WEEK OF JANUARY 16, 2025
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 29
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Arvada Police becomes first department in state to implement OffenderWatch BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Arvada Fire Protection District has merged with the Fairmount Fire, meaning the departments will exist under the Arvada Fire moniker.FILE PHOTO
Fairmount Fire merger with Arvada Fire takes effect
The former Fairmount Fire Protection District’s residents voted to join the Arvada Fire district in 2024 BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Arvada Fire Protection District got quite a bit bigger on the first of the year as its merger with the Fairmount Fire district went into effect, meaning the departments will exist under the Arvada Fire moniker. The merger was the result of three ballot measures that Fairmount district residents passed in 2024. The area includes the unincorporated community of Fairmount, the northern part of Wheat Ridge and other portions of Jefferson County. The ballot measures passed with roughly 70% of the vote. Under the old maps for the districts, the two shared an 11mile border stretching from Interstate 70 to North Table Mountain to Colorado Highway 93. The merger means Ar-
vada Fire now has more than 200 employees, 120 square miles of coverage and approximately 165,000 residents. Fairmount Fire Board President Jack Major said the merger “makes sense” for a variety of reasons. “Our department’s work and mirror each other very well,” Major said. “It really made sense for us to combine forces. Over the years, the smaller district has faced increasing operational challenges. At the same time, it would often rely on and work with the larger Arvada District.” Among the services that folks in the former Fairmount Fire Protection District’s boundaries will no longer have to worry about are 24/7 fire-based EMS and 24/7 ambulance services, both of which will be provided now. District Chief Jamie Denison said the transition has already
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begun and former Fairmount employees are working handin-hand with Arvada firefighters. “It’ll be a smooth transition,” Denison said. “It definitely helps that we have spent the last year working together and meshing all of our response plans. We’ve already blended all the crews. We have what were Fairmount employees, now Arvada employees, on Arvada rigs, and Arvada firefighters on Fairmount rigs.” As a result of the merger, some restructuring has been in order. Several new positions have been created, including three district chiefs who will supervise the three on-duty shifts, Safety and Medical officers who will provide additional medical supervision and response to each on-duty shift, and the creation of a captain within the Community Risk Reduction Division.
There is also now sufficient staff to create an additional 24/7 Advanced Life Support Ambulance, which will be housed at a station in the former Fairmount Fire Protection District. Activations like this are expected to improve response times, according to Tyler Beck, Arvada Fire’s Captain of Community Risk Reduction. “The faster that you can get emergency personnel and people seen for life-threatening injuries, the better chances you have for a successful outcome,” Denison said. Beck added that the department is looking forward to what’s to come. “We are excited at what lies ahead for our newly merged fire district as we continue to serve our growing community with dedication, integrity, compassion, courage and respect,” he said.
The Arvada Police Department has become the first in Colorado to implement the OffenderWatch sex offender tracking system and app — and hopes that other departments in the state will follow its lead. APD announced its participation in the program, which will see the department utilize the sex offender registration and notification tool, along with the company’s Family Safety app, on Jan. 2. OffenderWatch is a Louisiana-based company with 4,000 law enforcement department partners. APD Public Information Officer Chase Amos explained the benefits of the OffenderWatch system. “In the simplest terms, OffenderWatch is a sex offender registration tool and community notification system,” Amos said. “Community members will benefit by being able to more easily search for registered sex offenders near their homes and sign up for email alerts regarding newly registered offenders in their area. “Another huge benefit for residents is the OffenderWatch app,” Amos continued. “Through the app, parents can track a child’s location and be alerted if their kid is near an offender’s house for a significant period of time. The app also sends alerts to parents of any communication from registered sex offenders through call, email or text.” Prior to the adoption of OffenderWatch, Amos said a sex offender had to manually complete a lengthy form for their initial registration and every time they were required to re-register, which will now become automated with OffenderWatch’s integration. Registered sex offenders also no longer have to call an APD detective to report life activities, such as getting a new phone number, vehicle or email address, which are required to be reported under state law. Now, sex offenders can make those changes to their OffenderWatch profile online. SEE OFFENDERWATCH, P4
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