Sentinel Lakewood
November 15, 2012
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlakewoodnews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 89, Issue 15
Lakewood police cars surround a house near the 5800 block of Fenton Street in Lakewood. A Lakewood officer responding to a call was shot and killed in the area early Friday morning. This is the first Lakewood officer to be killed in the line of duty. Photo by Andy Carpenean
Fallen officer’s funeral held today
James Davies first officer in Lakewood killed in the line of duty
By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com
Lakewood police officer James Davies, 35, was accidentally shot and killed around 2 a.m. Friday morning by another Lakewood police officer. Davies is the first officer in the department’s 43-year history to be killed in the line of duty. Davies is survived by his wife, Tamara, and two young children; a daughter, Chloe, 6, and a son, Ethan, 2. He was a six and-a-half-year veteran of the force and was assigned to the Special Enforcement Team within the department. Davies was in uniform when he was shot. “Davies was the type of officer who went above and beyond and that’s why he was there, doing his job,” said police public information officer Steve Davis. Davies was mistakenly thought to be an armed suspect and shot by officer Devaney
Braley, 35, who has been on the force for 11 years. “You can maybe imagine the anguish the other officer is going through. We feel like we have two victims,” Davis said. The shooting occurred at the home of Joe Anthony Davies Ruiz, 37, 1940 Eaton St., according to Davis. Ruiz has been arrested for and is being held on suspicion of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and tampering with physical evidence, both of which are class 6 felonies. Ruiz According to Pam Russell, public information officer for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office, he has not been charged with either crime. Davis said officers were near Ruiz’s home due to an unrelated call, when they heard gunshots, and Ruiz was seen firing shoots in the air on the front porch of 1940 Eaton St. Ruiz and two other men were taken into custody after the gunshots, but officers were not certain if there were other people in the home, and so set up a perimeter
‘Davies was the type of officer who went above and beyond and that’s why he was there, doing his job.’ Steve Davis, public information officer around the house. Officer Davies was in the backyard of the house, and was less than 10 feet away from Braley, with a fence between them, and was mistakenly taken for a suspect and fired upon. Lakewood police have been investigating with the help of several other neighboring agencies including Jefferson County Sheriffs, Edgewater and Denver. The Critical Incident Response Team, which is made up of several agencies and investigates any officer involved shooting, has also been working at the scene. Lakewood legislators — Sen. Betty Boyd, Sen.-elect Andy Kerr, Rep. Max Tyler and Rep.-elect Brittany Pettersen — released a joint statement saying, “We were shocked and saddened to learn that a Lakewood police officer was killed in the line of duty
this morning. As elected representatives of Lakewood we know how deeply this touches our community, and we ask that you join with us in holding the deceased officer, his family and his colleagues in our thoughts and prayers.” Davis said that he appreciates the help from the other agencies and the support the Lakewood Police have received. “We appreciate the outpouring of love and calls of condolences. The chief does, we all do,” he said. “I don’t think it could have been a more tragic set of circumstances.” Davies’ funeral will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Denver First Church of the Nazarene, 3800 E. Hampden Ave. Donations to the family can be made to the Foothills Credit Union, 7990 W. Alameda Ave., by calling 720-962-8200.
Getting the gold for the green Federal Center campus recognized for sustainability By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com The Denver Federal Center is setting the standard for green government campuses nationwide, and has the metal to prove it. The DFC has become a Gold Leader in the State of Colorado’s Environmental Leadership Program (ELP). The ELP is a statewide environmental recognition and reward program that is run by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability. The DFC joined the ELP in 2000 according to Sally Mayberry, public affairs specialist, and became a Silver Leader in 2007. There is no one effort or area that pushed the DFC into qualifying for gold status, but rather the culmination of many different areas coming together to cut down on the campus’ environmental impact. Charles Rienhardt, sustainability program manager for the campus, said it was quite an adventure to take a campus the size of the DFC and make it as sustainable as possible.
“You have to look at every aspect that could impact the environment, and put in place procedures and controls to make sure nothing goes to waste,” he said. “It requires things like a robust recycling program, making sure we’re running our boilers in the most efficient way possible, and we have our solar panels reducing pollution.” Rienhardt called the process a constant cycle of “plan-do-check-act” to keep the continuous improvement process running. Plans are made in a particular area, oftentimes making use of the latest technology, and then the plans must be executed, and then checked to make sure they having the desired environmental effect. “To be one of the most green campuses in the country, we have to be continually looking for ways to improve the process,” Mayberry said. Not only is the DFC a leader in the area of sustainability, but educating others on how sustainability can be shared is extremely important. According to Mayberry, communicating about the practices being used on campus is something the DFC does frequently. Sometimes this communication is in the form of webinars given by Rienhardt, and often it’s giving tours of the campus, particularly the solar panel areas. Students from
At the end of 2011, GSA completed an additional seven million kWh of solar photovoltaic work. The 29,302 new panels bring the site total to 35,464 solar panels and will increase the site energy produced from solar energy from 2 percent to 17 percent of the DFC’s electrical needs annually. Photo courtesy of E Light Wind & Solar area schools come to see how the panels benefit the campus. A project that the DFC is examining in the future is the campus’ water supply, Mayberry said, and how the campus can use less water more efficiently. “We have 6,000 employees on the campus, and so it’s quite a challenge to keep
this running,” Rienhardt said. “We’re always looking to the future in the process.”
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