I am curious about the diiference between the Sheriffs vs Police Chiefs

[robertcolorado2009]

The County Sheriffs of Colorado's position and the Police Chiefs who I see at the symposium in Feb 19, 2013. on Gun Violence. The Police Chiefs I have read about almost every where state they are for the ban "assault" weapons and banning 30 round magazines, more control of almost everything as stated in Obama's proposal, where as the CSOC are more sensible and come out against bans of both weapons and mags. I wonder why the opposite sides?

[Ridge]

Police Chiefs are appointed
Sheriffs are elected

[zteknik]

Correct me if I'm wrong,but as I understand Sherrifs are elected and police chiefs are appointed.

Ridge beat me to the draw :)

[Aloha_Shooter]

Hmmm ... guess I should add that Chiefs are appointed and Sheriffs are elected? [ROFL2]

[zteknik]

Hmmm ... guess I should add that Chiefs are appointed and Sheriffs are elected? [ROFL2]
Dupe??[LOL]

I would tend to think the cheifs being appointed would go with the agenda of the apointee.As the elected oficial would go with the people-or at least that's the way it should be.
I allways find the Sherrifs more knowledgeable and professional compared to the chiefs(not knocking any good chiefs out there)
The chiefs I knew of in NY were basicly the turds that just floated to the top.

[Great-Kazoo]

Chiefs are mostly political hacks. and Sheriffs are elected.

DUPE

[Ronin13]

Hmmm ... guess I should add that Chiefs are appointed and Sheriffs are elected? [ROFL2]
[ROFL1]
Comes down to where loyalties lie- predominantly elected officials are more inclined to keep their voters happy, appointees are more inclined to keep those who appointed them happy... Sucks huh?

[Busta Prima]

Isn't it also set up that a sheriff is the head LE in a county and a police chief would be a city? It seems to be the case everywhere I've lived.

[OneGuy67]

Chiefs are the head of the law enforcement agency in a municipality while the Sheriff is the head of the county law enforcement agency. Sheriffs are elected, while Chiefs are appointed.

Chiefs and Sheriffs always are usually at odds due primarily to the difference in their policing population. City chiefs are head of law enforcement agencies that deal with population densities, while most sheriff's deal with rural areas that are not population dense. The policing styles, priorities, types of crimes, frequencies and call loads are usually quite different between the two types of agencies.

Colorado Springs and El Paso are a great example of this. A large, heavily populated city and a large rural or "bedroom community" type county. The types of crime and their frequency in the Springs is different than in the county and vice versa.

[Mtn.man]

Sherriffs for the most part have an individual thought process, and a brain, Oh and BALLS.

A chief has none of the above.

[MarkCO]

There is more to it than that. The Sheriff has more powers bestowed upon the office up based in how our government was set up. Legally, a Cheif is subserviant to a Sheriff. The term "Cheif law Enforcement Official" has generally been interpreted to mean the Sheriff. Some DAs beleive that they are the "Cheif Law Enforcement Official" but that has not been fully tested to the SC whereas the subserviance of a Cheif to a Sheriff has been. Unless a Cheif is elected, there is a reservation of powers to the law enforcement official who is elected above him/her.

[Sawin]

Yeah it really sucks for me, since Broomfield doesn't have a Sheriff. We're stuck with a far left incumbent from 1991 - Present, who wants to limit my rights. Just terrific. I can't even vote against him.

[brutal]

And then there's that abomination called Denver.

The Denver Sheriff Department is unique in all of Colorado. Our "Sheriff", Alex Martinez was appointed as Manager of Public Safety by Mayor Hancock on November 1, 2011.

[Fmedges]

I heard a sheriff talking on the radio a few weeks ago. He said basically sheriffs and police chiefs are at odds about guns and have been for a long time. He said that the same lobbyist for the anti gun group also works for the police chiefs group.

[Melvin]

Another difference. The coroner can arrest the sheriff but not the police chief.

[Ridge]

Yeah it really sucks for me, since Broomfield doesn't have a Sheriff. We're stuck with a far left incumbent from 1991 - Present, who wants to limit my rights. Just terrific. I can't even vote against him.

Why not? Why not run against him?

[waxthis]

Chiefs are mostly political hacks. and Sheriffs are elected.

DUPE


Such as that worthless chief Johnson at the Senate hearings today!

[OneGuy67]

There is more to it than that. The Sheriff has more powers bestowed upon the office up based in how our government was set up. Legally, a Cheif is subserviant to a Sheriff. The term "Cheif law Enforcement Official" has generally been interpreted to mean the Sheriff. Some DAs beleive that they are the "Cheif Law Enforcement Official" but that has not been fully tested to the SC whereas the subserviance of a Cheif to a Sheriff has been. Unless a Cheif is elected, there is a reservation of powers to the law enforcement official who is elected above him/her.

FYI, Chief is spelled I before E, except after C. I'm just messing with you on that!

Seriously though, the Colorado statute does not indicate the Sheriff is the Chief Law Enforcement Official for the county; what it does is list out a series of required duties of a sheriff, which it does not for Chiefs. Things like the duty to have a jail, to serve civil papers, etc. Other parts of statute line out the Colorado State Patrol's duties, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's duties, etc.