems.
He said he’s interested in Durango for its outdoors and quality of life.
If hired, Churchill said he’ll give the Durango Police Department a greater presence on social media, saying that’s a good way to build community relationships. “That’s one of the first things I’m going to change when I get here,” he said.
Joe Ellenburg, 44, is a 24-year veteran of Texas law enforcement, currently serving as assistant chief with the McKinney Police Department. The department serves about 169,000 people and has 202 sworn officers.
He has had numerous vacations in Colorado, including Wolf Creek Ski Area and Creed. He joked that his wife would never allow him to move to Creed because it’s too isolated.
Ellenburg said he’s used to working with event organizers who want to hold marches, protests or demonstrations. If people are holding unsanctioned gatherings that block traffic or encroach on private property, he said police must assess public safety, then identify an organizer and work with them to make the event as safe and legal as possible while letting it go on.
Chris Sutter has 30 years of law enforcement experience in California and Washington. He is employed as an assistant chief with the Vancouver Police Department in Washington.
“What attracted me to Vancouver, I see a lot of similarities here,” he said. “We love the outdoors.”
He’s also interested in making the next leap in his career by becoming a chief.
Sutter said his department uses social media, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos, to connect with residents – something he would pursue here if resources allow.
Jerry Litzau, 56, grew up in Denver and graduated from Regis High School and Metropolitan State College with a degree in criminal justice. He moved to the Seattle area in 1986 and has worked with the Bellevue Police Department for more than 30 years. But he has family on the Front Range and makes return visits four to five times a year, he said.
Law enforcement is faced with a lot of issues, he said, but the best way to deal with those is through community engagement. The Durango Police Department appears to have a good relationship with its residents, he said, so he’s interested in moving it forward without having to do a major cleanup.
Litzau said he’s not applying just to move back to Colorado. “This job was intriguing to me,” he said.
Kamran Afzal, 50, who immigrated from Pakistan in 1982, said he’s lived in highly populated areas his whole life, with the exception of about six years as a child. He has more than 25 years in the police profession, including working with the U.S. Capitol Police and most recently the Arlington County Police Department, where he is a captain.
Afzal has an undergraduate degree in economics from George Mason University and a graduate degree in public administration from Troy University.
He’s interested in Durango for its quality of life and progressive attitude, he said.
“It’s a small town, but it’s still very busy,” Afzal said. “It’s a different lifestyle.”
The new chief will replace Jim Spratlen, who retired Sept. 30. The city hired Lynn Johnson, a retired police official from Arvada, to serve as interim police chief.
The top end salary for the new chief is about $135,000.
LeBlanc said he plans to make his selection by mid-February, with the goal of having someone starting by early April. The Durango City Council must approve the hire.
Durango resident Pat Murphy said police officers are a part of the community, and he’d like to see the next chief push that philosophy.
“You have to be respectful of them, but you don’t have to fear them,” Murphy said, “and I think our police department has always been that way.”
shane@durangoherald.com