Greetings Boulder, and Happy October!
As of this writing, I have officially been your new Chief of Police for a little over a month, and it has been a busy one.
As you likely know, we were able to close a tough chapter in our city with the King Soopers mass shooting trial coming to an end with the outcome we desired: a guilty verdict. As I said in the press conference after the trial, I was incredibly proud of our officers, staff, and our community for their resilience, bravery, and perseverance.
If you watched the trial, you heard countless stories of heroism by our officers, running toward gunfire, including the story of Officer Eric Talley who selflessly laid his life down for his community. As difficult as these stories were to hear, it reminded me of just how important our police officers and support staff are in standing between order and chaos. I hope that the verdict in this case brings peace and some sense of justice to everyone affected.
I would be remiss if I did not thank our partners at the District Attorney’s Office for their exceptional work on this case. We are so lucky in Boulder to work with such an incredible group of women and men in our D.A.’s Office. Their care and compassion during this case was unmatched.
Despite being officially named chief the first week in September, we waited until last week to hold an official swearing-in ceremony because of schedules and to ensure many of our family, friends and professional colleagues could attend. It was such an amazing event, and I am so grateful for the community support. I also loved having my mother pin on my new badge as she has pinned on my badge at every stage of my career.
Another highlight of that event was the official swearing-in of Deputy Chief Barry Hartkopp. Barry has been your Interim Deputy Chief since January and has assisted me during my time as Interim Chief. Barry’s performance was exemplary, making it an easy choice to promote him to the permanent position.
Barry will serve as the Deputy Chief of Operations, overseeing nearly all of the day-to-day work of the uniformed officers in our agency. The Department’s Operations Division includes all Patrol watches, Traffic, Investigations (detectives), Animal Protection, Code Enforcement, Community Services, and the department’s legal advisor.
Barry has worked from the Boulder Police Department since 1989, starting first as an evidence technician before becoming a police officer in 1990. In 1993 Deputy Chief Hartkopp was assigned to the newly created Hill Team and soon became part of the Field Training Officer program. He became a SWAT operator that same year and for 18 years on that team he continued to grow serving as a Team Leader and assistant commander. In 1996, he became a detective and in 1999 he was part of the first group assigned to a newly formed Major Crimes Unit.
A short while later in 2002 he was promoted to sergeant and assigned to Patrol. He also served as a sergeant on the Boulder County Drug Task Force, Neighborhood Impact Team, and most recently the Major Crimes Unit. He was promoted to Commander in 2021 and was assigned to the Professional Standards Unit before being transferred to the Patrol Section.
Detective Cody Hartkopp, the deputy chief’s son, pinned on his father’s new badge. The Hartkopps have three generations of service in the community. Deputy Chief Hartkopp’s father retired from Boulder Police as a commander in 1996 after serving as a police officer for 29 years. Please join me in congratulating Deputy Chief Hartkopp. In the next few weeks, I will have the opportunity to promote a new commander to take his previous spot, and I look forward to sharing that news with all of you.
It’s hard to believe Halloween is just a few weeks away so I wanted to remind everyone to please be safe while having fun. If you go trick or treating, make sure your little goblins and ghouls are careful when crossing the street, can be well seen and if you’re driving, please be extra cautious of the increased pedestrian traffic.
In partnership,
Steve Redfearn, police chief
